Today I was sent an email from J. In reading The Big Guy Shares, you met him. The Beatitudes left me in a state of reflection. Reflecting on the manner in which I come to Christ Jesus. Reflecting on the thoughts that I conjure while reading His teachings. Are they quick to judge others in their lack of righteousness? Or to I submit to the shortcoming of myself in Him? Is my self-portrait of Jesus?
Jesus says: “Blessed
are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for
uprightness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who
are persecuted in the cause of uprightness” (Matthew 5:3-10). These words offer
us a self-portrait of Jesus. Jesus is the Blessed One. And the face of the Blessed One shows poverty,
gentleness, grief, hunger, and thirst for uprightness, mercy, purity of heart,
a desire to make peace, and the signs of persecution. The whole message of the
Gospel is this: Become like Jesus. We have his self-portrait. When
we keep that in front of our eyes, we will soon learn what it means to follow
Jesus and become like him.
Jesus, the Blessed
One, is poor. The poverty of Jesus is much more than an economic or social
poverty. Jesus is poor because he freely
chose powerlessness over power, vulnerability over defensiveness, dependency
over self-sufficiency. As the great “Song of Christ” so beautifully
expresses: “He … did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But
he emptied himself, … becoming as human beings are” (Philippians 2:6-7). This
is the poverty of spirit that Jesus chose to live. Jesus calls us who are blessed
as he is to live our lives with that same poverty.
Jesus, the favorite Child of God, is persecuted.
He who is poor, gentle, mourning; he who hungers and thirsts for uprightness;
is merciful, pure of heart and a peacemaker is not welcome in this world. The Blessed One of God is a threat to the established
order and a source of constant irritation to those who consider themselves the
rulers of this world. Without his accusing anyone he is considered an accuser,
without his condemning anyone he makes people feel guilty and ashamed, without
his judging anyone those who see him feel judged. In their eyes, he cannot be
tolerated and needs to be destroyed, because letting him be seems like a
confession of guilt. When we want to become like Jesus, we cannot expect always
to be liked and admired. We have to be prepared to be rejected.
The Beatitudes offer us a self-portrait of Jesus. At first it might seem to be a most unappealing portrait – who wants to be poor, mourning and persecuted? Who can be truly gentle, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, and always concerned about justice? Where is the realism here? Don’t we have to survive in this world and use the ways of the world to do so? Jesus shows us the way to be in the world without being of it. When we model our lives on his, a new world will open up for us. The Kingdom of Heaven will be ours, and the earth will be our inheritance. We will be comforted and have our fill; mercy will be shown to us. Yes, we will be recognized as God’s children and truly see God, not just in an afterlife, but here and now (see Matthew 5:3-10). That is the reward of modeling our lives on the life of Jesus.
Jesus, the Blessed One, is gentle.
Even though he speaks with great fervor and biting criticism against all forms
of hypocrisy and is not afraid to attack deception, vanity, manipulation and
oppression, his heart is a gentle heart. He won’t break the crushed reed or
snuff the faltering wick (see Matthew 12:20).
He responds to people’s suffering, heals their wounds, and offers courage to
the fainthearted. Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, sight to the
blind, and freedom to prisoners (see Luke 4:18-19) in all he says, and thus he
reveals God’s immense compassion. As his followers, we are called to
that same gentleness.
Jesus, the Blessed One, mourns.
Jesus mourns when his friend Lazarus dies (see John 11:33-36); he mourns when
he overlooks the city of Jerusalem, soon to be destroyed (see Luke 19:41-44). Jesus mourns over all losses and devastations that
fill the human heart with pain. He grieves with those who grieve and sheds
tears with those who cry. The violence, greed, lust, and so many other evils
that have distorted the face of the earth and its people cause the Beloved Son
of God to mourn. We too have to mourn if we hope to experience God’s
consolation.
Jesus, the Blessed Son of God, hungers
and thirsts for uprightness. He abhors injustice. He resists those who try to
gather wealth and influence by oppression and exploitation. His whole being yearns for people to treat one
another as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the same God. With
fervor he proclaims that the way to the Kingdom is not saying many prayers or
offering many sacrifices but in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and
visiting the sick and the prisoners (see Matthew 25:31-46). He longs for a just
world. He wants us to live with the same hunger and thirst.
Jesus, the Blessed Child of God, is
merciful. Showing mercy is different from having pity. Pity connotes distance,
even looking down upon. When a beggar asks for money and you give him something
out of pity, you are not showing mercy. Mercy
comes from a compassionate heart; it comes from a desire to be an equal. Jesus
didn’t want to look down on us. He wanted to become one of us and feel deeply
with us. When Jesus called the only son of the widow of Nain to
life, he did so because he felt the deep sorrow of the grieving mother in his
own heart (see Luke 7:11-17). Let us look at Jesus when we want to know how to
show mercy to our brothers and sisters.
Jesus, the Beloved of God, has a
pure heart. Having a pure heart means willing one thing. Jesus wanted only to
do the will of his heavenly Father. Whatever Jesus did or said, he did and said
it as the obedient Son of God: “What I say is what the Father has taught me; he
who sent me is with me, and has not left me to myself, for I always do what
pleases him” (John 8:28-29). There are no
divisions in Jesus’ heart, no double motives or secret intentions. In Jesus
there is complete inner unity because of his complete unity with God.
Becoming like Jesus is growing into purity of heart. That purity is what gave
Jesus and will give us true spiritual vision.
Jesus, the Blessed Child of the
Father, is a peacemaker. His peace doesn’t mean only absence of war. It is not
simply harmony or equilibrium. His peace is the fullness of well-being,
gratuitously given by God. Jesus says,
“Peace I leave to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot
give, this is my gift to you” (John 14:27). Peace is Shalom — well-being of
mind, heart, and body, individually and communally. It can exist in the midst
of a war-torn world, even in the midst of unresolved problems and increasing
human conflicts. Jesus made that peace by giving his life for his brothers and
sisters. This is no easy peace, but it is everlasting and it comes
from God. Are we willing to give our lives in the service of peace?
The Beatitudes offer us a self-portrait of Jesus. At first it might seem to be a most unappealing portrait – who wants to be poor, mourning and persecuted? Who can be truly gentle, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, and always concerned about justice? Where is the realism here? Don’t we have to survive in this world and use the ways of the world to do so? Jesus shows us the way to be in the world without being of it. When we model our lives on his, a new world will open up for us. The Kingdom of Heaven will be ours, and the earth will be our inheritance. We will be comforted and have our fill; mercy will be shown to us. Yes, we will be recognized as God’s children and truly see God, not just in an afterlife, but here and now (see Matthew 5:3-10). That is the reward of modeling our lives on the life of Jesus.
J prays that we keep our eyes on JESUS and JESUS alone for we are to GOD the aroma of CHRIST among
those who are being saved.
1 comment:
Fun seeing you at the game this past week. It's always nice to see a familiar face, especially a happy and smiling one. From reading this blog it seems as if you are happy and I'm happy for you. Hopefully we'll cross paths again.
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