“Blessed are you who are poor…
“Blessed are you who are hungry now…
“Blessed are you who weep now…
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
“But woe to you who are rich…
“Woe to you who are full now…
“Woe to you who laugh now…
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
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WAIT! This doesn’t seem right.
Doesn’t that smilin’ prosperity preacher say God will BLESS you who are rich? God will fill up the baskets in our mega-church. And Jesus gives us every reason to laugh and smile and (don’t worry,) be happy. 🙂
This is NOT what Jesus is teaching. Jesus is saying the poor are blessed. Jesus encourages those who are hungry now and those who weep.
There were great crowds from everywhere who came to Jesus, hoping that He IS the Messiah of God, hoping that Jesus would have mercy on their many troubles.
Don’t we hope that?
Wouldn’t your troubled friend, who does not know Jesus, hope for that?
Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude
17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.
19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
WOW! A Rabbi, a Prophet, a man of compassion with the Power of the LORD GOD YHVH! Jesus, whose Name was unknown had become known for His miracles and His teachings throughout the land, from Dan to Beersheba to Tyre and Sidon, in the rich homes of Jerusalem and the poor villages and and in the cities far distant from the hills of Galilee.
The Living Christ not only teaches the hope and contrast between the godly and ungodly, Jesus teaches those in the crowds with ears to hear: why.
Why will the poor inherit the Kingdom of God, rather than the rich who have inherited the blessings of the generations of their fathers? Jesus has come to us as one of us, a poor man of simple flesh – yet a Prophet and Teacher with Power more potent than the most powerful King or Emperor (whose Royal Robes and riches the Lord did not desire).
Miracles! Mercy. Messiah!
Now hear the rest of the blessings as Jesus taught.
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The Beatitudes
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
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Imagine the JOY of those in the multitudes, surrounded by the lame dancing, the blind seeing the beauty of their loved ones, the deaf hearing the laughter of children, the discouraged singing with praise and thanks giving. Imagine the HOPE of the defeated sons of Abraham and the hopeful and hated Samaritans from that West Bank. Image even Syrians from distant Tyre and Sidon accepting the love of the One true God.
The new life in the crowd and anticipation of the spoken Logos, the Very Word of God, must have celebrated this moment as a free crowd gathered for the Super Bowl, the World Cup and the ancient Olympics all drawn here to a hillside in insignificant Galilee.
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23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
My GOD! He IS on our side. Jesus loves us as our rulers and managers of the Temple do not. He is the King to come – the Promised One!
Then the Messiah speaks against those who oppress us.
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Jesus Pronounces Woes
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
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We will follow a King like that anywhere. Let Him lead us into Jerusalem, into the captive lands, even into Rome itself! (Will the ushers be taking up a collection for the blessing of swords now?)
On to the Nations! On to the Riches! On to the oil fields (as false prophets of the sword would say in this day).
But WAIT! (as the pitch of a recent century once built anticipation.) There’s MORE. (Do you have ears to hear?)
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Love Your Enemies
27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?
For even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.
35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
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I don’t know if I can do that. In fact, I don’t want to do that.
What happened to our victory and our blessing? What happened to the King passing judgment of evil and killing our enemies? Is this a King I would follow?
Come on Jesus. Give us all swords and we’ll cut off their heads and drive them back into the sea!
Judging Others
37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.
For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
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But ROME? Godless men from other lands invading our promised land… What of them?
IF a “man of god” will not lead by the sword and execute judgement on evil what hope have we?
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“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
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Dear brother, dear sister in the Lord,
Do you desire to be like your Teacher?
OR do you still desire evil for evil, as taught by the rulers of this passing world and dead prophets of the sword?
We judge men of false gods and evil unmerciful rulers; but what of a Saul of Tarsus? What of a Muslim who Christ draws unto Himself?
Are we not murders of these men in our own hearts?
Yet we do not remove the evil of our own hearts with even a scalpel, let alone extracting the cancer of our chronic wickedness, mercifully covered by the love of Christ’s Blood sacrificed for us on the Cross.
Where is our fruit of the Lord’s mercy and grace of God’s love in these last long difficult days?
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42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
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And I gently suggest to our enemies of the Cross – Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, agnostic and atheist – are you not also one judging Christ’s saints without mercifully removing the blinding log of tradition and rebellion against God from your own eye? Are we not all hypocrites in need of much mercy before God for the unrepentant wickedness of our own flesh?
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A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,44 for each tree is known by its own fruit.
For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
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Therefore beloved friend, skeptic and critic of every other Christian and every other man made in the image of God seeking to do what is right: What has the love of a Righteous King, a son of man like you taught you this day of blessing? What has Christ Jesus taught you about the woes of this world?
Do you choose the fruit of reward of the dust and ashes of your grave? Would you inherit the kingdom also ruled in Hell by the false angel who rebelled against Almighty God?
IS CHRIST JESUS not a teacher of mercy: that our Father God, in whose Image we are made, is known to our soul; that the Creator of all men and judge of all creation did send us Great Grace, in the love of Christ Jesus, He IS the only Son of Redemption who could possibly have the riches of eternity sufficient for my sin!
What must you do, IF you are to have eternal blessing in Christ Jesus, in place of the rotted fruit of your sin and woes of our wickedness?
What must you do, beloved friend, to inherit the eternal Kingdom of Christ Jesus?
For Jesus IS Lord and King forever. Amen.
