Broken and Blessed (1 of 8)
Series: The Beatitudes
Tim Melton
Matthew 5:1-3
The story is told of two thieves who broke into a department store one night. They did not take anything. Instead, they changed all the price tags. It caused quite a bit of chaos the next morning. There were socks for 250 euros and televisions for 15. Can you imagine the surprise for some and the disbelief for others? It isn't that different from our world today. We now view the sacred as something to be trifled with and the things of leisure as if they were to be treasured above all else.
In our world where so many ''price tags'' have been changed Jesus' life and teachings stand in stark contrast to the values of today's culture. Matthew 5:3 is an example of this. It is so far removed from the way that we normally think that it does not even make sense until we seek out its deeper meaning.
''Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.''
We use the word ''bless'' so often that it at times has lost its Biblical meaning. The original meaning is tied to the idea of having everything that you need. That is different than everything that we want. God determines what we truly need. The idea is seen even more clearly with its use to describe the island of Cyprus. Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea near the southern coast of Turkey, was known as ''The Happy Isle.'' This word for happy was the same as the word blessed. It was said that if you lived in Cyprus you could live your whole life without ever needing to leave. Cyprus was such a fertile and beautiful land of great climate, rich soil, fruit, livestock, fish, and natural resources that one never needed to look outside Cyprus to have her needs met.
That is the idea of the blessedness of one who is in Christ. She will never again need to look to the world to have her spiritual needs met. As the Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:19,
''And my God will meet all your needs according to the r ...
Series: The Beatitudes
Tim Melton
Matthew 5:1-3
The story is told of two thieves who broke into a department store one night. They did not take anything. Instead, they changed all the price tags. It caused quite a bit of chaos the next morning. There were socks for 250 euros and televisions for 15. Can you imagine the surprise for some and the disbelief for others? It isn't that different from our world today. We now view the sacred as something to be trifled with and the things of leisure as if they were to be treasured above all else.
In our world where so many ''price tags'' have been changed Jesus' life and teachings stand in stark contrast to the values of today's culture. Matthew 5:3 is an example of this. It is so far removed from the way that we normally think that it does not even make sense until we seek out its deeper meaning.
''Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.''
We use the word ''bless'' so often that it at times has lost its Biblical meaning. The original meaning is tied to the idea of having everything that you need. That is different than everything that we want. God determines what we truly need. The idea is seen even more clearly with its use to describe the island of Cyprus. Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea near the southern coast of Turkey, was known as ''The Happy Isle.'' This word for happy was the same as the word blessed. It was said that if you lived in Cyprus you could live your whole life without ever needing to leave. Cyprus was such a fertile and beautiful land of great climate, rich soil, fruit, livestock, fish, and natural resources that one never needed to look outside Cyprus to have her needs met.
That is the idea of the blessedness of one who is in Christ. She will never again need to look to the world to have her spiritual needs met. As the Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:19,
''And my God will meet all your needs according to the r ...
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