When Persecuted on Account of the Name of Jesus, Rejoice and Be Glad For Your Reward is Great in Heaven!

 

Funeral of a persecuted believer.

  Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.". This is directly linked to blessing number 8. The fact that Jesus would repeat the statement concerning persecution His followers would face, pretty much confirms that we who name as Lord, Jesus Christ, will be persecuted and hated because of His name. It is a certainty, a promise, that such a situation will occur. How does Jesus say that are we to respond? “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Have you ever been lied on or taunted because someone thought you were being “goody two shoes”? Have you ever been lied on/taunted because you were honest and kind, and held in high esteem by others? Most of the time such behavior will come from persons who do not know or love Jesus. However, sometimes it may come from persons who may be in your own family, friends, or who may attend church. (also see: 2 Timothy 3:1-7; Galatians 2:4)  Because we belong to Jesus, He has asked His Father to protect us while we live out our faith here on earth. God’s protection can be a “snatching out of the fire”, that is, delivering our bodies out of a persecution activity so that we may flee to physical safety. God’s ultimate protection is that of enabling our faith to persevere the persecution, so that we can endure to the end of our earthly life – however long God determines it to be. He will protect us for eternity. Websites like Christianity Today, and Open Doors track the ongoing persecutions of God’s people around the world; some survive the persecution physically, and others go to their death praising God and glorifying their Savior. The “statistics” are staggering; these are not just data, these are faithful followers of Christ who are encountering some of the utmost physical and emotional assaults that can befall a human. And these followers do not fight back! They do not go to war with those who hate them and persecute them! And followers pray for their persecutors! Only a child of God could behave in such a way under such trauma! An organization called "The Voice of Martyrs," tracks, lends aid to, prays for, reports on, provides accommodations for, etc. those persecuted in the many places of the world. They collect the stories of the persecuted (warning: the reports may be hard to watch or read) to identify with their brothers and sisters who are also being persecuted. They also ask for donations to support the work of support they physically and materially provide to the thousands of Christians who have been driving from their homes and otherwise have suffered.

Read slowly the words of the Holy Spirit recorded in Romans 12 to those who are being persecuted:  “¹²Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. … Never be wise in your own sight. “¹⁷Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ ²⁰To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head [your acts of righteousness and forgiveness could impact their minds so that they are cleansed of evildoing.]’ ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  

When we do these things, we can “rejoice and be glad” because our God-given faith and endurance glorifies God and Christ, and may save those who persecute us from eternal death. God’s reward surpasses anything else you can have in this life; God says our "reward is great in heaven.”

This reward is multifaceted (look up if you don’t know what this means): It is a reward of intimate relationship with the God and Sovereign over all the universe, the owner, Creator of all things seen and unseen. It is the reward of knowing that God is alongside you in your trial and does not take His focus from you for even a millisecond. It is the reward of being Christ to others who see our faithfulness – particularly those who are persecuting us, and who by God’s will may be drawn unto Christ by your steadfastness. (example: the thief on the cross next to Jesus; also see Matthew 27:44; ). It is the reward of a “gold crown” (it is called gold because it is priceless!) when we stand at the throne of Christ; we will enjoy a special welcome and intimacy unlike anything we’ve ever known. We will be in the presence of the Lamb and all of His faithful people, united as one Body, and who worship Him day and night!

View this video about how Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who survived Nazi death camps and who suffered dearly for Christ, reacted when she met one of her persecutors years later. View this as a family or with friends and have a discussion about it.

 

Explore

 

·        Why are Christians persecuted? What do you think makes their situation different (not better!) from other groups of people who get persecuted? As you look at the websites that address the persecutions of our brothers and sisters in Christ, what kind of feeling or emotion comes over you? Do you have friends or relatives who live in those countries where persecution is nonstop? If so, how do you support them?

·        Share your thoughts on the Corrie Ten Boom video – how it made you feel and think about your faith.

