The Beatitudes Page 12
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Jesus' gospel of glad tidings to the oppressed and the down-trodden was a gospel of sorrow and mourning to worldly men whose souls were enslaved by the material world. There was a great need for changing the old and decadent order. But how many men would be willing to sacrifice the material for the spiritual? The lesser for the greater? How many of them would be willing to give up their ill-gotten comforts and riches for a new way of life?
The true followers of Jesus were to pay a costly price for preaching the new doctrine to a pagan world. They were not only to deny themselves the worldly things, they must also carry their cross and be ready to die for the sake of the New Gospel. They must become living examples so that the world might see the light of God.
Some of the people that listened to Jesus were Galillians whose relatives had been slaughtered by Pilate. The victims, no doubt, had criticized the Roman governor and protested against prosecutions, injustices, and high taxation. In days to come, thousands of Jesus' followers were to be persecuted for a greater cause than protest against high taxation and occupation of Palestine. They would receive praise and blessings from the generation not yet born who would reap the rewards of the new teaching.
The true followers of Jesus were to pay a costly price for preaching the new doctrine to a pagan world. They were not only to deny themselves the worldly things, they must also carry their cross and be ready to die for the sake of the New Gospel. They must become living examples so that the world might see the light of God.
Some of the people that listened to Jesus were Galillians whose relatives had been slaughtered by Pilate. The victims, no doubt, had criticized the Roman governor and protested against prosecutions, injustices, and high taxation. In days to come, thousands of Jesus' followers were to be persecuted for a greater cause than protest against high taxation and occupation of Palestine. They would receive praise and blessings from the generation not yet born who would reap the rewards of the new teaching.