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Calling a Blessing a Blessing

Luke 6: 17-20 "He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. Looking at his disciples, he said: Blessed are you who are poor..."

We've been going over the book of Colossians in church this past month. Verse by verse, line by line, we are opening up the words of the book and getting as much out of them as possible. Which is pretty awesome. I have been shocked to discover how MUCH there is to be gained from the first few verses of the very first chapter. Normally, when I read the opening verses of a book, I sort of skip over the introductory lines and get right to the "meat" of the chapter. But in doing that, I skip so MUCH that I could have benefitted from, and that's what my Pastor has been pointing out to us.

It has changed how I look at the Bible. I find myself going back, and reading over the little verses that I usually ignore. And wouldn't you know it? I ignore quite a bit.

Like today.

I was reading in Luke Chapter 6, which is a pretty famous chapter, because it has the very well known passage that starts with "Blessed are the poor..." We often refer to this passage of scripture as the Beatitudes. (Which never really made any sense to me, but I discovered today that it comes from the Latin word for blessed or happy.) Normally, I skip right over the verses that lead up to the beatitudes. But today, I read through them carefully, and guess what? I discovered they are pretty important.

Verses 17 through 19 set the stage. Jesus is in a huge crowd of people who have followed him all around, and come from near and far to be with Him. They wanted to hear the good news that He was preaching, and they wanted to be healed from their illnesses, diseases and spiritual troubles. And for everyone who could get close enough to Jesus to touch Him, or be touched by Him, they were getting healed.

Isn't the power of God AMAZING!

So here's the large group of super duper excited people who are all ramped up and giving thanks to God because Jesus healed them and life is great.

Only....

Verse 19 says that the people "tried to touch Him". Which means some of them didn't get to. Which means some of them weren't being healed.

Imagine that. You are sick, and you know that Jesus heals, and you go to the place where He is and you press and push and try to get close enough to Him to be noticed, to be touched... and you can't quite reach Him. Other people, all around you, are being healed and set free. And yet there you are, still sick, still distant, still untouched by God. The newly healed and rejoicing people are walking past you, telling their stories, showing off their perfectly formed limbs, or fresh new skin, and you are still holding your illness and hoping, wishing, waiting.

Does resentment form in your mind? Bitterness towards Jesus for stopping the healings before He reached you? Are you envious of those healed? Are you bemoaning your fate and angry with Jesus for not changing it for you?

And then, He speaks directly to you. In this large crowd, instead of focusing on the success stories, and the miracles He has just performed, He calls to you, in your sick state. And He doesn't speak words of pity or compassion for the unjust illness you have to bear. Instead, he calls you... blessed.

Blessed.

Surely Jesus knew that those who had yet to be healed did not consider themselves blessed. Surely He knew how CRAZY His words sounded.

And yet He calls the poor, blessed. And the hungry, blessed. And the weeping, blessed. And the rejected, blessed. And He even goes so far as to say that those who have been rescued from these things on earth - those who are rich and full and happy and loved - these people are NOT as blessed.

Oh dear.

Jesus was speaking directly to the hearts of those who were still hungry and poor and weak and sick and ill. He was speaking directly to the bitter and resentful and angry and envious IN THAT CROWD. And He was saying, 'You are blessed.'

He's so incredibly RADICAL. It's like He doesn't even SEE the world the way we see it!

If Jesus can look at this crowd of people, some of whom He healed, and some of whom He hadn't, and He can call the sick and poor BLESSED... well, then, being sick and poor are actually blessings. And it would be BETTER for me to have illness and poverty and hunger in my life NOW, and be blessed, then to have my fill of all good things and to miss out on the blessings later.

The Beatitudes isn't just a list of spiritual concepts meant to be pondered and appreciated in some lofty ideal sort of way. It's a DIRECT confrontation with Jesus' audience, then and now, about how we view what He has and has NOT done in our lives so far.

So today, I am going to let Jesus' words speak directly to that which is bitter and angry and resentful in me. I am going to say to MY spirit, YOU ARE BLESSED. And I will live in the blessings of my circumstances, regardless of what they are. Even if those around me are walking in better, richer, happier, fuller circumstances than I am.

Because if He says that I am blessed, then I am blessed.

Meet    
    Cory

Messy Hospitality
Hit the Ground... Waltzing
Where Have I Been? (Living Without Hope)
Confessions of an Imperfect Christian Mom
He Was With Me

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