Paradox People: Learning to Live the Beatitudes

“The Beatitudes are memorable and familiar, but what do they mean and how do they relate to our lives today? Jonathan Landry Cruse has provided a concise and timely exposition of Jesus’s teaching that addresses these crucial questions. Take and read about glorious gospel truths for all of us who need to be shaped more and more by the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.”

“In an age in which Christians are tempted to run, blend in, or fight, Jonathan Landry Cruse provides a vital and pastoral corrective, calling us back to the paradoxical path of the Beatitudes. He powerfully reminds us that true kingdom living is found not in worldly influence but in the Christlike character that flows from God’s unmerited grace.”

“Jonathan Landry Cruse has given us an accessible, joyful, and delightful tour through a vital, if sometimes neglected, portion of our Lord’s teaching: the Beatitudes. This is an excellent resource for study groups, Christian education programs, and personal study of God’s Word.”

“Once again, Jonathan Landry Cruse has written a gem of a book, aptly entitled Paradox People, because Jesus’s followers live a lifelong paradox: They look poor but are rich; they appear forsaken but are loved by God; they seem to be overlooked, but their names are written in an everlasting book of life. What the late Philip E. Hughes said about the epistle to the Hebrews is also an apt description of this book: It is “a tonic for the spiritually debilitated,” even for those who do not realize that they are debilitated. Take and read.”

“Returning to the Beatitudes is timely. While many Christians opt to run from the world, blend into it, or fight it directly, Cruse reminds us that the Beatitudes offer an alternative path. Christians are “paradox people” because kingdom life, values, hope, and the character of their King stand opposite the world’s expectations. Through the Spirit, God will transform the world—not through politics but through conforming people to Jesus Christ. Reading this book will help you keep in step with the Savior as you learn to live on earth as those with one foot in heaven.”

“The Christian life is full of unexpected turns. The shape of the gospel—redemption through a crucified Savior—proves that blessing often lies in those unexpected and even paradoxical places. Jonathan Landry Cruse pulls on those paradoxes to show how the humble characteristics enjoined upon us in the Beatitudes are a surprisingly sure course to the blessed life. If you want a gospel-saturated guide through Christ’s famous blueprint for Christian character, rest assured you’ll find it in Cruse’s excellent expositions.”

“Lively and engaging, faithful and clear, Jonathan Landry Cruse’s Paradox People does what the work of a good teacher should: It points us back to Scripture. We find how wonderful the Beatitudes truly are: a royal gift from the King of Kings, who wants his people to know, no matter what we face for Christ’s sake in this world—discomfort, persecution, even slaughter—that we possess the boundless love and favor of God, who triumphs through the cross. This refreshing and timely book is wonderful.”

“The Beatitudes offer a vital roadmap for Christian living, one that has never been more needed than at the present time. The paradoxical virtues of Christ’s kingdom, to which the promise of blessedness is attached, are increasingly incomprehensible to a culture that loves power, prestige, personal success. With wit, clarity, and depth, Jonathan Landry Cruse’s exposition provides a sure guide to the blessed life that Christ offers. May God bless this book and make of it an instrument to quench the soul-thirst of his people.”

“We are in danger of forgetting that we are a people of paradox, part of a kingdom that inverts this world’s values, whose Lord is its greatest servant. We too often, as Jonathan Landry Cruse notes in this clear and refreshing treatment of the Beatitudes, let the world define the good life and engage it with a wrongheaded strategy of run, blend, or fight. Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, and this should not prompt disengagement but wholehearted witness (even our being salt and light!) to the person and work of Christ, calling all to live as we should in this fallen world. Some self-identified Christians these days, especially certain younger men, seem to want to fight the world on its own terms. Cruse is one of a younger set in the church whose faithful proclamation of who we are as new men and women in Christ, which is what the Beatitudes address, from Christian humility and godly longing to Christian suffering and testimony, renews hope and encourages us all to live meaningful Christian lives, come what may, defined by biblical priorities—whoever we are, wherever we live, and whatever we do.”