·        How easily did her forgiveness come? How does her example look like the scriptures you read above?

·        Can you write a prayer for those who persecute/harass you?  Is it easy to do or are you experiencing a challenge to write a prayer for them? Why or why not?

·        Can you write a letter to a person who is suffering for Christ? Is it easy to do or are you feeling unsure of how to write it? What would you want someone to write to you if you were undergoing persecution?

Bonus: "Praise You in The Storm", Casting Crowns; "Find My Peace," Naomi Raine; "My God Fights For Me," feat. Micah Tyler, Kaden Slay, Charity Gayle; "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."  Virtual Choir #4; "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." sung by the Aeolians of Oakwood University; "Not Afraid." Pentecostals of Alexandria

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[1] 10/26/2022 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – 70 Christians martyred in a village in central Nigeria; relatives bury their dead.

Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake, for Theirs Is The Kingdom of Heaven

 

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. There is a popular “church” teaching that when we become followers of Christ, we have a rosy path before us. That we can expect material goods and wealth because we are now “Christian”. But, do you know that Jesus says just the opposite to those who would follow Him? ¹⁸“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19) This hatred may look like name calling, denial of certain provisions or kindness, verbal assaults and threats, even physical assaults and attack on property. (I have personally experienced a number of these; on one occasion, when I and some high schoolers from church were sharing the Gospel on Good Friday, we came under verbal attack!) It may be direct persecution on our bodies by satan in an attempt to limit our ability to praise and worship God and to distract us from our mission. 

Do we withhold our identity as a follower of Christ because we are embarrassed, or think we will be called names? Look at what Jesus tells us in Mark 8:38: “Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 

Zowie! God implores us to turn to Him in times of trouble – look at what the Bible says about praying to God when we are facing trials: Psalm 56:1-4, Psalm 57:1-3, Psalm119:84-87, Psalm 142:6, John 15:20; there are many more!  God has given us not just His Spirit, but also spiritual armor to protect our souls, because the devil and his agents are seeking to destroy our faith and relationship with Jesus. As a follower of Christ indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, we are already walking in eternity with God; we are already experiencing in a very tangible way, the kingdom of heaven because the Spirit of God, at work in us to build God’s kingdom, fills us, protects our souls, hearts and minds, we are sharing with Christ in our sufferings, and draws us closer to Jesus. Jesus, knowing in advance that we all face some version of suffering for His name, passionately prayed to His Father to protect us, most importantly to protect our faith and trust in Him, so that we may endure. As those who suffer for His namesake, we then fully identify with God’s kingdom, knowing we are secure in His grace and power. 

Therefore, though we will face difficulties because we follow Christ, we do not shrink back from being a Christ follower because we know we have already been saved for an inexplicable life beyond our humanity. No one can take that reality from us. The persecution can have the purpose of building our faith and trust in God, in rejoicing because we become enjoined in a remarkable and special way to Christ and His sufferings. We will find and know God in a unique way through suffering! And in the midst of our suffering, we can bow before God in grateful thanksgiving because we have the confirmation that we are Christ’s and in Christ.

 

Explore

This beatitude and the last one are tough to deal with because very few, if any, of us want to be taken out of our comfort zone. We want people to like us, and treat us fairly. We don’t want anything ‘negative’ to happen to us just because we are Christian. Consider these things:

·        For right now - and only God knows how long this will continue, the U.S. is one of few countries where you can live and not experience the kind of harsh persecution that our fellow brothers and sisters in over 85% of the countries of the world are experiencing because they name the name of Christ. Our trials are more subtle – just like they were for the Israelites when Balaam enticed them with sexual immorality and idolatry. Many who profess belief in Christ in the ‘western’ world are succumbing to the enticement; many Christians obey culture instead of God, breaking the first commandment. They call good what God has called sinful. Have you found that to be true; if so, in what ways? If you do not think that is true, why?

