Blessed

April 3

Deuteronomy 4

Psalm 40:1-5

Proverbs 10:6-8

Luke 6:1-26

Blessed

“Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are those who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.  Blessed are you who cry now, for you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, and exclude you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man….But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.  Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and cry.  Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their fathers were doing the same things to the false prophets.”  Luke 6:20-22, 24-26 LSB

This description of Jesus’ teaching in Luke is a little different from that in Matthew 5.  Matthew gives a longer list with more detail.  It may be that they were referring to different times that Jesus taught using the same general message.  Or that Matthew and Luke just had a different emphasis in their writing so Luke summarized the teaching while Matthew gave a fuller description.  John tells us, “And there are also many other things Jesus did, which if they were written one after the other, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”  John 21:25 LSB  Not all of Jesus’ teachings were included in all the gospels.  In these passages in Matthew and Luke, Jesus’ teaching was radical to those that were listening.  It was a complete reversal of the teaching of the world.  That was true then and it is perhaps even more true today.  This teaching goes against all the self-help books, the how-to get ahead, get rich, win friends and influence people, and be successful books that can be found on the New York Times best seller list.  This teaching is not even popular in most churches today.  Jesus told them that those who are blessed were those that are poor, hungry, weeping, and persecuted.  And He gave woes or condemnation to those who were rich, well-fed, laughing and liked by everyone. 

            The contrast Jesus was describing here was not necessarily literal.  He was not saying that every person who is poor in this life will inherit the kingdom of heaven or that everyone who is wealthy here on earth is doomed.  The contrast He was making was that those who are poor and hungry now have to rely on Jesus to take care of them.  They develop faith in Jesus as He proves faithful to meet their needs.  The person who is rich and has plenty of material possessions can easily think that they don’t need God because they can take care of themselves.  The person who has been through seasons of sorrow and grief can find comfort in Jesus and can develop an intimacy with Him that is not possible if you only have ease and comfort in life.  The person who is hated, lonely and persecuted can find strength and peace when they turn to Jesus to defend them and trust in His justice to sustain them and help them persevere, but the person who has not had to experience that type of pain and confusion does not have to depend on Jesus to carry them through difficult times.  Jesus is calling His followers to a deeper relationship with Him that can only come from humility, surrender and service.  Faith is developed when faith is required.  Hardships and trials may very well turn out to be blessings.