Blessed Are the Hungry

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is the greatest sermon every preached. People from all over came to hear Jesus give this incredible message. This was radical preaching like we almost never hear today.  Jesus gave four beatitudes in Luke’s version that are disguised blessings. They paint a portrait of a true disciple of Christ who has left everything and followed the master and has no regrets.

Jesus teaches us the difference between superficial Christianity and what it means to be a true follower of Christ. The hard-hitting truth hits small-minded Christians who are lost in materialism and confused about morality. The sermon was meant to dispel the shallow commitments and cause us to take up our cross and follow him. Jesus makes no bones about it that those who take up their cross would suffer because of him, and when that happens, we should consider ourselves fortunate.

Jesus talked about our attitude toward money, toward the culture, and toward God. He teaches us to know what to weep for and what to laugh about. True followers of Christ weep over a sinful world that is full of broken lives, but they also know how to laugh about the simple pleasures God gives us.

He encouraged us to be hungry for God the way David described “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Ps 42:1-2).

The imagery from David’s psalm describes a soul thirsting for God the way a deer thirsts for the cool, refreshing water. God may not always seem ready at hand, but he has made us promises that we can find him if we seek him, and what a promise that is. Ask yourself are you hungry for God and are you seeking him and are you truly following him?

Luke 6:20-22

20 Looking at his disciples, he said:

"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 men hate you,

when they exclude you and insult you

and reject your name as evil,

because of the Son of Man.