·        In this paper’s opening it says that “There is a popular “church” teaching that when we become followers of Christ, we have a rosy path before us. That we can expect material goods and wealth because we are now “Christian”. What do you think about that?

 

·        Have you been made aware of the harsh persecutions taking place around the world? How do you feel when you hear about, read, or see reports of such persecutions?  

·        What is it about God’s kingdom that would make you desire to endure pain and trials for Christ’s name? How easy would that be for you? (hint, re-read the Psalms above that David prayed to God)



Bonus: "Guilty"  -- Newsboys  (theme song from movie God's Not Dead 2); "Even If" - Mercy Me; "Don't Wait Til the Battle is Over - Shout Now!" - Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir

Blessed Are The Peacemakers, For They Will Be Called Children of God

 

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. The Bible at Isaiah 9:6 tells us that Jesus is the “Prince of Peace.” He is Peace. He came to earth not only to bring His peace but to guide others into the peace of His light. (Luke 1:79) In His resurrected self, Jesus commands peace upon His followers. (John 20:19, 21, 26) The kind of peace Jesus wants of us and for us is not a superficial peace – one of quiet, pleasant moments. He wants us to have a “shalom peace”. Shalom, which is an English rendering of the Hebrew word for šālōm, means peace, plus harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility. The shalom peace of Jesus is all of those things: a peace that has the character of harmony – an absence of destructive conflict, a mind and heart set on unifying others; it is a radiating calmness of spirit that senses God’s presence (remember when Jesus used to seek out a place where He could be alone to pray to the Father?); it is a wholeness of a pure heart, having the mind of Christ, and a growing faith in Christ; it is a complete knowledge and confidence within our soul that we are children of the Most High, who lavishes us with the richness of His grace; it means to know that God will supply all our needs; it is a lack of worry because God is in control; it means that we find true completeness in God our Savior and Father; it is an assurance that God will not leave nor forsake us; it is true joy and gratitude that nothing can come to us without passing through the filter of God, who loves us beyond our imagination or dream. True peace is an outgrowth of obedience to Christ. This deep-seated shalom peace is characterized by patience and mercy, it is a shalom that cannot happen apart from Christ. (John 15:5) Peace emanates from a pure heart. We are to imitate the Lord and develop a spirit of peace as Christ followers – becoming peacemakers. Our influence must be one that gives off a “fragrance” of peace to whomever we encounter. Jesus’ Gospel of peace compels us to become persons who make peace and seek peaceful relationships with others in Godly agapé love. The Prince of Peace would have us choose our words and actions wisely; to “sprinkle them with salt” and to become “salt.” Salt on food and in food enhances the pleasing taste of the food, makes it a delight in our mouth. Thus, our words are to be so seasoned, to be agreeable, to encourage peace, not provoking anger or be insulting and dismissive. As peacemakers who are “salt” and “light” we are not to seek revenge but reconciliation.

  But know this because people sometimes get this confused:  There is “peace with God” and the “peace of God”, and they are two different things. Peace with God requires our confession and acknowledgement to God of our rejection of His Son, Jesus Christ, bowing before God in complete repentance from that sin and sins that derive from that rejection, in response to the Spirit’s call, and then receiving God’s forgiveness based on the sacrificial Blood of Christ; in so surrendering ourselves to God, He places within us, “indwells” us, with God the Holy Spirit (aka Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ). One of the hallmarks of the Holy Spirit is His character, of which peace is a perfect attribute; He strives (sometimes has to struggle so to speak) to impute that character attribute through the sanctifying work He performs. The fullness of Himself indwelling us seals us for salvation. We become the ”sons” or heirs – joint heirs with Christ; God adopts us into His eternal family, where we can then have the peace of God by virtue of His Spirit in us and working in us, and can enjoy, even hold most sacred, our full access to the Father. At our adoption into the eternal family, we become the “sons” of God whose brother is Peace. True children reflect their Father, our God of peace, by willingly choosing to be peaceful with others and sharing that peace. As peacemakers, we speak peace by the Holy Spirit, forgiving others freely, and touching the hearts of those who have yet to become a believer. (more scripture support: Colossians 1:20; 3:15; Matthew 5:23-24; Romans 5:1-2; John 16:33; 1 Corinthians 14:33) As adopted children of God, our brother is Peace.


