Mapapalad ang mga Mapagpakumbaba (The Beatitudes, part 4)

"Mapapalad ang mga mapagpakumbaba,
sapagkat mamanahin nila ang lupa."

(Mateo 5:5)

Sa mga patimpalak sa telebisyon ng mga batang lalaki tulad ng That's My Boy, ganito ang karaniwang itinuturo sa mga kalahok:

• entrance pa lang ay kailangang punong-puno na ng self-confidence ang bata.
• maglalakad-lakad siyang parang isang siga
• paminsan-minsan ay haharap sa camera ang bata at ilalagay ang daliri na naka-Laban sign sa ilalim ng baba upang bigyang-diin ang pogi niyang mukha
• lalapit sa mikropono at sasabin: "Oops, oops, oops! Relax lang kayo mga girls. Akala nyo si Dingdong Dantes ito. Nagkakamali kayo. Mas pogi ako 'dun"

Ito ay sintomas ng malalang kalagayan ng ating lipunan.Ang pagiging mababang-loob ay isang katangian na hindi natin pinapahalagahan. Tayo ay mga taong mapagmataas at ito ang itinuturo natin sa ating mga anak. Salungat diyan ang ikatlong Beatitude na winika ni Hesus: "Mapalad ang mga mapagpakumbaba, sapagkat mamanahin nila ang daigdig." (Mateo 5:3)

Ang orihinal na salitang Griyego na "praus" na isinalin sa Ingles bilang "meek" at "mapagpakumbaba" sa Filipino ay hindi nalalayo sa kahulugan ng pagiging dukha sa espiritu (poor in spirit) na natalakay sa ikatlong talata. Ang pagkakaiba lang nito ay ang "poor in spirit" ay ang kalagayan ng tao samantalang ang "meek" ay kung paano siya makitungo sa Diyos at sa kapwa-tao¹. Ito ay kawalan ng pagmamagaling na nagdudulot ng pagpapakumbaba at hinahon kung kaharap natin ang iba.

Para naman kay John Macarthur, ang pinakamainan na paraan upang maipaliwanag ang katangiang ito ay hindi sa mga depinisyon kundi sa pagbibigay ng mga halimbawa² tulad nina:

a. si Joseph, na ibinenta ng kanyang mga kapatid bilang isang alipin. Ngunit noong nagkaroon na siya ng kapangyarihan, pinili niyang gawan ng mabuti ang kanyang mga kapatid sa halip na maghiganti (Gen. 50:19-20)

b. si Pablo, na sa kabila ng kanyang katayuan bilang apostol at tagumpay sa pagtatayo ng mga iglesya sa mga lugar na hindi pa naaabot ninuman ay nagsabi na siya ay ni hindi karapat-dapat tawaging apostol (1 Cor. 15:9-10)

c. si Hesus, na bagamat siya ay Diyos at Haring nakaluklok sa kaitaas-taasan ay nagpakababa bilang tao, namuhay na tila isang alipin at naging masunurin hanggang sa kamatayan sa krus (Fil. 2:6-8)

Maaari rin maging halimbawa ng pagpapakumbaba ang sinuman sa atin kung sa kabila ng ating mga kakayahan at talento, ating kinikilala na ang may hawak ng ating kinabukasan ay hindi ang ating angking galing kundi ang Diyos pa rin na siyang bukal ng lahat ng habag at pagpapala. Ipagpalagay natin na sina Ginoo at Ginang Vergara ay mag-asawang mahuhusay na negosyante. Matitinik sila pagdating sa pagkilatis ng mga business opportunities at sa pagpapalago ng puhunan. Kung sila ay tatanungin, "How do you see yourselves 10 years from now?" maaari silang sumagot ng ganito: "Well, 10 years from now we will have a mansion much bigger than this house. Each of our sons and daughters will drive their own cars. Our business will have branches in Laoag in the north and Davao in the south and other major cities in-between." Ang ganitong pagtitiwala sa sarili ay papalakpakan ng sanlibutan tulad ng pagpalakpak nila sa mga kalahok  sa patimpalak na That's My Boy. Subalit kung Bibliya ang pagbabatayan, ang nararapat na sagot ng mag-asawa ay "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." (Santiago 4:13-16)

