Have you ever felt cursed?
Have you ever had a moment where it felt like your whole world was crashing down all around you?
Maybe it was major or maybe it was the combination of a lot of little things that just kept going wrong.
What happens when you feel like everyone around you is blessed, but you feel cursed? Like nothing is going your way?
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A Different Way to Think
When Jesus begins His ministry, it’s different. It’s unlike anything anyone has ever seen before.
Jesus is ushering in a new Kingdom. You might say that he’s starting a great reversal. He’s making everything right that has gone wrong. He’s returning things to the way they were always supposed to be.
He heals people of their sickness & disease. Why? Because there is no sickness or disease in His kingdom! Everything that has gone wrong in the world since SIN entered the picture in the garden of Eden is now going to be made right!
It’s no surprise that a crowd has gathered around Jesus.
What they don’t know is that Jesus is about to deliver the greatest sermon that has ever been preached.
He’s about to speak and what no one who is there that day could possibly know or realize is that the words they’re about to hear from Jesus, these words, this Sermon, will be the most thought about, most written about, most discussed, most famous, most talked about Sermon ever preached! And they were there that day!
And now that He has everyone’s attention, this is what Jesus does next…
“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
God blesses those who are humble,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied.
God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.
Shocking
What’s so shocking about these words of Jesus?
People who are poor generally don’t feel blessed.
People who mourn don’t feel happy.
People who have been humbled or who are victims of injustice don’t think of themselves as people for whom God’s favor is upon them.
We think this way too! What happens is that when you get the new job, or you get a raise, or you make a good grade on that test or get into the college of your dreams, or you get the house, or whatever it is, when you GET IT, you say…
I’M SO BLESSED!
And you are.
But that’s not the only time your blessed.
When Jesus began speaking you can almost sense the collective jaw drop of the audience. Maybe these words of Jesus have lost some of their edge because you’ve heard them so many times before. But most people in the condition that Jesus is describing don’t consider themselves blessed, they consider themselves cursed!
It would have made more sense if Jesus had said, you know what…
“Those who are poor are cursed and are in for a rough life.
Those who mourn may never be comforted.
Those who are humble may never get the recognition you are looking for.
Those of you who are victims of injustice will never be satisfied.
Those who are merciful need to figure out that it’s an eye for an eye world & you need to protect yourself.
Those whose hearts are pure need to realize that you’re never going to make it in this world full of evil & darkness.
Those who work for peace, good luck. People will always find ways to be divided and hate each other.
Those who are persecuted for doing right, get used to it.
“Those of you who are mocked, made fun of and persecuted… Those of you who people make up lies about you and say all sorts of evil things against you… you need thick skin because it’s a tough world out there!
In so many ways for so many reasons that would have made more sense because, if for no other reason, that’s the way people felt.
And that may be the way you feel today. You may feel like you’re cursed. That nothing is going your way. That the world is against you. And that God, if he is real, is far from you.
But Jesus says it’s actually the other way around. When these things happen, when life is not as it should be, if you’re a part of my Kingdom you’re actually BLESSED.
Blessed? Why?
What you’ve viewed as a curse is actually blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven.
WHY?
The key phrase is in v11: “because you are my followers.”
Becoming a follower of Jesus changes everything about us. Part of that change, part of that reversal, is how we view and how we see the world.
[Tweet “Becoming a follower of Jesus changes how we view and how we see the world.”]It changes how we see suffering & pain in the world… especially how we see OUR suffering and pain in the world!
Jesus teaches this powerful truth… that when you experience hardship in this world, BE GLAD!
This is what He says…
Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
Remember what? The ancient prophets?
What was their job?
O yea, the primary purpose of every ancient prophet was to point the people of God back to God! How did they do that? Almost every one of them did that THROUGH SOME KIND OF HARDSHIP or STRUGGLE.
Elijah was under constant threat of death from Queen Jezebel.
Isaiah was asked to preach to a generation that would never respond to his message.
Jeremiah was arrested, imprisoned & publicly disgraced.
Ezekiel was taken captive into Babylon.
Daniel was thrown into a den of lions.
Hosea was asked to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him over & over again.
The list goes on & on, but make no mistake about it… to be a prophet for God’s people was not a calling to a life of prosperity. It was a call to suffer & through that suffering point people to God!
Their pain became their platform to proclaim the goodness of God and to point people to God!
[Tweet “Pain can be a platform to proclaim the goodness of God and to point people to God!”]You Are Blessed
So Jesus begins his message by reorienting His disciples and CHANGING the way they THINK!
You’re not cursed when you’re up under the difficulties of life, you are blessed. Because it’s from that place that you too can proclaim the goodness of God and point others to the only God who saves.
So when your world is turned upside down, when you feel like everything that can go wrong does go wrong, when you wake up one day and you realize you are living your worst nightmare, that’s when you go back to these words of Jesus and remember…
No, no… I’m not cursed. Actually, I’m blessed.
Because I’ve been called to follow a Savior who sees my circumstance & calls me to follow him through my pain so that my pain can be my platform to proclaim the goodness of my God & point other people to the only God who saves!
[Tweet “You’ve been called to follow a Savior who sees your circumstance & calls you to follow him through your pain so that your pain can be your platform to proclaim the goodness of your God & point other people to the only God who saves!”]We do live in a broken and fallen world. And bad things do happen to good people all the time.
But it’s the way we live the life we live that matters. And Jesus offers us a way to live that gives purpose to our pain and points others to the only real source of life.
The way you live the life you live matters. Live Different.
[Tweet “The way you live the life you live matters. Live Different.”]Want more from this Series… Click here.
