There was a presumption in Jesus’ day (which persists through the centuries down to today) that God showed favor by giving wealth and other kinds of success. It was (and sometimes still is) common to assume that the people who had a lot of resources like livestock and big harvests, good health, and abundant children were the ones God liked best. It seemed like God was blessing them with good things. In this week’s gospel Jesus very clearly makes the opposite assertion.
Jesus came down from praying on a mountain and was surrounded by huge crowds of both followers and other people from the region. They were there to hear Jesus and to be healed by him. After teaching and healing the multitude, Jesus turns to the large group of his followers and tells them that the poor and hungry and grieving and rejected ones are not despised by God, but are actually blessed; they have God’s favor, they are fortunate. He says the kingdom of God belongs to the poor, the hungry will be filled, the weeping will laugh, and persecution will not last forever. Jesus lets them know that they are important to God and offers them hope for another, better future. Despite anything they may have heard before, the poor and hungry, weeping, and rejected ARE precious to God.
Jesus goes on to say something like, “Yikes!” to those who are rich, those who have eaten their fill, those who are laughing, and those who are popular, for they will not enjoy those conditions forever. Despite anything they may have heard before, people with advantages are not loved by God more than others.
Jesus is turning the world upside down. He is telling his followers that the ways they’ve been taught to understand the world, the ways they’ve learned to evaluate and classify themselves and each other are NOT how God sees or evaluates or classifies people. Whether people have few resources or many, whether they are hungry or full, whether they are weeping or laughing, whether they are hated or celebrated, we all matter to God. This hierarchy is a human creation, not God’s. God is one of compassion who wants justice, and so has a particular concern for people who are struggling. Jesus invites his followers, us included, to see the world and each other like God does.
Peace,