Explore

 

·       At worship services, when we do the “peace”, do you know why that is a part of the service? (hint: it’s not just a greeting!)

·       Why do you think that “peace with God” must happen before we can have the “peace of God?”

·       Would you describe yourself as a peacemaker within your family, at church, within your circle of friends or classmates? Why or why not?

·       If your answer to the bullet above this one is “Yes”, how would you explain to someone what it means to be a peacemaker?

 

 Bonus: Let There Be Peace on Earth  -- featuring Boys Choir of Harlem; "I Speak Jesus" - Charity Gayle, Steve Musso

Blessed Are The Pure in Heart, For They Will See God

 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. What is a pure heart? Does it mean that we must have not one iota of “bad stuff” in our heart? No! Otherwise, no one could meet this requirement! God describes the human heart, shaped by Adam’s sin DNA, as deceitful above all things. (Jeremiah 17:9)  Ouch! Our All-Knowing God also informs us that we are not able in our humanity to fully escape the effects of that damage; Psalm 51:5 tells us that we, like God’s servant David, are born with sinful hearts. Even as babies we cannot have pure hearts!

Do you know the Abraham of scripture, whom God called out of the land of the Chaldeans to become the father of a nation that would be called Israel? Guess what – he messed up. Yep, he messed up kind of big time; his heart chose not to wait on God and instead chose to go where God said not to go. He temporarily stepped out of God’s will, the consequences of which fell hard on him and his nuclear family, and even continue through to our times and actually impacts us! Despite his serious disobedience in that instance, though, God would still come to call him friend! Similarly, those disciples who were considered close to Jesus, his traveling buddies so to speak – who even set aside their regular work and income, and personal schedules to follow Him all throughout Judea, parts of Samaria and Galilee for three years, even they had issues. Some of them were doubters, some had a militant edge, a number of them by their actions told Jesus, “I’m out!” when He was arrested. Still, Jesus would call them His friends – and Jesus does not pick friends willy-nilly! And look at what the apostle Paul says about himself, he who is considered one of the great apostles, faithfully carrying out God’s will to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles, risking his life to do it, so that even to this day, we are experiencing the benefits of Paul’s faithful evangelism: this faithful person who, in God’s grace, saw Divine things that no one else in scripture experienced in that way -- even he struggled with sin!)

So, then, how is it that these faithful persons can be said to have “pure hearts” and see the God of their salvation, the God of promise? How is such a thing possible? It is only through Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins – His death on the cross, a single act – that could make it possible. Jesus’ sacrifice – the Blood He shed for us – had the power of canceling our sin debt, wiping out the condemnation of our souls and protecting us from the wrath of God, because He, Jesus, would cover, i.e., take the guilt of all our sins on Himself. His sacrifice not only liberated us from the body of sin, as Paul calls it, but also opened up the way to God for us, to “see” God as He reveals Himself in His Word, when we repent and accept the invitation contained in the Gospel to believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior. It is possible because when we allow Christ’s blood to “operationalize” in us, when we surrender our hearts – i.e., our wills and presumed right to be boss of our souls, the Holy Spirit, placed in us by God, cleanses or takes away the power of sin in believers’ lives. Then, when we submit to His cleansing work, our hearts will be shaped and trained in righteousness. We will be able to “see” God with spiritual eyes as noted above and experience Him in ways that persons without the Holy Spirit cannot (Psalm 51:1-2,10-12; Romans 6:9-11,17-19; Galatians 5:16-17,19-25; Ephesians 1:3-19). The Holy Spirit enables us to choose obedience – both to repent of sins we know we committed, and those that the Spirit has to reveal to us; to seek and do those things that please God. The process to make us pure before God is called sanctification[1] , which begins at the moment of salvation, and continues throughout our earthly lives until we look like Christ. So how else does the Holy Spirit cleanse and purify our hearts? He works in us through the Holy Word of God, prayer, and circumstances – along with faithful believers in community – to gradually ‘knock off the dirt’ of a life once controlled by a sinful nature. He motivates us to live a clean, moral life, to be “living sacrifices”, and to pursue God’s will in our lives. A pure heart is a heart like Christ’s. This world and our sin nature makes keeping our hearts pure hard work. We must work and submit to what the Spirit is doing for us per above in shaping us like Christ - that’s the purity God seeks. Nothing else this world has is going to shape our hearts in a way that pleases God! If we are to be living sacrifices to God, then our hearts are to be a temple to God. The pure in heart delights in all things God and seeks above all things to please Him. (Psalm 1:1-3; 37:4; 112:1; Ephesians 5:8-10)

