THE
FIRST WORDS OF JESUS
MEDITATIONS
ON THE
Eight Beatitudes
Dr. Alvin H. Franzmeier
This short work seeks to answer two questions:
- Why
are the Beatitudes positioned in the New Testament as the first
teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ?
- Are the Beatitudes indeed both the introduction to the person and work of Christ and the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments?
Although the book
is only 55 pages, it is packed with 172 footnotes pointing to Bible
passages in both the Old and New Testaments. The purpose of the
footnotes is to encourage readers to study the passages in their
context in order to corroborate the teaching of the text.
In addition, the text is printed on sturdy paper and each page is
faced with a blank page on which to make notes. Further, the book is
wire-bound so that it may lie flat to facilitate such note taking.
In the first four Beatitudes Jesus teaches that He is the merciful
King who gives His disciples His righteousness and, by the power of
His Spirit, new birth as beloved children of the Heavenly Father. In
the next three He teaches His disciples to relate in mercy and love
to their fellow men. In the eighth, Jesus calls His disciples’
attention to the reality of persecution and opposition, even as He,
their Master, was persecuted. The eighth is the closing parenthesis
of all eight, complementing the first, which also promises the
kingdom of the heavens and the ever-present power of the King to
guide and protect.
The book serves as a guide for both personal and group study of the
person and work of Jesus Christ and of the life of His faithful
disciples. It points disciples to the Biblical teaching that Jesus
is the fulfiller of the prophecies contained in the Old Testament
about the promised King and His kingdom. He is the one who came to
fulfill those promises, who is present in His Word and who is coming
again in glory.
The First Words
of Jesus will be soon followed
by a 50- lessons workbook to help students pursue these teachings in
even greater depth.
CrossTies
Counseling Ministries, Inc.
P.O. Box 90697
Houston, Texas 77290
Fax - 281-440-5571
