Faith Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

 “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 receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[b] on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:3-11, NRSVCE)

Have you ever felt like people are looking down on you? Have you ever felt angry because this world is full of injustice? Have you ever been ridiculed or even persecuted for your beliefs? 

Well, if you have answered yes to any of those questions, I am truly sorry for you. Unfortunately, I cannot change your situation drastically. But there is one person who can: Jesus Christ. 

Jesus' kingdom is not like other kingdoms, and that was and still is the problem. It is not a problem per se, but many people expected the promised Messiah to be a mighty king and a strong ruler. Those things are true, Jesus is all that, but he did not appear with a golden crown on his head. He also did not chase the Romans out of Israel. Instead, he used words, not swords. 

So of course, the Jewish men and women were disappointed with him because they were treated like dogs or even worse by the Romans. Many people were poor, living in the streets with the sick and afflicted. In that milieu of despair, he starts his famous sermon on the mount. In this sermon, he gives the outcasts and downtrodden a new hope. The Roman empire and any following empire, yes even the whole world will never stop being unjust. There will always be poor people, people who mourn, and people who are persecuted for what they perceive as the right. But, and this is the core of his message, those people will experience justice. This mortal life is not the end of the story. On the contrary, it is just the beginning, and as soon as the kingdom of heaven has begun, God will make things right. Now, making things right does not mean that the oppressed will become oppressors. He says that they will be blessed. Being blessed is sometimes defined as "living with God in heaven". Imagine the greatest joy you can think of, multiply it times 100, and it is still not even close to what living with God means. And contrary to any joy in this world, the joy of being among the blessed will last forever. 

Jesus' message is a revolution among the faithful. Old Testament Judaism taught that people who do good deeds, receive blessings. We can still see that in the Book of Job where Job's friends tell Job he must have sinned; otherwise, he would not be in such trouble. And this is the mindset of the Jews under Roman control: the poor, the sick, and the outcast are what they are because they deserve it. Even the disciples of Jesus had to adapt to that new message:

"His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'" (John 9:2, NRSVCE)

With the sermon on the mount, a new hope is born. And this invitation to mercy and justice is still extended to us today. We are still promised the blessings that will come if we are persecuted, oppressed, sad, etc. In times of economic crises, wars, and divisions in almost every western country, we need this message more than ever. This is why it is important to stop for a moment and to have a seat at the mount where Jesus is preaching his message of a better future.

Media Sources:

https://newbostoncoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/poor.jpg

https://revgauss.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/a-new-hope.jpg?w=605