For they shall see God. Can we see God with our natural eye? No – no one can. So why does the scripture say that if we live purely before God that we will see Him? Well, the answer to that question is two-fold. First: As the Holy Spirit begins changing us to be like Christ, as our hearts grow in obedience to Him, we begin to spiritually “see” God through Christ and how He has revealed the Father in scripture.  We see Him spiritually by faith as we grow closer to Him. As we continue submitted to God, we will come to see the image of God in others and in the glory of God. As noted in Ephesians 1 above, we are adopted by God as His children at the time of our salvation; the child can see his/her Father!! Secondly:  When we are ‘translated’, that is, when God exchanges our human form for one that is incorruptible, we will be able to gaze on the full beauty of the Lord our God, we shall see Him face-to-face and fall at His feet in worship! For only the pure in heart will gain the heavenly kingdom of God and see Him.  

 

Explore

·       Has anyone experienced this: the water company (in my area it is the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, aka WSSC) is doing work on your street and needs to shut the water off for several hours (yikes! But it happens). When they have completed their work, they notify the residents in the area that for the next several hours they should boil their water. Why do you think that is? What could happen if you choose not to follow that recommendation?

·       Again, the foregoing discussion is a lot of meat to chew on. As you go through it, what part(s) stand out for you in a way that you had not thought of before?

·       Lastly, an audit: When we consider the purity that we are called to,  

o   what do we allow into our hearts – the “throne” God’s temple, for a temple is a place where God is worshiped? What kind of media and gaming do we participate in? Does it honor God and His character? Does what we read and what we view with our eyes honor God and His moral standards for us?

o   See our bodies as God sees them – as sacred. Sacred things are treated modestly and honorably. Does how we intentionally dress or not dress, exposing certain body parts – does it honor God? That is, when a person looks at how we dress or expose certain body parts, does it draw him/her toward Christ so that our outsides reflect who we are to be in Christ?

o   Does our conduct toward one another align with God’s Word?

o   What is worship? Do we worship God daily? 

o   The big question is: Do we really want to see God?

Bonus: Let Praises Rise - Trey McLaughlin & SOZ; Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord - Michael W. Smith

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[1] Sanctification: a process of being transformed into Christ’s image by the work of the Holy Spirit in you. He directs you into the things of Christ - His words, His character, His lifestyle; when we submit to His work in us, not only will we see His transforming power in us and over us, but also will the angels in heaven, and the world around us. Sanctification is a life-long process -- beginning at the time of our salvation until we are raised up by Christ to be with Him.

