Title The truth of the paradox
paradoxical truth
September 12, 2009 Tel Aviv Joppa Church
Matthew 5:3
One of the things we are working on in our church is ‘having time in the closet’. Daily cutie, one hour of prayer, Bible reading, etc. are the contents. What we are grateful for is that this is not just a slogan, but many alumni are actually trying to have time in their closet. Faith does not grow on its own. You will grow through the process of eating, praying, and obeying the Word every day.
There are paradoxes we discover when we read the Bible. What does paradox, or paradoxical mean? A paradox is when an argument or theory that appears to be contradictory on the surface but contains an important truth is called a paradox.
In other words, many of the words in the Bible are contrary to the general trends, values, and thoughts of the world. So it may seem contradictory. But the truth is contained in that paradox.
This is why the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God because it is full of paradoxes that go against the logic of people and the values of the world. Examples of statements that correspond to this paradox are:
"Love your enemies. Forgive those who do you wrong seventy times seven times. Do as you wish to be treated. Those who seek to be exalted will be humbled, and those who are humble will be exalted."
Look at each of those words. Isn't it completely different from the values of the world and our human thoughts and thoughts? Isn't that contradictory? But therein lies the true truth. So this statement is paradoxical.
The same is true of today's text. It is the first passage of the part called the Gospel on the Mount, the Sermon on the Mount, and this part is called the Beatitudes. Because the Lord has spoken of the eight blessings. The first blessing, look. "Blessed are the poor in spirit"
Poor but lucky? Isn't that a contradiction? We do not call this a contradiction with these words because we have already lived a life of faith, but from a worldly point of view, it is a contradiction. Even more so in Luke 6:20, which contains the same content. In the Gospel of Luke, it says, 'Blessed are the poor', except for the word 'spirit'.
Blessed are the poor, what do you mean? How is poverty a blessing? Poverty is woe. Curse. Isn't that a common accident? Who in the world considers the poor to be a blessing? There are people who choose to be poor on their own, but that doesn't mean they see it as a blessing.
The truth is contained in this contradictory saying, “Blessed are the poor.” So it's a paradox. It is a paradoxical truth.
This verse should be viewed from the flow of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, poverty and godliness were understood to have a close relationship. The poor are poor in material, but often poor in spirit. The poor had no other choice but to trust in God. Thus, the poor had no choice but to rely completely on God, and such people were regarded as the object of God's special concern.
The rich, on the other hand, were often warned. This is because material wealth can lead to pride in trusting oneself, and even if you have enough, you can be guilty of endless greed.
There is a background to this Old Testament. Then, did Jesus say that the poor are blessed with such a background in the Old Testament? To some extent yes, but not all. There are important prerequisites here. That is humility.
No matter how poor a person is, without humility in him, he is nothing. Just because you are poor doesn't mean you depend on God. This is because being materially poor is rather a dissatisfaction and hatred towards God and the world, so there are many cases where they hate those who have them and live their lives recklessly and give up.
Do you know how often the poor are proud? When such a person later becomes rich, he becomes a very vicious and greedy rich man, what we usually call a pawn. Not everyone who is poor is blessed.
The same goes for the rich. Are you mad at everyone for being rich? It's not like that. It is also humble. The rich can also become blessed when they have the heart to humbly acknowledge that the wealth, wealth, and power they have now are not mine, but come from God.
A rich man with such humility is not arrogant with what he has or disregards those who do not have it, nor is he greedy for more. Rather, with a heart of gratitude to God who has given you wealth, you become a person who can use the material you have to love God and your neighbor. If you are that rich, you are lucky.
Blessed is the person who has humility at the center, whether poor or rich. That's why Matthew is different from Luke by adding the word 'spirit' in front of him. Because that's what Jesus meant. After all, being poor in spirit refers to those who are humble before God. This is what humility is spoken of in the Bible.
Humility is first realizing and confessing that you are a sinner before God. It is also confessing that you are an incompetent person who cannot do the will of God. It means I can't do it on my own. That's why we don't brag ourselves, we ask God for mercy and mercy, we ask for help, we always ask for grace. That's what the Bible says about humility.
In other words, humility before God is true humility. That humility before God is also reflected in our relationships with people. So, a person who is humble before God and before people, this is the humility spoken of in the Bible. So, do you know what pride is? Not confessing one's sinfulness and incompetence, not seeking God's grace and help, not seeking God, this is pride.
humility in hebrew