Sometimes I think we may read or look wrongly at the Sermon on the Mount. Especially the beautitudes. I've seen and heard it said so many times that the beatitudes are characteristics of those who are blessed by God. But when I look down the list, I'm like, "What? Are you saying that we have to weep in order to be blessed by God? We have to be persecuted to be blessed by God?" More and more I find myself changing my ideas revolving around the beatitudes.
Who was the audience Jesus was preaching to? Regular people like you and me. He was teaching about the Kingdom of God, and I think He used the beatitudes to show that the Kingdom of God is open to everybody, not just the spiritual elite. Each point He made in the beatitudes poem is about normal, everyday people being blessed by God by being able, in their brokenness and illness, to embrace the Kingdom of God.
It is just so awesome to think that Jesus doesn't just call the spiritually elite. He calls the broken, the disullisioned, the hurting, the angry, the frustrated, the deprived. He calls the prostitutes and tax collectors. He calls the taken-advantage-of and those who take-advantage. He calls the druggies and the drug dealers. He calls the porn addicts and the pornographers. He calls the atheists, agnostics, and spiritualists. He calls the young and the old, the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor.
"Come, follow Me... And embrace the Kingdom!"
Who was the audience Jesus was preaching to? Regular people like you and me. He was teaching about the Kingdom of God, and I think He used the beatitudes to show that the Kingdom of God is open to everybody, not just the spiritual elite. Each point He made in the beatitudes poem is about normal, everyday people being blessed by God by being able, in their brokenness and illness, to embrace the Kingdom of God.
It is just so awesome to think that Jesus doesn't just call the spiritually elite. He calls the broken, the disullisioned, the hurting, the angry, the frustrated, the deprived. He calls the prostitutes and tax collectors. He calls the taken-advantage-of and those who take-advantage. He calls the druggies and the drug dealers. He calls the porn addicts and the pornographers. He calls the atheists, agnostics, and spiritualists. He calls the young and the old, the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor.
"Come, follow Me... And embrace the Kingdom!"
1 comment:
Amen Anth! Seriously though, that's my view also. So many people think that we have to endure an absolutley horrible life to be blessed. God blesses you if you follow Him. Period. He'll look after you if you trust Him.
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