Reflection on Matthew 4:23-5:12

Matthew 4:23-5:12 (NRSVue)

²³ Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² And he began to speak and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

Reflection

Recently Father Jose Kuriappilly gave a great talk on how we Christians follow Jesus in a wounded world.  The whole thing was great, but I have to tell you that the parts that stopped me in my tracks were the very first three sentences.  He said:

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.

The wounded Church is the real Church.

The wounded Christian is the real Christian.

I guess that it was so powerful to me because so often Jesus is portrayed in our culture as some sort of warrior king who has arrived, with sword in his hand, to hunt the sinner and crush unrighteous.  We hear echoes of this image whenever we hear the phrase, “God is on our side” as we go and fight our wars and crush our immoral enemies.  But, if the wounded Christ is the real Christ, and the warrior one is fake, then it seems that Christ will look a lot more like the one who is crushed than the one who is the crusher.  Christ’s throne will look a lot more like a wooden cross than it does a gold encrusted seat.  Christ will look like the one slaughtered by an empire rather than the one leading an empire.

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.  The Christ who chose to go to the cross for the sake of saving sinners is a God who chooses to live with the losers.

That makes me think of the story of the paralyzed man in Matthew 9 who was carried by his friends and brought to Jesus.  Jesus welcomes the man and forgives his sins.  The religious leaders, who were standing nearby, were shocked that Jesus forgave a sinner.  In response to their objection, Jesus gets even closer to the sinner and heals the paralyzed man.  The man picks up his mat and runs home.

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.  The wounded Christ chooses to live with the losers.

That reminds me that the very next story in Matthew is the story of Jesus eating with the losers.  But before we get to the eating part of the story, if you recall, it starts this way: 

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13).

Jesus calls the sinner to follow.  Jesus calls the despised to serve alongside him.  Jesus calls the deeply wounded to feast with him.  And he does it because, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”  The wounded Christ is the real Christ.  The wounded Christ chooses to live with the losers and the wounded.

Our theme this year for the Lenten luncheons is “Following Jesus in a wounded world.”  And what has occurred to me more and more is that the followers of Jesus are those in the world who are wounded.

    “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,

    that saved a wretch like me.

    I once was lost but now am found.

    Was blind but now I see.”

One day very early on in his ministry, Jesus climbs a mountain, preparing to give his big sermon: “The Sermon on the Mount.”  And as he stands atop that mountain and looks out at the crowd, guess who he sees?

Actually, you do not need to guess because we know who he sees.  The writer of Matthew tells who is gathered together with him.  Right before Jesus talks about how the good life belongs to the powerless, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit,” and right before he proclaims that the good life belongs to those who are deep in grief because life is not what they had hoped, “Blessed are those who mourn,” Jesus shared the good news with some special people.  

These special people that he gathered to be his followers were, quite frankly, the last people that we would expect.  The Bible tells us that he taught and touched “all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them” (Matthew 4:24). 

As Jesus prepares to teach his followers essential things such as “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) and “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged” (Matthew 7:1) he looks out at this crowd of formerly sick, diseased, demon possessed, and bodily stricken and seems to say, “These are my people.  These are the ones who will actually follow me.”

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.

The wounded Church is the real Church.

The wounded Christian is the real Christian.

At a dinner table in the church fellowship hall a man from the street walked in, sat down at a table where finely dressed church members had already gathered, and slowly rocked and hummed to himself.  One of the finely dressed church members got up and went over to the pastor and asked what the pastor was going to do about the man.  “He stinks, his humming is annoying, and I am certain I can smell alcohol on his breath.  What are you going to do?”

And the pastor, who is a very dear friend of mine, answered, “Six years ago I was that man.  Six years ago, I wandered into a church, seeking food after having not showered for a month.  And, six years ago that pastor served me food like I was in a fine restaurant, then sat with my stinking soul, and told me about Jesus, who invites people just like me to follow.  So, what am I going to do?  I am going to go get him some food and pull up a chair.  I expect that you are able to go get him some coffee?”  And that is what happened.  A wounded pastor ate with a wounded man and introduced him to a wounded savior.  That wounded man now cooks for those meals, and a fine cook he is.  Jesus looked out at the crowd, saw the wounded man, and invited him into a life that seeks to heal even more of the wounded.

The wounded Christ is the real Christ.

The wounded church is the real church.

The wounded Christian is the real Christian.

    “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

    And grace, my fears relieved.

    How precious did that grace appear

    The hour I first believed.”