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Day 16 – Jesus teaches those who follow him

Bible reading: Matthew 5:1–12

Jesus teaches his disciples

1 Jesus saw that crowds of people were following him. So he went up a hill and he sat down there to teach them. His disciples came near to listen to him. 2 He began to teach them. This is what he said:

3 ‘Happy are the people who know that they need God very much.

The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like that.

5:3‘Happy’ here means that God has blessed people who are like this. They may not always feel happy, but they are in a good place, a happy place. God will take care of them.

4 Happy are the people who are sad now.

God will come near to help them.

5:4Jesus was not only speaking about people who are sad. Some people are sorry about all the bad things that they have done. Jesus was speaking about those people.

5 Happy are the people who are kind.

The whole earth will belong to them.

6 Happy are the people who want to obey God, as much as they want to eat food.

God will give to them everything that they need.

7 Happy are the people who help other people and who forgive them.

God will forgive people like that.

8 Happy are the people who have only good thoughts.

They will come near to God and see him.

9 Happy are the people who bring people together to be friends.

God will call them his children.

10 Happy are the people who do what is right but other people hurt them because of it.

The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like that.

11 Yes, happy are you when people say bad things against you because you believe in me. Or they may hurt you. Or they may say things about you that are not true. 12 God is preparing many good things for you in heaven. So you should be very happy when people do these bad things to any of you. People did these same things to God's prophets who lived long ago.’

Matthew 5:1-12 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

Reflection

This is the greatest explanation ever told of the life made happy by God. We call it the Sermon on the Mount, but really it is God’s instructions for a truly happy and fulfilled life. It starts with our attitude to God. We are just beggars waiting for him to come as king and repair our lives.

Joy that cannot be described

The explanation ends with joy that we cannot describe, even when people laugh at us, lie about us and persecute us. In the middle, there are a number of happy consequences once we have put God first in our lives.

His comfort and pardon as we admit our failures.

His blessing on our career.

The kindness we are likely to receive if we are kind to others.

And the purity which removes our guilt and enables us to enjoy God’s presence.

It speaks of true happiness for peacemakers, not troublemakers. Those are some of the blessings that come when we decide to follow Jesus.

It is the best life in the world.