When Jesus started his ministry He started with the small print, the tough part. He did not spare anything nor anybody. The sermon on the Mount was directed towards disciples - people who already made the decision to follow Him. He called them blessed.
They were the blessed ones because they decided to be poor on behalf of Jesus. They left all they had and followed Jesus. In reality they only had Jesus - nothing else. Jesus was their only hope and their only security. They had nowhere else to go as they gave up all their worldly possessions to depend totally and completely on Jesus.
They were also blessed because they were hungry. They had hunger pains for the renewal of the earth. They were hungry for the Kingdom of God to come and that His Will be done on earth. They longed for the renewal of everything. They longed for the bread of life to fill them.
The were blessed because they mourned. They mourned because they refused to be in tune with the world. They lived without the wealth of the world. The world were hoping and yearning for progress, development and power. The disciples could see the end, the final day of reckoning.
They were blessed because the people rejected them. People reproached them, persecuted and rejected them. But they were lucky and joyful because they belong to Jesus and knew they would inherit the new Jerusalem.
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