Matthew 5:5, the good life belongs to the afflicted, because they will inherit the land. The afflicted or the unimportant one, whoever the afflicted are, they are a group of people that need to be rescued when God brings ultimate justice. The unimportant one are people who are being abused and taken advantage by the wicked and God’s justice will confront the wicked, resulting in deliverance for the afflicted. The afflicted are people who have wrong done against them. They will inherit the land, in first century Galilee and Judea in the land of Israel, these are their ancestral lands that Israel inherited, but they don’t have independent freedom on their land, because it’s occupied territory.
Many of Jesus’ parables are filled with images of land owners or managers who hire servants to work on the land. Jesus is reflecting on real life, the land was being bought up by non-Israelites who don’t live nearby, they live in Italy. To say they will inherit the land is pretty explosive politically, but Psalm 37:7, in a poem like this, when they are living in that scenario over generations, it’s very easy to think this is just how it is and the wicked are winning and it’s how it’s going to be. Jesus is speaking in very real terms to Galilean Israelites, who are poor, who don’t have any land, who are grieving over the state of Israel oppressed by foreigners and by their own people who were in league with the foreigners. They were edged out of their landholdings generations ago or recently and that’s the context for Jesus saying, how good is life. The good life belongs to those who are unimportant, to those who are on the outside of centers of power and influence, because something is happening here, when the reign of God arrives, that is going to bring about the New Creation, which will be the ultimate land inheritance.
Can I trust God and can I trust him to be stable, reliable and real? Yes, because no one created God, Revelation 1:8, everything starts with God and finds its meaning in him, if God were created, he could fail and if he could fail, then hope would be fragile. But because God is eternal, hope has a foundation that cannot collapse, Isaiah 40:8, this deeply personal, because if God were just another being inside the universe, bigger, stronger, but still limited then, our hope would always be fragile, our life has a foundation that doesn’t crack when circumstances do. Scripture says God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth, God isn’t confined to a place, a body or a moment in history, but he’s present in every moment of our life.
The real questions show up in hardship, when prayers fell unanswered, when plans fall apart, when life doesn’t make sense and in those moments it’s easy to feel like everything is temporary and unstable. Isaiah 40:8, careers end, money comes and goes, health fades and even relationships can change, but God remains the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. When we realize God isn’t reacting to our life in real time the way we are, but that he sees the full picture, we begin to trust God, even when we don’t understand him. Acts 17:28, our existence is actively upheld by God, our breathing and thinking is not automatic, it’s permitted. This realization can feel unsettling, but it’s actually incredibly comforting, because it means our life is not hanging by a thread of chance, it’s held by an eternal God, who does not change his mind or lose control.
This is where the meaning of life starts to come into focus, if God is eternal and self-existing, then our purpose can’t be found in temporary things and yet, that’s where so many of us look, success, status, possessions, distractions, we chase things that fade and then wonder why we feel empty when we finally reach them. That emptiness isn’t a flaw, it’s a signal, it’s pointing us toward something eternal, because we were created by an eternal God for an eternal purpose. This is why understanding who God is, answers one of the deepest human questions, why are we here? If life were an accident, meaning would be something we invent, but if life is created, meaning is something we discover and God doesn’t hide that meaning from us.
The Bible consistently shows that knowing God isn’t just about information, it’s about relationship, the same God who exists outside time chose to step into history to reveal himself, not because he needed us, but because we need him. Once we begin to understand God’s nature, an eternal God invites trust, a self-existing God offers stability, a sustaining God gives purpose, our life gets anchored. Storms still come, but they no longer define us, because if God is uncreated, eternal and self-existing, then reality itself has purpose, truth isn’t something we invent, it’s something we discover. Life isn’t a random accident, it’s a gift with intention behind it, Revelation 1:8, God Stands at the beginning and the end of everything, history isn’t moving in circles, it’s moving towards something and our life is part of that story.
Still feel like something is missing? That feeling isn’t weakness, it’s awareness, it’s our soul recognizing that it was made for more than what fades, Isaiah 40:8, everything eventually slips through our fingers, even the things we love most in this world are fragile, but God is not. Not only did God create everything, he continues to sustain everything right now, in this very moment. Acts 17:28, our life is not self-powered, it is upheld, every breath we take is borrowed, every moment we experience is given and that doesn’t make life meaningless, it makes it sacred. We may not understand everything about God, but we can trust him, because unlike everything else in life, he does not change, fade or fail, because God is not confined to a place, a ritual or a tradition, but he is present, he is near and he invites relationship, not just belief.
