Matthew 5:1-12
The Beatitudes
1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
John 20:24-31
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
We sin and we have suffering and death in the world because of our sins...Christianity teaches us that we are not alone when we suffer...Jesus was not spared from personal pain and suffering, while He was on earth...And He is the Son of God...At anytime, He could have left the cross and not gone through the terrible pain that He went through...He is Divine...He was crucified on the cross in a most tragic and painful and tortuous way...So we are not alone in our pain and sufferings, because He accepted being hung from the cross, and to go through this tortuous and very painful death for our sins...He saved our broken world by dying on the cross...
We cannot at times explain pain and suffering, but we do have One who went through much pain and suffering and death while He was on earth...When we struggle to make sense of our own pain and sufferings and losses, we see that Jesus went through these things too...He is with us, in our sufferings and pains...We see that He carries the nail marks and spear wound on Himself that Thomas got to touch...And He did these things out of LOVE, and to show us what His Father is like...The heart of God is with those mourning, poor in spirit, the persecuted, and with those suffering...We can look at the cross and see this Forgiving LOVE...