CONNECTING POINT: Rx For Life

In recent months, I’ve gotten to know more about Luke, the physician who wrote about the life and ministry of Jesus. For most of my life, I’ve assumed that Luke was one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, but I was wrong. Luke was a close friend to Paul and accompanied him on several trips as they spread the message of Jesus across the region. Many scholars believe Luke is the author of Acts, and as a physician, one can understand why the healing power of Jesus caught his interest.

You may be familiar with Matthew’s writing, and the “Sermon on the Mount” is recorded in chapters 5-7 of his work. Luke shares a much more abbreviated version in chapter 6 of his work, but it most likely took place on a different day and place. How can this be true? Luke states, “He (Jesus) went down with them (disciples) and stood on a level place.” This is better known as the “Sermon on the Plain.”

Jesus states that the greatest need is spiritual renewal, confirmed in the 1st century and is valid for us today. David Guzik writes about the mandate of Jesus, “It presents a radically different agenda than what the nation of Israel expected from the Messiah. It does not present the political or material blessings of the Messiah’s reign. Instead, it expresses the spiritual implications of the rule of Jesus in our lives. This great message tells us how we will live when Jesus is our Lord.” I would refer to this as Jesus’ prescription for life, focusing more on spiritual matters than physical ones.

“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 people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man,” (Luke 6:20-22).

We are accustomed to the term “blessed” today, #blessed is seen all over the internet. However, we tend to associate being “blessed” with the physical or our financial status. Jesus intended something much deeper. In Greek, being blessed is not about comfort or being happy at the moment. Makarios (blessed), according to Barclay, “describes that joy which has its secret within itself, that joy which is serene and untouchable, and self-contained, that joy which is completely independent of all the chances and changes of life.” Think about that for a moment; life certainly brings unexpected changes, and Jesus is saying that we can have assurance amid those changes.

Jesus ties this concept of being blessed with all things “poor.” What? He’s referring to being “poor in spirit.” In a culture where religiosity abounded, the Jews became such hubris in their legalism and ceremonial practice that they missed the mark. The same is true today; we can fall into that dreadful trap of hypocrisy and still be spiritually bankrupt. Jesus is stating that you start here, we have nothing, we are destitute, and our righteousness is filthy rags. In this state, anyone can receive the Kingdom of God, a kingdom much different from anything this world offers. The hunger we seek is not what fills our appetites but the soul. As David expresses in Psalm 30:5, weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning. That joy is found in approaching life as Jesus prescribed.