From the caterpillar to the butterfly

A small caterpillar moves forward with difficulty. It stretches upwards because it wants to reach the slightly higher leaves because they are more tasty. Then she discovers a butterfly sitting on a flower that can be rocked back and forth by the wind. He is beautiful and colorful. She watches him fly from flower to flower. She calls out to him a bit enviously: «You lucky, you fly from flower to flower, shine in wonderful colors and can fly towards the sun while I have to struggle here, with my many feet and can only crawl on earth. I can't get to the beautiful flowers, the delicious leaves and my dress is pretty colorless, how is life unfair! »

The butterfly feels a little pity for the caterpillar and consoles it: «You can also become like me, maybe with much nicer colors. Then you no longer have to struggle ». The caterpillar asks: "How did you do it, what happened that you changed so much?" The butterfly replies: «I was a caterpillar like you. One day I heard a voice that said to me: Now the time has come for me to change you. Follow me and I will bring you into a new phase of life, I will take care of your food and step by step I will change you. Trust me and persevere, then you will be a completely new being in the end. The darkness in which you are now moving will lead you into the light and fly towards the sun ».

This little story is a wonderful comparison that shows us God's plan for us humans. The caterpillar resembles our life before we knew God. It is the time when God begins to work in us, to change us step by step until pupation and metamorphosis to the butterfly. A time when God nourishes us spiritually and physically and shapes us so that we can achieve the goal He has set for us.
There are many passages in the Bible about the new life in Christ, but we focus on what Jesus wants to tell us in the Beatitudes. Let's look at how God works with us and how He changes us more and more into a new person.

The spiritually poor

Our poverty is spiritual and we desperately need his help. «Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven »(Matthew 5,3). Here Jesus begins to show us how much we need God. We can only recognize this need through his love. What does it mean to be "poor in spirit"? It is a kind of humility that makes a person realize how poor he is before God. He discovers how impossible it is for him to repent of his sins, to put them aside and control his emotions. Such a person knows that everything comes from God and he will humble himself before God. He wants to accept the new life that God graciously gives him with joy and gratitude. Since we are inclined to sin as natural, carnal people, we will stumble more often, but God will always straighten us up. Often times we do not realize that we are spiritually poor.

The opposite of spiritual poverty is - being proud in spirit. We see this basic attitude in the Pharisee's prayer: "I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, robbers, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector" (Luke 18,11). Then Jesus shows us the example of a man who is poor in spirit, using the prayer of the tax collector: "God, be merciful to me sinner!"

The poor in spirit know that they are helpless. They know that their righteousness is only borrowed and they are dependent on God. To be spiritually poor is the first step that shapes us in the new life in Jesus, in a transformation into a new person.

Jesus Christ was an example of dependence on the Father. Jesus said of himself: “Verily, verily, I say to you: the Son cannot do anything of himself, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what the latter does, the son also does in the same way »(John 5,19). This is the mind of Christ that God wants to shape in us.

Bear the suffering

Broken hearted people are rarely arrogant, they are open to whatever God wants to do through them. What does a downcast person need? «Blessed are those who suffer; for they are to be comforted »(Matthew 5,4). He needs consolation and the Comforter is the Holy Spirit. A broken heart is the key for God's Spirit to work within us. Jesus knows what he is talking about: He was a man who knew sorrow and suffering more than any of us. His life and mind show us that broken hearts under God's guidance can lead us to perfection. Unfortunately, when we suffer and God appears far away, we often react bitterly and accuse God. This is not the mind of Christ. God's purpose in difficult life shows us that He has spiritual blessings in store for us.

The meek

God has a plan for each of us. «Blessed are the meek; for they will own the earth »(Matthew 5,5). The goal of this blessing is a willingness to surrender to God. If we give ourselves to him, he gives us the strength to do so. In submission we learn that we need each other. Humility helps us see each other's needs. A wonderful statement is found where he invites us to lay our burdens before him: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11,29). What a god, what a king! How far we are from its perfection! Humility, meekness and modesty are qualities that God wants to shape in us.