Blessed Are The Merciful, For They Will Receive Mercy

 

 

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. What is this mercy? It is critical for us to know what it is since Jesus desires us to have mercy (Matthew 9:13 (Jesus was quoting from Hosea 6:6)). It is forgiving one another (and yourself), i.e., not seeking retaliation for the harm done to you by another. It also refers to compassion we feel for others who are weak, poor, ill, anxious, and in other ways disadvantaged. Also would include the “outcasts” of society who, either through fault or no fault of their own are “disconnected” to the greater community. In some versions of the Bible, mercy is also translated as lovingkindness, an apt description. While the Bible is replete with examples of God’s mercy to the nation of Israel and surrounding nations, among others, our greatest example of mercy extended to others is that of God’s mercy in Christ, even though we cannot fully comprehend this mercy of God. The reason is because we cannot comprehend how God views sin: to Him, sin is abominable, He hates sin because of what it does to those He created in His image; He knows that in addition to separating us from Him, sin has the effects of destroying our bodies with each succeeding generation, making us weak and helpless against its ravages; He knows that sin always results in death. We are born with death already in us because of sin. We are sinners – no matter how “nice” we may seem. Even in the face of such inborn rejection, even though we are sinners, God still loves us so much as to send His own Son to live as a human and to become the only option for removing the penalty of sin. Jesus’ single sacrifice for all sin, the basis for restoration with God, is an undeserved mercy and forgiveness. God’s example lets us know that we, too, are responsible and accountable to God for the mercy we show or do not show to others. Do we forgive others who violate us or otherwise hurt us? Forgiveness is not easy, as our own inborn sin rebels against forgiving and forgiveness because we want to get even and make the offenders suffer. We sometimes even feel that foregiveness of one's sins against us leaves us damaged and scarred, vulnerable and humiliated. Actually, not forgiving does more harm to us; the bitterness against that person can produce murderous thoughts - ask me how I know - and can bring a stress that wears on your body and emotions. Our bitterness makes us vulnerable to more bitterness because we a duped into thinking that our bitterness is control over our circumstances. Bitterness exacerbates the wound inflicted upon us so that it scars us emotionally; the more we feed into it, the deeper and wider the scar becomes; the scar cannot heal over because the bitterness continues to ooze into it. We are duped to think that being a person who forgives is humiliating - that it weakens our stance before others. If and when we understand that forgiveness means to surrender our desire to get even and make payback happen, we begin to understand the power of God that enables us to forgive. That God will gladly make His Spirit abound in us so that we will have the forward-facing will and desire to forgive. Our forgiveness takes us out of bitterness' imprisonment, frees us to thrive knowing that our Heavenly Father will even more freely forgive us for our messing up. 

Mercy is a high bar; the opposite of mercy is unforgiveness and wrath. We cannot receive mercy if we choose not to forgive. Jesus actually commands us to be merciful as recorded in Luke 6:35-36, that we may look like children of our Heavenly Father. God is so willing to pour out mercies on us; in fact, His mercies to us are fresh each morning! (Lamentations 3:22-23) Because Jesus is Light, He tells us that we must be light also. We show this light when we are merciful to others. (John 8:12; Matthew 5:14; Ephesians 5:8

Explore

1.  Can you name a mercy that God has recently extended to you? How did it make you feel?

2.  Can you remember a time when it was very difficult to extend mercy to a particular person or persons? What made it difficult for you?

3.  Given all you have read about mercy and the One who extends it, what do you think it means to “walk in the light”?


Bonus: "Mercy" - Elevation Worship and Maverick City

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst For Righteousness, For They Will Be Filled

 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Sometimes preachers may use this phrase to support their prosperity gospel, a false teaching that promises material riches once you become a Christian. Or, you may have heard people quote only a portion of it – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst…for they will be filled. They distort Jesus’ words to mean that all poor people will be blessed with an abundance of food and drink because they are poor. Such teaching has misled thousands![i]  I am going to safely assume that the majority of those who read this write-up have known true, deep physical hunger – a kind of physical hunger and thirst that has long hoped for any food and water, and will desperately eat dirt and non-potable water to satisfy the pain of hunger and thirst. Some of the people Jesus spoke to on the Mount were physically hungry and thirsty so, no doubt, their ears perked up when Jesus made that statement. Some of them may have been present when Jesus fed the 5,000. 

