The Beatitudes are the beginning of the massive teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount.  The Sermon ends with a contrast between Wisdom and foolishness.  The Wise, are those who hear The Words of Jesus and put them into action.  The foolish, also hear His Words but do nothing with it. 
 
Each time I hear or read this beautiful Sermon, it touches something deep inside of me in a way that other Sacred texts do not.  It is so clear eyed and so daring, so sure of itself as it contradicts common thinking.  It sweeps me along in a torrent of love and takes me to the place where, however dimly, I see what Jesus sees when he looks at me and you.  Hearing it is like, as David Whyte said of poetry, "the art of overhearing ourselves say something from 
which it is impossible to retreat".  
 
So what is it that Jesus sees when he moves to the higher plain? He sees people.  He sees the circumstance of their lives.  He sees the sacredness of their lives.  He sees with three eyes and invites His disciples to do the same. 
 
Jesus  sees  the  people  before  Him  and  the  negative  circumstances  that  surround  and pervade their lives.  The poverty that goes so deep it crushes their spirit and reduces them to a constant state of mourning.  In this situation they are meek, not violent or vengeful but hungering and thirsting for equality.  Caught up in an unjust system, they are trying to better their lives and He is eager to support them.  Jesus also sees a 'blessedness' dancing in the centre  of  their  struggle  for  community.   This  blessedness  is  given  by  God,  so  is  more powerful than the social and political systems that overwhelm them.  It is already present and  working  its  way  towards  a  fuller  space.   It  is  moving  mourning  towards  comfort, meekness towards inheritance and hunger and thirst towards satisfaction.  It is giving notice to the current situation that it will not have the last word.  The blessedness not only survives and overcomes human evil, it shines forth bringing its energies to the task of making life better. 
 
When blessedness flows as Mercy, Purity of Heart, Peace-making,  and  Justice  Making  it  becomes  an atmosphere that all are invited to breathe.  This is what Jesus sees and what He wants us to see.  As Hopkins said in 'The Wreck of the Deutschland', "Ah! There was a heart right / There was a single eye". 
(Stanza 29) 
 
As we listen to the Gospel for this fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we are given another chance to be caught up in the stunning teaching of the Beloved Son of God.  If we will allow it, it will grip us.  Once heard, they are words from which it is impossible to retreat.  It is being said.  It is taking us to a higher plain.  We might not stay there for long but we know that way back.  The lightning bolt of truth which first touched us through these words, will never cease to call us to the abiding light that the darkness can never overcome.

It was all going wrong. John has been arrested by Herod and swaps desert for dungeon. His wilderness voice must find a way through the prison bars. Authority figures do what they like to do best - silence what threatens them. But notice what Jesus does. He moves immediately right into the heart of Herod's domain, steadily into the teeth of resistance. This is a dangerous move. But it was always so for those who carry light into darkness, life into death. What will happen to Jesus now?

Notice again Matthews insight. Underneath the machinations of human monsters, prophecies are unfolding. As Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah he is no fool, playing into the hands of evil men. He is moving according to Gods plan, proclaiming a message that cannot be locked up or silenced. The torch has passed from John to Jesus. The voice that cried in the desert now zings down the town streets, into residential areas and into the houses of Gods' children. The Kingdom of Heaven is closer than you think. If you are sitting in darkness and the shadows of death, God is arriving as the remedy. As Light and Life! Problem: God is now but people are not!

So, Jesus needs help to uncover the hidden heaven. He needs people to fish for people. But first they must let go of one way of seeing the world and embrace another. If they are going to swim in the spiritual sea where all people swim, they must come to see the deeper and wider dimensions of life. They see hints of this in Jesus and move to follow Him. He will teach them that people are not fish and that they will 'catch' people only by appealing to the deepest desire of their hearts.

Jesus is not hiding from Herod. He is teaching, proclaiming and healing through all Herod's territory. He is on a mission. Johns' imprisonment is not going to stop Him and people are fascinated by him.

Here we must pause to remember all the people who have fascinated us in our life. Can you remember those you admired and wanted to imitate? Every day, people are leaning into life and coaxing it towards redemption. These are people who make the world a better place. When we catch them 'at it' we are fascinated and want to know more. When we see someone thinking, speaking or acting in a way that we are not yet able to but we wish we could - we apprentice ourselves to them. Isn't a disciple just a fascinated person who desires to know and do what they see in another? We gravitate towards them and learn something new. We have probably been doing this all our lives. 

I heard a story once about a drug rehabilitation centre. One day, an ex-resident turned up in the reception area with a cricket bat, shouting and screaming and banging his bat on the furniture. Everyone dived for cover. But the manager came out of her office, walked right up to the guy, put her arms around him and gave him a big long hug. His violence transfigured into sobs. She held him in that strange embrace for a while then led him to a chair and waited for the police to arrive. He never let go of the bat.

​I want to know what makes this woman tick! And I have a hunch that she knows exactly what drove Christ back into Galilee.