We've been talking about the beatitudes of Jesus as recorded by Luke in the Sermon on the Level Place. After healing many people, Jesus began his sermon with these announcements:
Blessed are the poor, for the kingdom of God belongs to them. Blessed are the hungry, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the weeping, for they shall laugh.
As we noted in the last entry in this series, the kingdom of God is a kind of key to understanding the whole sermon. The miracles of Jesus act as a sign that this kingdom, this reign of God, has entered into our earthly reality. And Jesus is announcing here just who this kingdom is for . . . the poor, the hungry, the weeping.
But then Jesus adds one more "blessed are" statement, and it's not at all like the first three.
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! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. [Luke 6:22-23]
Jesus is describing a condition of conflict for the kingdom of God. God's reign is here, but it has come into a world of competing kingdoms, a world in conflict with God and his reign. While, for those to whom the kingdom of God belongs there will be an end to hunger and weeping and the helplessness of poverty, these things Jesus states as fact, there will also be hatred, rejection, and even death.
Jesus is not sugar-coating the truth here (he never does that). Up until this moment, the kingdoms of this world have had their way, but in Jesus they recognize their true enemy. The reign of God is not simply one kingdom co-existing among many. The maker of all things has set in motion an invasion plan. Jesus' arrival on the scene will stir up resistance among that those who want to continue with things-as-they-are. The whole New Testament can be seen as the story of kingdoms in conflict.
And this is why the people who are "blessed" shall also be reviled. But God's blessing is greater than the world's reviling. Rejoice, Jesus says, for they did the same thing to the prophets before you. You're on the right path.
If you read any of the four Gospel accounts you will see this reviling take place. It starts as a series of complaints from the religious authorities of the day, and end with a collusion between these authorities and the state, an alliance of convenience working together to have Jesus executed. At that time, many of the followers of Jesus, in fear for their own lives, either run and hide or join in the reviling.
Jesus is laying his cards on the table. He has come to enact God's reign in the world, to make it available. It means, ultimately, satisfaction and joy for those who so far in this life may have very little experience of such, but it also means, as we will see, following Jesus. This includes learning from him, experiencing the transformation that comes to those who allign themselves with Truth, but also meeting resistance, bearing up under scoffing, and quite possibly being killed. Jesus says, expect conflict, and rejoice!
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A note: My method here, if I have one at all, is to restate what the text says, focusing on brief passages at a time, and trying to be careful not to import any meaning into the text from outside. That means I'll probably not be particularly original or wildly insightful. I'm just trying to see the text clearly and deal with what it says, not what I wish it would say, or not what it says plus something new and shiny. I consider it an exercise in simple straightforward reading, which where the Bible is concerned is not as common as you might think.
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