We ended last week's sermon by suggesting that Jesus, the great physician, can do the impossible. He can take the most dysfunctional and broken parts of our lives and do surgery to repair them. And we see Jesus doing this very thing in the Bible. He begins changing us and bringing healing to us in the deepest parts of our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. It’s a struggle for us to even make superficial changes, but Jesus does the deep stuff.
Jesus can help us make deep changes in our lives.
Matthew 4:23-25 is one of those places in the Bible where we find Jesus doing the deep stuff. Matthew 4:23-25 (NIV) says, "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.'
I looked at one of those maps that are in the back of every Bible. The crowds pursued Jesus on foot from as far away asthirty miles and sixty miles. Syria was over hundred miles north. And whydid they follow him on foot for that many miles? Because the crowds believed that Jesus could do what they could not do. He could heal them! He could make them whole! Without God even the small stuff was impossible, but with God all things were possible! Jesus captured the imagination of the masses of people. He gave the hopeless hope again.
One of the clearest declarations of hope ever spoken by Jesus is in Matthew 5:1-12. Thousands of people were coming to Jesus seeking God’s healing touch in their lives. And each person hadhis own story. They believed that their lives would be infinitely better only if Jesus healed their diseases, relieved their pain, or broke the power of their sin. But there in Matthew 5:3-12 Jesus proclaims a simple, but revolutionary message of hope. Some eight or nine times throughout this passage he tells them, "You are blessed."
Jesus told the crowds, "You are blessed."
What a relief it must have been for them to hear those words. They’d spent their lives believing differently and being told differently. They believed that being poor and being of low status meant God had overlooked them. But Jesus told them that this just wasn’t the case. Every one of them could participate in kingdom of God.
In Matthew 5:3-12 (NIV) Jesus says,"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 sons 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."
What an incredible statement of grace Jesus was making to the crowds. "You are blessed!" Jesus was overthrowing the popular religious notions of his day. Being blessed is completely different than being happy. The poor in spirit can be blessed. Those in mourning can be blessed. Those who are hungry and thirsty can be filled. Those who are persecuted can rejoice and be glad. Being blessed transcends our personal fortunes, our circumstances, the emotion of the moment, and even our social status.
Brain freeze is pride; finding satisfaction and prosperity apart from God.
For Jesus, blessed is the condition of anyone who comes before Christ. A person is blessed when he comes to Christbelieving, hoping, and seeking a relationship with the living God. In your outline you’ll see the term Brain Freeze. Brain Freeze is just one of the many phony ailments you’ll find in the board game "Operation." But for this sermon series I would like you to think of brain freeze as pride. Pride is paralyzing. Pride is finding satisfaction and prosperity apart from God.
Jesus spoke to the poor.
So in Luke’s account of the Jesus’ sermon in Luke 6:17-23 we find two distinct groups of people. One group is the poor, who had rejected pride and self-sufficiency. Jesus says to them in Luke 6:17-23 (NIV), "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets."
Jesus also spoke to the rich.
But in Luke 6:24-26 Jesus addressed another distinct group in the crowd. He addressed those who were happy in life, who had found satisfaction apart from God, and who were accepted by men. These people were in positions of privilege within society and were prosperous and healthy. Luke 6:24-26 (NIV) says,"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets."
So here again Jesus is redefining what it means to be blessed. Blessed has nothing to do with worldly ambitions, but has everything to do with our posture before God. In Revelation 3:17-18 (NIV) Jesus completely renounces the Church at Laodicea. This passage says,"You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see."
Jesus meets us in our spiritual bankruptcy.
What is brain freeze? Brain freeze is when we become proud, and in our prosperity wemiss the reality of Jesus. The proud don’t need Jesus. The rich don’t need Jesus. The healthy and wealthy don’t need Jesus. The self-sufficient, the wise, the happy, the popular crowd, and the satisfied all just stay away from Jesus. But Jesus was telling the poor, "You are blessed because unlike the proud, here you are seeking me, believing, trusting, anticipating, praying, and reaching out to God." Those who are poor in spirit are unlikely candidates for Jesus’ blessing. But there is something we must understand about Jesus. Jesus doesn’t meet us in our spiritual prosperity. Jesus meets us in our spiritual bankruptcy.
Jesus encounters many spiritually bankrupt people.
A man with leprosy.
Throughout the book of Matthew we find all these encounters between Jesus and bankrupt people. In Matthew 8:2-3 (NIV) we read how, "A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately he was cured of his leprosy."
Tax collectors and sinners.
In Matthew 9:9-13 (NIV) we read, "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and 'sinners' came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?' On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.' "
A Canaanite woman.
In Matthew 15:21-29 (NIV) it’s the Canaanite woman, whose daughter was suffering terribly from demon possession. The Canaanites were dogs in the eyes of the Jews. And this woman comes to Jesus in utter humility. It's an incredible story. Matthew's account tells us, "Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.'Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, 'Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.'He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.The woman came and knelt before him. 'Lord, help me!' she said.He replied, 'It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.' 'Yes, Lord,' she said, 'but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.'Then Jesus answered, 'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour."
The little children.
In Matthew 19:13-14 (NIV) it’s the little children who come to Jesus in innocence, without pretense, and without anything to offer."Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there."
Who are the spiritually poor?
Who are the spiritually poor? They are people who have rejected pride and self-sufficiency. They are people who have been softened by the harsh realities of life. The spiritually poor are those who have been disciplined by unfortunate circumstances, who have nothing left to give emotionally, who have spent every spiritual resource, who have given up on self-help, who are deficient in themselves, who find themselves utterly bankrupt before God, and who want just the slightest glimmer of hope.
The spiritually poor are blessed because they have no options but to seek God. They have no other option but to walkthrity miles,sixty miles,one hundredmiles, or two hundred miles. For most of us, life is so good that we have never had to walk. We have never had to truly follow Jesus, pursuing him in the countryside, hoping against hope to be able to reach out and touch even the edge of Christ’s garment and be healed.
There is a danger in being richly blessed in the eyes of the world.The danger comes fromnever understanding what it means to be blessed in the eyes of the living God. If you're poor in spirit,poor economically, poor socially, poor emotionally, or poor spiritually, then praise God! Because you are going to see the kingdom before anyone else. It is so easy to miss God when everything else in life is great, good, fine, and awesome.
The poor participate in the master's banquet.
In Luke 14:16-24 (NIV) Jesus tells the parable of the great banquet. He says, "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can’t come.' The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.''Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "
The poor participate in the master’s banquet. Why? Because they are hungry for God. They understand their poverty. They understand their need. They're bankrupt. But the rich miss the master’s banquet. Why? Because they're satisfied. They have good things in life. They have wealth. They have prosperity. They’re self-sufficient. They have everything they need. They’ve got a million excuses for why they don’t need to inconvenience their lives and their schedules to sit at Jesus' feet.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
The starting point for spirituality is found in Matthew 5:3 (NIV) which says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The poor realize that true blessing is found when drawing from kingdom resources.
I close with Philippians 3:6-12 (NIV). "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ— the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."