What Would Jesus Vote? 2

Matthew 5:1-6

It is easy to visualize our society (or any society) as a type of pyramid. Those few with money and power are at the top and in control. Those poor and powerless are the largest group on the bottom. But Jesus was able to flip views of society and religion on their heads. He was able to bring attention and focus to those who were powerless and underprivileged, which may be a lesson for us in our political views.

Jesus launches into the famed Sermon on the Mount with another familiar teaching – the Beatitudes. Who are the ones who will be blessed? Why do you think this is?

If the lessons of God were simple I suppose we wouldn’t need the Bible, nor would we need to spend time in study and pursuit of meaning. But the lessons of God are complex and we do need to examine what Jesus taught so that we might gain some insight.

What Jesus is presenting here seems to be the opposite of what people may expect. Those who are blessed are the ones who have a difficult time of things now. The poor in spirit – which I would take to mean those who have doubts and fears and worries – will gain the kingdom of heaven. Those who are sad are the lucky ones because God will comfort them.

Those who want life and society to be fair and honest, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, will finally get what they desire. Those who desire justice and equality will have a society that values and upholds those ideals.
In short, those who are considered “the least” in our society will be the ones who get the attention from God. God will be merciful and loving to them. Their days of being down or oppressed will end and they will be lifted up.

So, we can see that Jesus valued not the rich and powerful, but the poor and struggling. He speaks more highly of those who face challenges in life than he does of those who are part of the upper classes of society.

Commuting that over into our political situation, it would seem that Jesus would support issues and candidates who work toward ending poverty and providing for people in need. It would seem that Jesus would be in favor of affordable health care and would endorse a good and fair justice system.

As Christians we should be guided by our desire to follow the teachings of Christ. We should examine our choices with an eye toward people and policies that give strength to the poor in spirit, support the meek, and fill our hunger for what is right.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Which candidate or issue might help those who are poor in spirit?