Talababa:

1. William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew (NTC, Baker Book House 1973)

2. John Macarthur, The Only Way to Happiness: The Beatitudes (Moody Press, 1998; unang inilathala noong 1980 sa pamagat na Kingdom Living, Here and Now)

The Godly Way to Success

Read Joshua 1:1-9

Everybody desires success. Nobody wants to be a loser.
You don’t take an exam with the desire to flunk it.
You don’t invest with the desire to lose money.
You don’t play a game with the desire to be defeated. (maliban na lang kung perde-gana ‘yan)

It is embedded in the soul of man that some of the most popular sayings are about success:
“Patience is the key to success”
“Try and try until you succeed” ("Try and try until you die" was meant to be a joke)
Even our very own “Kapag may tiyaga, may nilaga” exalts patience as a virtue that will ultimately lead to something good.

But if we will not be careful in our pursuit of success, we may walk on the same road where the world walks. We may take ungodly paths to success. We may emerge successful in the eyes of men but a failure in the sight of God (and please do not read this post through the lens of the erroneous prosperity gospel).

God’s formula for Joshua
What is the emotional state of Joshua when God talked to him? Verse 9 indicates that he is frightened and dismayed. We should understand that his beloved mentor for 40 years is now dead. That fact alone could affect him tremendously. Add to it the heavy burden placed upon his shoulders with this new role as the leader of an stiff-necked people. He has to step into the shoes of the great Moses. He is the new commander-in-chief of their armed forces and they have to fight many battles against more powerful peoples in order to acquire the Promised Land.

On this scene God speaks to promise success. He assures Joshua of the following:
1. Moses is dead but the promise is alive. The Land is for them (verses 2-4)
2. They will be unbeatable; their foes cannot stand against them (verse 5)
3. He promises his presence. Just as he was with Moses, he will be with Joshua (verse 5)


What he requires of Joshua
1. God requires Joshua to be strong and courageous (verse 7)- If we shall review Joshua’s track record, we will find that this man is not a coward. In fact, his record is impressive. He was the leader when they fought the Amalekites (Exodus 17:9, 10, 13-14).Out of the 12 spies who were sent to Canaan, only two (Joshua and Caleb) were not intimidated by the giant descendants of Anak (when others felt like grasshoppers, Numbers 14:6-10, 30, 38).

But there are times when the circumstances are so overwhelming that even the strongest and bravest among us needs the exhortation to be strong and courageous. All of us are fighting our own daily battles. Battles against life-threatening diseases, financial crisis, family problems and many others. This is God’s word for us: “Be strong and courageous”.

2. God requires precise obedience-
“Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you” (verse 7)
“so that you may be careful to do everything written in it” (verse 8)
This is the exact equivalent of the the New Testament’s “Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise” (Ephesians 5:15).

We are not to twist God’s word in order to justify ourselves. God’s word is for us to obey, not edit: “do not turn from it to the right or to the left” (Joshua 1:7). We have to take God’s word precisely as it is.

3. God Requires Diligent Scripture Intake- “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night” (verse 8). If we are to heed God’s word with precision, this is essential. It must fill our mouths. It must saturate our minds. We must immerse our whole being with what the Bible says.
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Our desire to be successful is not in conflict with God’s desire to be glorified. Instead of suppressing our desire for success, he wants us to excel in our chosen fields (Proverbs 22:29). He will be with us in our pursuit of success. Just as God is present with the preacher in his desire to be successful in his ministry, he will also be present with the businessman provided that both the preacher and the businessman follows God’s requirements.
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