Weekend Words (a day late due to headaches)

 From Our Daily Bread...

A Right Side-Up Kingdom

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presents the foundational ideas that describe life in His kingdom.  Because these landmark ideas are so counter-cultural to the way life is pursued in our world, scholars have referred to His teaching as the presentation of an upside-down King for an upside-down kingdom.

However, it's our world that's upside-down.  It's the value system and mindset of the surrounding culture that's turned the world's thinking on its head.

We need a serious corrective to our upside-down perspectives, and Jesus' opening statements of blessing - known as the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) - are almost shocking in the way they challenge our thinking and values.  What Jesus calls blessed, the world would call foolish.  After all, who would describe the poor, grieving, or persecuted as the blessed?  Well, Jesus would.  And He did:

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

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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

These statements of blessing don't constitute a path into relationship with the King or citizenship in His kingdom.  They describe the person already living under the influence of the one true King.  So, for example, the mourners aren't blessed because they mourn (v.4).  They are blessed because God will respond to their mourning with comfort.  It's not a statement of transaction but of hope and expectation.  In the midst of their grief, they know that God is the God of all comfort.

In the right-side-up kingdom of Jesus, He assures us that His responses to whatever we encounter will always be more than enough to carry us through.  When we see that our state of blessedness comes not from life's circumstances but rather by the faithfulness of the King who cares for His people, we can begin to live life right-side-up.

- Bill Crowder