The Beatitudes are Cross and Resurrection ...

The Beatitudes are the transposition of Cross and Resurrection into discipleship. But they apply to the disciple because they were first paradigmatically lived by Christ himself. -- Pope Benedict XVI

I loved the quote by Benedict. If the beatitudes are the Cross and Resurrected transposed into the life of discipleship, then each "blessed are they that ____" gives us the character and fruit of the company of the crucified, specifically crucified to the demands and dictates of the ego.

And each "they will be _____" shows us what resurrection power infuses into the emptied cup of self.

All of the Beatitudes are therefore really encapsulated in the first one. Poverty of spirit is the Phil. 2 kenosis of the disciple.

We disown and detach from the old Adam (ego, Satan internalized?) and drink a new cup, a bloody cup, a covenant cup.

The promises of the kingdom that follow are not about someday hopes (at least not entirely). They are about access now to the kingdom of heaven dimension where true life is found.

But here was the zinger for me:

As you play out the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, virtually every practice (giving away cloak and tunic, forgiving and blessing enemies, cutting off hands, letting go of stuff, renouncing anger, faithfulness to spouse, and all manner of sacrificial love) ... all of these are consistent deliberate acts that go deeper than a profound social ethic or a way of overcoming the perceived external enemy with meekness. While they ARE that ... what I see is that they are a program that thoroughly strips the ego of all it's attachments, cravings, lusts, pride, impressiveness, etc. ... impoverishing it, assaulting it, and finally detaching from the ego itself ("I am crucified with Christ").

In other words, I use my perceived external enemies to defeat my real inner enemy. The Sermon on the Mount is a Way to become poor in spirit and the fruit of being poor in spirit. It's brilliant. Every handle, every bit of leverage that the flesh could grasp is taken from it systematically.

In that kind of disciple, the Holy Spirit's resurrection life is then given space to be infused.