Jesus preaches about being blessed
From the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6, verses 12-13, 17-22)
After many months of teaching and preaching and healing people, Jesus began to realize that he needed help. He wanted to talk to God about this so he went up to the top of a mountain. (Jesus used to do this a lot. He felt close to God when he was up high.) Jesus spent a whole night praying on that mountain.
When morning dawned, Jesus was tired but he understood what to do. He chose 12 men he knew he could trust to speak and act for him when he wasn't around. He called these men apostles. Up on the top of that mountain, Jesus told his apostles how very much he loved them and needed their help. He told them that he trusted them and that God trusted them, too. Being Jesus' apostle was a very, very big responsibility, and each of the twelve agreed to try his best to live up to the job.
As Jesus and the apostles came down from the mountain, they saw a huge crowd of people waiting for them. Many, many people had come to hear Jesus and to be healed. Everyone in the crowd was trying to touch Jesus because they knew that he was filled with great power.
It took a long time, but Jesus healed all the people who came to him that day. His apostles watched him closely and learned from what he did.
Then he began to teach everyone, and here is what he said:*
"You're blessed when you've lost it all. God's beloved community is there for the finding."
"You're blessed when you're ravenously hungry. Then you'll be ready for the things that God will feed you."
"You're blessed when the tears flow freely. Joy will follow."
"Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or tells you to get lost, every time someone says something bad about you because you love me. That means that the truth that you are living is making that person uneasy. Be glad when that happens - leap for joy even! - because all heaven applauds you. And know that you are in good company. Many others have been treated this way over the years."
* The rest of the story is adapted from The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene Peterson.
Questions to ponder:
I wonder where you feel close to God.
I wonder what it was like to be one of Jesus' apostles.
I wonder what the apostles noticed that day as they watched Jesus heal everyone who came to him.
I wonder what being "blessed" feels like. I wonder how you know when you are "blessed."