Blessed or least

Matthew 5:1-20 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ² He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus says:   “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”       Many of these conditions or circumstances seem not to be blessings. Surely it is not a blessing to be in a season of mourning. It also does not seem like a blessing when we are insulted, persecuted or spoken of falsely because of our faith. Jesus doesn’t say that the difficulties themselves are blessings, but rather that those who suffer and endure will be blessed. These Beatitudes, as they are called, are more than a collection of encouraging words spoken by Jesus, they are promises declared by the very God of creation, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, to those who find themselves in these situations. The blessings also are the rewards to those who live righteously and faithfully, obedient to God’s will and ways.

Romans 8:28-29 affirms what Jesus declares:    And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.       God does not cause the difficulties, the trials and tribulations in our lives. He does not pleasure in watching us struggle and suffer. God does though promise to bless us in our difficulties. He will use the hard things in life for our good, if we will let Him. He will use these difficult things to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus. As we persevere through our difficulties with faith in Christ, we become more like Him. We become more like the one who died for our sins. To be conformed to the image of Christ is to be restored to the image in which we were created by God.  James 1:2-4 says:    My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.       Again, we don’t celebrate the trials, but rather we seek God, we rest in Him, knowing that He will never leave or forsake us. Having endured the trial we are made perfect, restored to the image of Christ and blessed by God.

We cannot though choose only to accept the portions of Jesus message which are good and pleasing. We must hear and accept all of what Jesus says. Immediately after declaring these blessings upon His disciples, Jesus also declares this exhortation and warning:     “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”        We cannot expect that we will know and experience the blessings Jesus declared for our lives, if we don’t live as He commands us. As disciples of Jesus we are to live as salt and light in and to the world.       Salt in Jesus day was used as a preservative. Light of course dispels and overcomes darkness. To be a disciple of Christ is to be a disciplined one, to be obedient to Him, His ways and His will. We are to be those who preserve goodness in our culture. We are to be those who shine light in the darkness. If as His disciples, we no longer do that, if we are indistinguishable from the world, the culture and society, Jesus says we are:   “no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men…”      He says:    “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Surely it is better to be; persecuted for the sake of righteousness, insulted, spoken falsely and evilly of by the world because of Christ and so be blessed by God, than to conform to the ways of the world, becoming indistinguishable from the darkness and unrighteousness of society; through our actions and words teaching others to also disregard good and righteousness and so become least in the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed or least, conformed to Christ or the world, that’s our choice.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit for the Word, the revelation of Your will. Thank You that You have called me to be a disciple, a disciplined one. Thank You for blessing me in and through my trials and difficulties. May I truly become conformed to the image of Christ, restored to the image and likeness of God, that I might be salt to preserve what is good and light to dispel the darkness, that I might truly be blessed as You desire to bless me. In the name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior I pray.    Amen