The Beatitudes- Luke 6
In our Gospel reading Jesus had just come down from a mountain where he had spent the night in prayer. He then chose 12 to be his apostles.
Those who were watching this couldn’t help but think about Moses and the 12 tribes of Israel. They would have immediately understood what Jesus was doing. He was reconstituting the 12 tribes of Israel. He was building a new center for the new thing that God was doing.
When Moses presented the covenant agreement with the people. The covenant was made up of a number of laws that the people agreed to. With those laws came blessings and curses (see Deuteronomy). If they, as a people, obeyed the laws then they would be blessed. If they, as a people, disobeyed the laws then there would be curses. Likewise, many see blessings and curses in Jesus’ words (Blessed... and Woe...). And that all reinforces the idea that what Jesus is doing is in parallel with what Moses was doing. Moses presented a new stage in the life of the people of God. They were the family of Abraham, and under Moses they entered into a new kind of relationship with God- they now had a covenant and a law. Now under Jesus something new was happening- a new Covenant- a new way of being God’s people.
This new thing was good news for those who hadn’t had any for a long time. But, it also seems very strange and backwards to the way things had been.
Jesus is reconstituting Israel. He is giving a New Covenant. Another way to say this is that Jesus is welcoming people into God’s Kingdom. Kingdoms have entrance requirements. To enter Canada you need a valid passport and to pass the government’s approval process. For example, you can’t have been guilty of a major crime in your home country. In our reading, Jesus is describing who is welcomed to be citizens of God’s kingdom. But, he doesn’t give the requirements most of us would give.
Jesus describes a number of situations people might find themselves in and then calls them “blessed” or “fortunate”. “Fortunate (or blessed) are those who…”. But they seem to be backwards. Our society, as well as Jesus’ society, would say “Blessed are the rich”, but Jesus says “blessed are you who are poor”. Society would say “blessed are the full and satisfied”, but Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are hungry”. Society would say, “Blessed are those who laugh”, but Jesus says, “blessed are you who weep”. Society would say, “Blessed are you when people love you”- "Blessed are you when you have 2 million likes on your Instagram picture", but Jesus says, “blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of [Jesus]”.
From a common human perspective, if we are looking at those who belong to the kingdom of the blessed we wouldn’t select those Jesus points out because they don’t seem very blessed. It all seems very backwards. We don’t usually envy those who are poor, hungry, weeping, and hated. Actually, we are probably more inclined to think that they are among those who haven’t been able to make it into the kingdom- They have not received blessing.
There isn’t anything inherently good about being poor, hungry, sad, or hated. They are not situations we are to try to imitate. Christian commentators sometimes try with great difficulty to find ways for us to be imitators of these traits. So, they might suggest we give away all our money to be poor. They might suggest the practice of fasting to be hungry. They suggest weeping over our sins in repentance. And they suggest participating in evangelism and standing up for Christian values in the political arena to the point of being hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed. … And I’m not saying these are necessarily bad things. In fact, I am for being generous with our money, and fasting, and repentance, and evangelism, and standing up for what we believe in in the public arena. … But, I’m not sure that is what Jesus is aiming at with this teaching.
I think that Jesus is saying that wherever you are, you can be a part of the Kingdom he is talking about (See Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy). There can be an assumption in our society about who is blessed, usually they are the rich, the beautiful, and those who haven’t had to deal with any major tragedy. Jesus is saying that you don’t have to get your financial situation sorted out before you can feel the blessing of God and be welcomed as a citizen of His Kingdom. Whatever situation you are in is a fine entry point into the kingdom. You can be hungry and a member of the kingdom. You can be dealing with tragedy and be in the kingdom of God. Tragedy isn’t an indication that God has abandoned you. That is what some of us can be led to think when we are dealing with difficulty. Society might reject you, and even hate you, because you are a disciple of Jesus, but that doesn’t mean you have failed, or that God isn’t with you, or that you aren’t a citizen of the kingdom of God. … God will happily receive you wherever you are and He will bring you into the Kingdom where he will exchange poverty for a kingdom, hunger for full bellies, weeping for laughter, and rejection for a great reward.
The opposite can also sometimes be true. We make assumptions about who is blessed. We often assume that is the wealthy, those who eat in fine restaurants, those full of laughter and whose lives are free of tragedy, and those who are popular and well-liked by everyone. There isn’t inherently anything wrong with these things, but we shouldn’t automatically assume that people are in God’s favor merely because people are in these situations. In our society and in ancient societies, wealth was often considered a sign that a person was specially favored by God. Jesus is debunking this common assumption. Remember in Luke 18:18-30 when Jesus speaks with the rich young man who refuses to give his wealth away, and Jesus says how difficult it is for the wealthy to get into the kingdom of God? The disciples are shocked because they assumed that the wealthy were obviously blessed by God. Their riches were an award from God for being God's favorites. That also implies that the poor might be being punished through their poverty. Jesus overturns this. Don’t assume someone is automatically a citizen in God’s kingdom merely because they have money. They could be far from God’s kingdom. I don’t think that is necessarily so, merely because someone has money. Jesus is turning over the assumptions of the day- his day, and our day. Don’t assume that you can tell if someone is blessed by God or not on the basis of how much money they have in the bank.
Wherever we are, and whatever we are going through, we are welcomed to take our first steps into the kingdom. Living in the kingdom isn’t a promise to live a stress-free life. Living in the kingdom for Jesus meant a cross. Living in the midst of suffering and struggle doesn’t mean you are excluded from the kingdom. If you struggle because you’re poor, or hungry, or because you are sad, or hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed, you can still be a citizen of the kingdom. Even in the midst of these struggles you are welcome to live the life of the kingdom. Even on the cross Jesus was living the life of the kingdom.
Jesus is building the Kingdom of God. It exists now, but it is not fully formed yet. It is always expanding. It expands into each of our lives, and we are invited to accept it of reject it. Whatever our circumstances are, we can be citizens of that heavenly kingdom right now. This isn’t just for when we die. We can live as citizens of that kingdom now, and that may come with suffering, but at the end of that struggle, comes the fullness of the kingdom of God- satisfied bellies, laughter, and the reward of the prophets. AMEN
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