Good News is Proclaimed to the Poor

Scripture:

Luke 6:17-23

Quick Summary:

Jesus blesses the people who thought they were cursed.

The Point:

No matter what is going wrong in your life, God still love you and is with you!

Questions for Family Time:

1.     Why did people think they were cursed by God?

a.      Bad stuff was happening to them.

2.     Like what bad stuff?

a.      They were poor and hungry. People they loved kept dying.

3.      What was the good news Jesus proclaimed?

a.        When we go through hard stuff, it’s not because we are cursed by God.

Deeper:

In the Old Testament, when the Hebrews came into the Promised Land, they were told to stop in a valley. On one side was Mount Gerizim, on the other side Mount Ebal. There in the valley, the whole Law was read to them. Every rule, every commandment was said in front of all the people. Then half of the Hebrews went and stood on one mountain the other half on the other mountain. The ones on Mount Gerizim shouted out what would happen if they followed God’s Law. They shouted The Blessings. Then, those on Mount Ebal shouted out what would happen if the law was disobeyed…the curses.

Right at the birth of the nation, the people learn that if they do right by God, they will be blessed. If they do wrong by God, they will be cursed. For thousands of years later, they held this belief that if your life appears to be cursed, like you live in poverty, or are disabled, or keep losing people you love, you must have broken God’s law to receive such a curse.

This is the world that Jesus comes into. In this world, to these people who seem to be cursed by God, Jesus comes down the mountains to the people. He proclaims good news by blessing the cursed people:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

²² Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

Jesus takes the cursed and rejected and he tells them that God has not cursed them.  Instead God has blessed them. God has given his kingdom to the poor. He will feed the hungry. He will bring joy to those with sorrow. He will bless the lonely and rejected. God has an eternal home for these people.

Jesus lifts the curse that these people were carrying. When everyone around them are accusing them of sin, and telling them they must have deserved their misfortune, Jesus shows up.  Is there really any news that could have been better for them?

This is the good news He proclaims for us: No matter what circumstance you find yourself in, God loves you. Our blessings are not how well it rains, or how well the stock market does. Our blessings are not even if we are popular and well liked. Our blessings are this:

Ours is the kingdom of God!

We will be satisfied.

We will experience joy again.

God does not reject or desert us!

We have an eternity with him waiting for us.

This is the Good News! Even when the world tells us we are cursed, We know that God is for us!

Personal Reflection:

               When have you been surprisingly blessed in moments of hardship? What hardships are you facing right now? How do you see God blessing you in the midst of them?

Blessed are those who Mourn, For they will be Comforted

John 11:1-37

Quick Summary:

Lazarus, one of Jesus’s friends, has died. Jesus comes too late, and finds Martha and Mary, Lazarus’s sisters already mourning for their brother. To each sister, Jesus responds differently. To Martha, he gives her hope of the resurrection. Mary, however, refuses to come out to meet Jesus. Finally she meets Jesus, and cries. Jesus does not give her a speech. He just cries with her.

The Point:

Jesus comforts us when we mourn. When we are sad because someone dies, he know what we need, whether it is to be reminded about everlasting life, or just someone to cry with us.

Questions for Family Time:

           1.     What happened? Tell me the story.

           2.     Who was “mourning”? (Sad)

           3.     Who has died in your life? Who helped you when you were sad? How?

           4.     Share a favorite memory about that someone who died.

Deeper:

During Jesus time, there were people whose professional career was to cry and moan over the dead. In some cultures even today, the widow wears black for a year, so that everyone understands she is still in mourning.

But not in our culture. In our culture, if you are immediate family, you may get a week off to say your goodbyes. We, as a culture, expect people to say goodbye within the week of passing and move on with their life.

That is just not realistic. It takes at least 2 years to grieve in the most uncomplicated of deaths. For that first year, every holiday, every season is the first without that person. Each first needs its own healing, its own period of grief. The second year, we find ourselves finding new traditions as we learn to carry on without that loved one. Grief takes a long time, even at its simplest.

As much as we try to guard our children from the reality of death, there comes a point for each of us when someone close dies, and we have no choice but to share that reality with them. How awesome to know, that as we stumble through their tears and stumble through our own, that Jesus is with us. Jesus knows what we need to hear, but he also knows when we don’t need to hear anything. He is willing to cry with us in our pain.

The story in John says that when Jesus wept, the Jews watching said, “See how he loved Lazarus!” I think they were wrong in their observation. Those tears were not for Lazarus, who he knew would be fine. Those tears were for Mary. No matter what good eternity our loved ones are in, Jesus still weeps with us and comforts us when we mourn.

Personal Reflection:

Who are you mourning? How is Jesus comforting you as you mourn?