Let us briefly recall how Jesus was publicly insulted when he was visiting Simon the Pharisee. He was not greeted, his feet were not washed. How did he react? He wasn't offended, he didn't justify himself, he endured it. And when he later pointed this out to Simon, he humbly did it (Luke 7: 44-47). Why is humility so important to God, why does he love the humble? Because it reflects the mind of Christ. We also love people with this quality.

Hunger for justice

Our human nature seeks its own justice. When we realize that we urgently need justice, God gives us his justice through Jesus: «Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice; for they shall be satisfied »(Matthew 5,6). God attributes the righteousness of Jesus to us because we cannot stand before him. The statement “hunger and thirst” indicates an acute and conscious need within us. Longing is a strong emotion. God wants us to align our hearts and desires with His will. God loves the needy, widows and orphans, prisoners and strangers in the land. Our need is the key to God's heart, He wants to take care of our needs. It is a blessing for us to recognize this need and to let Jesus calm it.
In the first four beatitudes, Jesus shows how much we need God. In this phase of the transformation "pupation" we recognize our need and dependence on God. This process increases and in the end we will feel a deep longing for closeness to Jesus. The next four beatitudes show Jesus' work in us outwardly.

The merciful

When we exercise mercy, people see something of the mind of Christ in us. «Blessed are the merciful; for they will receive mercy »(Matthew 5,7). Through Jesus we learn to be merciful because we recognize a person's need. We develop compassion, empathy, and care for our loved ones. We learn to forgive those who harm us. We convey the love of Christ to our fellow human beings.

Have a pure heart

A pure heart is Christ oriented. «Blessed are the pure in heart; for they will see God »(Matthew 5,8). Our dedication to our family and friends is guided by God and our love for him. If our heart turns more to earthly things than to God, then this separates us from him. Jesus gave himself completely to the Father. That is what we should strive for and give ourselves completely to Jesus.

Make peace

God wants reconciliation, unity with him and in the body of Christ. «Blessed are the peacemakers; for they will be called God's children »(Matthew 5,9). There is often disagreement in Christian communities, fear of competition, fear that the sheep will migrate, and financial worries. God wants us to build bridges, especially in the body of Christ: «They should all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I are in you, so they too should be in us, so that the world may believe that you are sent me. And I have given them the glory that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me, so that they may be perfectly one and the world may know that you have sent me and love them as you love me »(John 17,21-23).

That are being followed

Jesus prophesies to his followers: «The servant is no greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they have kept my word, they will keep yours too ”(Jn 15,20). People will treat us as they treated Jesus.
Here is mentioned an extra blessing for those who are persecuted for doing God's will. «Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven »(Matthew 5,10).

Through Jesus Christ we are already living in the kingdom of God, in the kingdom of heaven, because we have our identity in him. All the Beatitudes lead to this goal. At the end of the Beatitudes, Jesus comforted people and gave them hope: «Be happy and cheer; you will be richly rewarded in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you »(Matthew 5,12).

In the last four beatitudes, we are the givers, we work externally. God loves the givers. He is the greatest giver of all. He continues to give us what we need, spiritually and materially. Our senses are directed to others here. We should reflect the nature of Christ.
The body of Christ begins to really bind when its members recognize that they should support each other. Those who are hungry and thirsty need spiritual nourishment. In this phase God intends to recognize longing for him and for our neighbor through our living conditions.

The metamorphosis

Before we can lead others to God, Jesus works with us to build a very intimate relationship with him. Through us, God shows the people around us his mercy, purity and peace. In the first four Beatitudes, God works within us. In the following four Beatitudes, God works outward through us. The inside harmonizes with the outside. In this way, piece by piece, he forms the new person in us. God gave us a new life through Jesus. It is our task to let this spiritual change take place in us. Jesus makes this possible. Peter warns us: "If all this is going to dissolve, how must you stand in holy walk and pious being" (2. Petrus 3,11).

We are now in the phase of joy, a little taste of the joy that is yet to come. As the butterfly flies towards the sun, we will then meet Jesus Christ: «For he himself, the Lord, will come down from heaven when the call is made, when the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God sound, and the dead become first who died in Christ are resurrected. Then we who are alive and who are left will be caught up together with them on the clouds in the air to meet the Lord. And so we shall be with the Lord at all times »(1. Thes 4,16-17).

by Christine Joosten