Holy Wind Living Breath: Matthew 5:5

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Matthew 5:5

"Happy are the gentle, because they will be inheriting the land." The KJV, as well as many versions that followed it, use the word "meek" to describe those who are blessed. In Holy Wind Living Breath, the best contemporary literal translation seems to be "gentle." As unlikely as it sometimes seems in this age, the gentle can be in the process of inheriting the land. And this contrary reality (of gentleness as inheritor) is a principle to live by. Yes, in a world where being a Type A Personality is supposed to mean aggression, Jesus' words seem unrealistic. But, if we want to pursue long term happiness in life, this gentle path is the way.

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What If?

What if Jesus' view of God was bigger than ours? What if we've missed some of the emphasis on divine immanence in Jesus' teaching?

What if Jesus' use of TELOS in the passages like Matthew 24 has more to do with "maturity" than with the "end"? What if we have, at least in part, misapprehended his emphasis on a grown-up society (rather than one about to 'end')?

What if the common phrase, in Matthew, "Kingdom of Heaven" is better translated as "realm of upward vision"? What if Jesus call for a new order of existence, of a higher aspiration for our human life, is what he is really "getting at" in his teaching?

And more...

What if the primary 'demon' of human society is literally "teaching that belittles"? What if 'prayer' is more accurately "to hold toward (or in) well-being"? What if Jesus did address LGBT concerns and recognized "other-gender persons" as part of the new realm?

There is a need to hear Jesus in as authentic a way as possible. Much of that hearing has to do with us. And some has to do with fresh and very literal translation. And, so you will read, in this blog, from a translation called Holy Wind Living Breath New Testament.