Many of Jesus’ parables are filled with images of land owners or managers who hire servants to work on the land. Jesus is reflecting on real life, the land was being bought up by non-Israelites who don’t live nearby, they live in Italy. To say they will inherit the land is pretty explosive politically, but Psalm 37:7, in a poem like this, when they are living in that scenario over generations, it’s very easy to think this is just how it is and the wicked are winning and it’s how it’s going to be. Jesus is speaking in very real terms to Galilean Israelites, who are poor, who don’t have any land, who are grieving over the state of Israel oppressed by foreigners and by their own people who were in league with the foreigners. They were edged out of their landholdings generations ago or recently and that’s the context for Jesus saying, how good is life. The good life belongs to those who are unimportant, to those who are on the outside of centers of power and influence, because something is happening here, when the reign of God arrives, that is going to bring about the New Creation, which will be the ultimate land inheritance.
Can I trust God and can I trust him to be stable, reliable and real? Yes, because no one created God, Revelation 1:8, everything starts with God and finds its meaning in him, if God were created, he could fail and if he could fail, then hope would be fragile. But because God is eternal, hope has a foundation that cannot collapse, Isaiah 40:8, this deeply personal, because if God were just another being inside the universe, bigger, stronger, but still limited then, our hope would always be fragile, our life has a foundation that doesn’t crack when circumstances do. Scripture says God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth, God isn’t confined to a place, a body or a moment in history, but he’s present in every moment of our life.
The real questions show up in hardship, when prayers fell unanswered, when plans fall apart, when life doesn’t make sense and in those moments it’s easy to feel like everything is temporary and unstable. Isaiah 40:8, careers end, money comes and goes, health fades and even relationships can change, but God remains the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. When we realize God isn’t reacting to our life in real time the way we are, but that he sees the full picture, we begin to trust God, even when we don’t understand him. Acts 17:28, our existence is actively upheld by God, our breathing and thinking is not automatic, it’s permitted. This realization can feel unsettling, but it’s actually incredibly comforting, because it means our life is not hanging by a thread of chance, it’s held by an eternal God, who does not change his mind or lose control.
This is where the meaning of life starts to come into focus, if God is eternal and self-existing, then our purpose can’t be found in temporary things and yet, that’s where so many of us look, success, status, possessions, distractions, we chase things that fade and then wonder why we feel empty when we finally reach them. That emptiness isn’t a flaw, it’s a signal, it’s pointing us toward something eternal, because we were created by an eternal God for an eternal purpose. This is why understanding who God is, answers one of the deepest human questions, why are we here? If life were an accident, meaning would be something we invent, but if life is created, meaning is something we discover and God doesn’t hide that meaning from us.
The Bible consistently shows that knowing God isn’t just about information, it’s about relationship, the same God who exists outside time chose to step into history to reveal himself, not because he needed us, but because we need him. Once we begin to understand God’s nature, an eternal God invites trust, a self-existing God offers stability, a sustaining God gives purpose, our life gets anchored. Storms still come, but they no longer define us, because if God is uncreated, eternal and self-existing, then reality itself has purpose, truth isn’t something we invent, it’s something we discover. Life isn’t a random accident, it’s a gift with intention behind it, Revelation 1:8, God Stands at the beginning and the end of everything, history isn’t moving in circles, it’s moving towards something and our life is part of that story.
Still feel like something is missing? That feeling isn’t weakness, it’s awareness, it’s our soul recognizing that it was made for more than what fades, Isaiah 40:8, everything eventually slips through our fingers, even the things we love most in this world are fragile, but God is not. Not only did God create everything, he continues to sustain everything right now, in this very moment. Acts 17:28, our life is not self-powered, it is upheld, every breath we take is borrowed, every moment we experience is given and that doesn’t make life meaningless, it makes it sacred. We may not understand everything about God, but we can trust him, because unlike everything else in life, he does not change, fade or fail, because God is not confined to a place, a ritual or a tradition, but he is present, he is near and he invites relationship, not just belief.