As a single mother early into my wage-earning season, I knew a physical hunger that I had never experienced before: my earnings did not go far, and no matter how frugal I was, it was very difficult financially to put nutritious meals on the table everyday after paying rent, and transportation to work. So I chose to not eat dinner many nights so that my children would have leftovers to eat the rest of the week. I would sometimes walk the 3 or 4 miles to get to the city where I could get on the bus to work without paying the additional toll for riding into the city from out of state. It would be more than a year or so before I could get financially steady enough to be able to afford a continued stock pantry and refrigerator. 

But was this the hunger and thirst Jesus was speaking about? No, for Jesus says: “who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Have you ever wanted to go somewhere or do something so much that you could “taste” it? That’s the level of hunger and thirst Jesus is figuratively talking about. What does hungering and thirsting for righteousness mean? In the Bible righteousness refers to God’s justice and His supreme knowledge, standard, and character of what is right; God’s Righteousness is also called Jesus Christ! Jesus’ primary concern for His listeners was spiritual; He was focused on the heart, mind, and soul of His hearers. They had been so oppressed for so long by the legal demands of the teachers of the Old Law that God’s righteousness was muted. And then the Roman authorities were even more oppressive, discriminatory, grossly unfair, and considered the Jewish people to be of less value. The people needed Jesus to tell them about God and His righteousness and justice – His goodness, His love, and so revive in them the stories of their forefathers who were faithful to that God. Having that hunger and thirst stirred up in them would give them a strong desire to know the God Jesus preached, the one King David sang about all the time. 

In the Bible there is a story about a person who had that happen to her: Do you know the story of the Samaritan woman at the well? You’ve got to read it! It is in John 4, verses 1-30, and 39-42. The dialogue is priceless! Jesus intentionally happens to be there when she came to the well to draw water. She was not with the ‘cool group’ – many of the women of the town would not associate with her because of her lifestyle. After Jesus speaks to her and tells her about her life to her face, instead of being insulted, she felt amazed to be in the presence of a prophet like Him! Jesus turned her daily trek to fetch water into an epiphany of sorts for her, for she, along with others in the Samaritan town, were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the foretold Messiah – The One Who is to Come. When Jesus reveals Himself to her, her hunger and thirst for an encounter with the long foretold Messiah is sated; she is in awe that such as He would reveal Himself to such as her! So much so that she runs back to town, leaving her water jar – a valuable piece of property, to tell her friends that she has met The Messiah. Have you ever been that excited to hear Jesus' words? Have you ever been that excited about something that you stopped everything you were doing in order to tell someone what just happened?  She hungered and thirst to see and know God’s righteousness both in the flesh and in deliverance. She got both. She was more than sated, she was filled to overflowing. She would now never need to “thirst” again.


Explore

1.     Asking the question again: Have you ever been as excited as the Samaritan woman about something amazing that caused you to stop everything you were doing in order to tell someone what just happened? What was it and who did you tell?

2.     Do we know what it feels like to deeply hunger and thirst for God and His justice or righteousness (in the Bible the words 'justice' and 'righteousness' are used interchangeably)? Why do you answer that way?

3.     Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that He is the well of Living Water; in the book of Revelation, He provides saving waters (see Revelation 21:6 and Revelation 22:17). Have you ever heard before about Jesus being Living Water and/or providing saving waters? What do you think about that?

4.     Have you ever personally experienced Jesus as Living Water or Water of Life? If so, were you “filled to overflowing”?  

[i] [i]One of the Church's duties is to help others in distress when and where it can. Compare James 1:27.
 

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Bonus - "Jireh" - by Maverick City; "O Come to the Altar," Trey McLaughlin and SOZ