"Christ in you" and the Beatitudes

John's latest post at Mount Jesus is really good. Concerning the "blessed are" statements of Jesus known as the beatitudes, John puts the focus squarely on union with Christ. The post is called, "With Man It Is Impossible."

That's the place to start, isn't it, when thinking about these beatitudes. It will keep you from thinking, Okay, I want to inherit the earth, so I've got to be meek. Let's see, now how do I do that? Maybe there's a book I could read? A seminar I can attend? The meekness driven life!

With man it is impossible! Yes, which means, of course, that with me it is impossible. But like John I've got this rich young ruler attitude (makes no difference that I'm neither rich, nor young, nor a ruler!). I keep asking, What must I do to . . . get the blessing?

Of course there are examples of all these "beatitudinal" conditions Jesus speaks of throughout the Scriptures. Poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, hunger for righteousness, mercy, etc. We see these in all the OT "types of Christ," like Abraham, Joseph, David, etc. Then we see them in fullness in Jesus himself. It's a good exercise to go through the Gospels and write down every example you can find. When you do that, you begin to see it is Jesus himself who fulfills these conditions and receives these blessings first!

Me, I am by no means meek. And I have to admit, those who mourn make me want to run away and hide. I seldom really "weep with those who weep." Mercy? Real mercy draws you into the pain and need of others and requires sacrifice. That's not my natural inclination, sorry.

I think John is right. With man all this is impossible. And I think I begin to understand, maybe for the first time, why Paul made it his goal to "share" the suffering of Christ [Phil 3:7-10] To share in Christ's suffering, maybe, is to share his heart for those who suffer. To enter into the brokenness of the other in order to share its burden. It is to accept the burden of the other, on behalf of the other, and for the higher purpose of God's ultimate plan and mission. That's how and why Christ suffered. Christ, the one who said, "follow me."

Take mercy, for example. True mercy always involves us in some form of personal sacrifice, the setting aside of our own preferences and aversions in order to truly care for another. When you take a good long look at Jesus, you will behold a life that perfectly illustrates this point. Maybe to share in the suffering of Christ, then, is to to share his heart for the suffering of others and to respond in a way that "pays the price." Paul had not yet achieved such a sharing. No, not even Paul! But his dream was to continue to grow toward Christ's kind of extreme mercy, his meekness in the face of antagonism, his broken-heartedness over sin and its ravages, all of which involved a suffering in some way.

Why? Paul says it's so that he, Paul, might achieve the resurrection from the dead (v.11). But as elsewhere he makes abundantly clear, it is Christ living in him (and in you and me) which gives any and all hope of such a resurrection ("Christ in you, the hope of glory"). Or any hope, we might also say--getting back to the beatitudes--of inheriting the earth!

To sum up: we can't "do" the beatitudes. With man it is impossible, but all things are possible with God, and Christlike things are possible when Christ lives in you. Therefore, Christ in you is your hope of every blessing mentioned in the beatitudes.