This document contains summaries of passages from Matthew 5-6 and Luke 6 from a First Nations version of the Bible. The summaries highlight that Jesus teaches that God's blessings rest with the poor, mournful, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for righteousness. Commentators note that God prioritizes the marginalized and gives special consideration to the oppressed. Jesus reveals the heart of a God who loves without limit, even his enemies. The passages show that God calls people to live anticipating the kind of living we will do in the age to come.

1. Prayer
Holy God, you gather the whole universe
into your radiant presence
and continually reveal your Son as our Savior.
Bring healing to all wounds, make whole all
that is broken, speak truth to all illusion,
and shed light in every darkness,
that all creation will see your glory
and know your Christ.
Amen.

2. The Church Calendar
2.13.22

3. Matt 5 & Luke 6 (First NationsVersion)
the ROAD of BLESSING, the TRAIL of TEARS

4. When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw this
great crowd, he went back up into the
mountainside and sat down to teach
the people. His followers came to
him there, so he took a deep breath,
opened his mouth, and began to
share his wisdom with them and
teach them
how to see Creator’s good road.
“Creator’s blessing rests on the poor,
the ones with broken spirits. The
good road from above is theirs to
MATTHEW
5:1-3

5. ”Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who
walk a trail of tears, for he will wipe the tears
from their eyes and comfort them. Creator’s
blessing rests on the ones who walk softly
and in a humble manner. The earth, land,
and sky will welcome them and always be
their home. Creator’s blessing rests on the
ones who hunger and thirst for wrongs to be
made right again. They will eat
and drink until they are full.”
MATTHEW
5:4-6

6. ”Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who are
merciful and kind to others. Their kindness
will find its way back to them – full circle.
Creator’s blessing rests on the pure of heart.
They are the ones who will see the Great
Spirit. Creator’s blessing rests on the ones
who make peace. It will be said of them,
‘They
are the children of the Great Spirit!’
MATTHEW
5:7-9

7. ”Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who are
hunted down and mistreated
for doing what is right, for they are walking
the good road from above.
Others will lie about you, speak against you,
and look down on you with scorn and
contempt, all because you walk the road with
me. This is a sign that Creator’s blessing is
resting on you. So let
your hearts be glad and jump for joy,
for you will be honored in the spirit world
above.”
MATTHEW
5:10-12a

8. Creator Sets Free (Jesus) along with his
twelve message bearers and a large
number of his followers, went down
from the mountain to where the
ground is flat. A great number of
people came to hear him speak and
to be healed. They came from all over
the Land of Promise (Judea), from
Village of Peace (Jerusalem), and from
the coast of Rock Land (Tyre) and
Hunting Grounds (Sidon.)
LUKE
6:17

9. The ones tormented by unclean spirits
were being set free. All the people
were being set free. All the people
were trying to touch him, for great
power was flowing out from him to
heal them all. Creator Sets Free (Jesus)
looked out over the crowd of his
followers and began to teach them
about the ways of Creator’s good
road. “Creator’s blessing rests on you
who
are poor and in need. The good road
LUKE
6:18-20

10. “Creator’s blessing rests on you
who hunger now, for you will be filled
to the full. Creator’s blessing rests on
the ones who weep now, for your
sorrow will turn into laughter.
Creator’s blessing rests on you when
you are hated and rejected, looked
down on and treated
as worthless, all because you have
chosen to walk the good road
with the True Human Being.”
LUKE
6:21-22

11. “When this happens, let your hearts
be glad and jump for joy! The spirit-
world above will honor you, for this
is the same way your ancestors
treated
the prophets of their day. You are
walking in their moccasins now!”
Here is what he said to the privileged
among the people:
LUKE
6:23

12. “Sorrow and trouble will be the end
of you who store up possessions for
yourselves, for you have already had
a life of ease. Sorrow and trouble will
be the end of you who eat your fill now.
You will go hungry later. Sorrow/trouble
will be the end of you who are laughing
about this now, for your own trail of
tears
is coming. Sorrow and trouble will be
your end, when others say only good
things about you, for that is what our
LUKE
6:24-26

13. WHAT DO THESE PASSAGES
REVEAL ABOUT GOD?

14. God’s kingdom (Creator’s road)
priorities are inverted
or upside-down compared
with the priorities of the world;
what’s important to the world
is not important to God
WHAT DO THESE PASSAGES
REVEAL ABOUT GOD?

15. “The Bible is what happens when
God allows (God’s) children to tell
(God’s) story–which means the biblical
writers told the story from their point
of view, with their limitations, within the
cultural context in which they wrote.”
- PETE ENNS -
WHAT DO THESE PASSAGES
REVEAL ABOUT GOD?

17. 1864mi
497mi
56mi
31mi
7.5mi

19. MATTHEW 5:3-12 LUKE 6:20-23
1. On the Mount; Poor in spirit 1. On the Plain; Poor
2. Mourn (“trail of tears”) 3.Weep now
3. Meek
4. Hunger/thirst for righteousness 2. Hunger now
5. Merciful
6. Pure in heart
7. Peacemakers
8. Persecuted for righteousness
9. Insulted/persecuted/false words 4. Hated/excluded/rejected

20. MATTHEW 5:3-12 LUKE 6:24-26
1.Woe to the rich
2.Woe to the full
3.Woe to the laughing*
4.Woe to the popular

21. “The Bible is what happens
when God allows (God’s) children
to tell (God’s) story,”
and our biblical translations,
and our reading of the text
both reflect a similar
relational, dynamic process,
which shows God’s relationality
WHAT DO THESE PASSAGES
REVEAL ABOUT GOD?

22. God gives special consideration to
“economically and physically
impoverished or oppressed people
who not only recognize their need
but also trust in God
for full redemption”
- SCOT McKNIGHT -
WHAT DO THESE PASSAGES
REVEAL ABOUT GOD?

23. “In Luke, Jesus never strays from
his messianic declaration to bring
release and to set free. Luke’s
presentation of the blessings
(also highlights that) marginalizing
circumstances must not be ignored
because they affect those who would
follow Jesus.”
STEPHANIE
BUCKHANON
CROWDER

24. God is calling us to
receive and participate in
a way of living in the here and now
that reflects and anticipates
the kind of living we will do
in the age to come
WHAT DO THESE PASSAGES
REVEAL ABOUT GOD?

25. “We have here (in the Beatitudes)
…(an) eschatological promise
which foresees the unprecedented:
the evils of the present will be undone
and the righteous will be confirmed
with reward. (And this blessing, while
it’s focus is future,
begins now! - SM)
DALE
ALLISON

26. Jesus is the “True Human Being”
who reveals the heart, mind
and character of the God
who loves without limit,
and without end,
even when being
murdered by
his enemies
WHAT DO THESE PASSAGES
REVEAL ABOUT GOD?

27. Prayer
God of every land and nation,
you have created all people
and you dwell among us in Jesus Christ.
Listen to the cries of those who pray to you,
and grant that, as we proclaim the greatness
of your name, all people will know the power
of love at work in the world.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.