How to be like Jesus
This simple sermon title involves a lot of profound teaching from Jesus. A lot of people today and in Jesus time too were looking for the fast solutions to the problems of life. Life was no less complicated for the people of Jesus time than it is for us today. We all want answers to lifes big questions. This search for answers begins when we are young.
A man was taking his daughter to middle school and he thought he should start talking to her about some serious stuff, such as the meaning of life.
He asked his daughter, what she thought was the meaning of life.
Her response: My meaning of life is to please Mommy.
So then he asked: "What about Daddy?
She said: Your meaning of life is to please mommy, too.
What does life mean? What should I do with my life? What is truly important in life? How do I please God? What must I do to get to heaven? How can I live at peace with God? How can I live at peace with my fellow man? How can I make a difference in the lives of others?
These very personal and spiritual kinds of questions can be answered here in the famous passage of scripture we call The Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew Chapter 5 we have the answers of life provided for us by Jesus. Jesus starts by giving us answers and not questions.
Moses gave the Hebrews the Ten Commandments and Jesus gave the Jews the Ten Beatitudes. Both were delivered from a mountain top by Gods law giver. Moses list outlined the consequence for disobeying Gods law and Jesus list outlined the benefits of fulfilling them.
3. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The word for blessed in the Greek is makarioi which means to be characterized by the quality of God, blessedness, makariotes is when one is indwelt by God, and Gods nature is in him/her, you have the kingdom of God in you.
To put it another way it is like saying, To be truly satisfied in this empty life one has to desire the indwelling of God in their spirit, then they will be filled and possess the kingdom of God. Fullness of spirit is to have God fully living in you. You must have a desire to empty yourself of sin and repent of sin then a new attitude to be filled with Gods righteousness will be realized.
4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
The Greek word for mourn here is pentheo which means to wail. It is also part of the root word that makes of the Greek equivalent of Mother in law penthera. I did not intend for this to be a crack about mother in laws it just happens to be part of the root word. I am sure that Mothers in law can sometimes make you wail but that is not the meaning here.
Once again the first word is Blessed. We now know that word means to be characterized by Gods quality. So people who mourn or grieve and wail can know the quality of Gods blessing by the kind of comfort that only God provides.
What is it that causes you to mourn with a deep grief? Is it the loss of personal relationships? Is it the condition of your sinful life? Is it the condition of this sinful world? Is it your separation from God?
It is that kind of deep grief that only God can comfort? For only He can touch you deeply enough to heal your broken heart. God hears the wail of grief from deep within you. He answers that grief by being the God of all comfort.
5. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Again the first word means to be characterized by Gods quality. Meekness in the Greek means Prautes to be angry at sin. It is the action of a Christian who chooses to fight sin rather than yield to it. Those who truly desire to fight the sin in their lives will inherit the earth. In the original Garden of Eden there was no sin and the world was for a brief time perfect. Those who fight against sin in their lives will inherit a perfect earth.
6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
The quality of Gods character in our lives by being the Hungering ones Peinontes
To be famished, to crave to be absolutely hungry. The righteousness here is not our own but Gods Holy Righteousness Dikaios innocent, holy, just, right.
Gods righteousness is pure, it has a holy purpose a right purpose that accomplishes Gods will. Do we constantly find ourselves hungry for what we know God says is right? Some of us have lost that kind of appetite. Only by wanting that which God wants can we be filled.
7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
The character of God in us as mercy Eleos is the missionary kind of attitude to the lost. Empathizing with the unbeliever and suffering with him the consequences of his sin and doing everything possible to relieve the tragic results. Only Grace Charis and Eleos Mercy can affect the character of a person and change it. Do we care for the lost and desire to alleviate the consequences of sin? They are many, war, famine, disease and homelessness to name but a few.
8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Pure in heart requires a continuous cleansing of the believers heart it is not something that is achieved once and for all. It is dependent upon the fulfillment of the previous condition: Mercy. The word heart here does not mean the organ in our chest but in the Greek it is the word Kardia which means the thoughts of the mind. Only when our thoughts are concerned with what God desires in us can be comprehend purity. Once we know that we can literally see God with our eyes and our mind.
9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
This is not the kind of peace we try to create between nations and people who are at war. It is the kind of peace that is the Peace of God that a believer shares with a non believer. To know a tranquility of the mind, body and spirit that is surrendered to God. To rest in Gods peace.
10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Persecution for righteousness sake causes a person to reach the highest rung of the satisfaction of blessedness. To suffer for Gods purpose and His desires. To be willing to suffer to bring people to repentance to God through the gospel. It may mean devoting ones life to seeking Gods people no matter what the cost. It may mean arrest, prison or Martyrdom or living in obscurity in a far away land to reach a people who first persecute you for bringing Gods message before they love you for it.
11. Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Suffering for Jesus in any way does not go unrewarded or unnoticed. Maybe you are the butt of jokes at the office because you go to church. Who does that today? Maybe your family or friends put you down or ridicule you, make sport of you. Maybe people even make up lies about what you believe or how you worship and mock you.
12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Be glad beyond all measure! Your in some pretty good company, some honored company the company of men and women like, Isaiah, Daniel, Ruth, Naomi, John the Baptist, Mary the mother of Jesus and on and on the list goes until this present day of those who love God.
The Ten Commandments remind us that Gods Law can condemn us but the Beatitudes remind us that the love of God which is Jesus can free us and lift us to a place where we can be changed to take on the very character of God and become His children in our actions, thoughts and deeds. Let us strive to be like Him.
Let us pray.
