Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
The beatitudes weren't just ways for those who were underprivileged to re-frame the negative aspects of their lives. Much less were they propaganda to control the neglected by contenting them with what they had on the basis of the promise of some future reward. Though it was clear that not everyone who was poor automatically always possessed the Kingdom of God it was nevertheless guaranteed by Jesus that it was possible for them to possess it. For those who made an idol of riches and sought their ultimate reward on earth it was impossible. But the poor was in a good position to seek the things of heaven.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
It is evident, as we have said, that the poor did not automatically seek or possess the Kingdom. Some would succumb to the idea that all of their problems could be solved if they had enough of what is on earth. It was natural for them to believe it, since they had a right to the things they lacked, and since having them would go a long way to eliminate their lack of comfort. But the poor were nevertheless capable of understanding that joy and fulfillment were possible with or without those things and the level of comfort they provided.
We are all called to embrace a spiritual poverty wherein we refuse to make wealth an idol. It is easy to imagine that sufficient financial resources could solve all of our problems and grant us our idealized vision of a perfect life. But this illusion enslaves us to things that are less than ourselves. It prevents us from appropriating and appreciating the true treasure that is ours in Christ. If we do not learn to live from the reality that our life is hidden with Christ in God we are going to end up frustrated, no matter how rich we manage to become. Earthly riches come with an expiration date. They bring with them the nagging awareness that we can't cling to them forever. But we can cling to Christ forever. The promise of riches becomes ever more clearly false the more we pursue them. But the promise of Christ only becomes more real the more we seek him.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.
It's hard to imagine that there is any particular virtue in being hungry, sad, or being hated. But there is in fact immense virtue in not being controlled by our hunger, our desire for immediate gratification, or our need to fit in. Those who are controlled by hunger, by their need to be always and only happy, or their need to never upset or displease anyone are not really free. They may feel alright in a moment when all of those desires are met. But it will always be a passing moment. That is why Jesus proclaimed woe to those who were experiencing those things during their earthly lives. They were too preoccupied to seek first the things of heaven. And the things they sought instead were destined to leave them disappointed.
We are called to put to death the parts of us that are earthly, that is, the parts that are overly dependent and fixated on the rewards of this life. Immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed are all permutations of seeking the things of earth in the wrong way and to the wrong degree. Doing so requires lying to one another since it does not respect the reality of the limitations of earthly things. But this ought not describe the behavior of Christians, although even Christians sometimes fall back into it. We have taken off the old self, but sometimes the old self still rises up within us. We have put on the new self. But we don't always invest in the renewal of knowledge it is meant to bring about in us. Part of that renewal is helping us to see clearly the things of earth in light of the things of heaven. When we do see clearly in that way we can seek what matters most without the risk of being fooled by that which matters so much less as to matter not at all in the grand scheme of things. It is only in the light of Christ that the divisions between peoples can finally cease. Without him we are all ultimately out for ourselves. But in him we become one.
Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;
but Christ is all and in all.
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