The Beatitudes wrap up, the Baptist doubts!
Blessings, what a wonderful thing it is to receive a blessing!
Over the last couple of months we have looked through the beatitudes those blessings that Jesus talked about, we looked at the whole way in which he talked about these beatitudes, which are about the blessings that were and are received by those who acted in a certain way.
This is not about the people’s attitudes but who the people are and the way they act and the blessings that result from who they are.
The word beatitude comes from the Latin word for blessed which is beatus. The Greek means; ‘receiving God’s favour, being in a position of favour, happy feelings associated with being in God’s favour, being fortunate. So, from the Greek: these blessings are not about, physical stuff, again this is related to the spiritual, about receiving God’s favor and it can though be about good feels associated with receiving God’s favor.’
There is the pointer at the start of the beatitudes about who Jesus is, when the words “And opening his mouth he began to teach them, saying…” This term ‘he opened his mouth’ was a fairly well used Hebrew saying and crops up quite a bit in the Old Testament in situations where something with a bit of substance was to follow.
An example of this is from Psalm 78:2 and this is quite important, this Psalm is referred to in Matthews gospel in reference to Jesus teaching all those years later, this Psalm is prophetic, it’s written by and in the style of a wisdom writer about God. It says this, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from old”. If we look at Matthew 13:35 after Jesus had told the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast we read, “So it was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world. “
So looking at the beatitudes that follow we see that:
• To be blessed because you are spiritually poor requires an acknowledgement that you are spiritually poor
• If you mourn your sinful actions then you will be comforted
• Meekness is a strength that is worth possessing
• If a right relationship with God is what drives you this is what you will get.
• Mercy is an active thing, it is something that is practiced
• The pure in heart will see God
and
• Peacemaking is an active role
As you know the remaining beatitude is about those who were to be persecuted because of their faith in Jesus. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-13)
There’s a case of persecution going on at present: A pastor could be executed if he refuses to give up his faith. Rev Yousef Nadarkhani has twice refused to recant his Christian faith during two court hearings in the last week. It appears that Pastor Yousef may be executed in the following week for apostasy or abandonment of his previous faith, though he had never practiced it as an adult. Please remember pastor Yousef in your prayers. Pray also for those in power in his country.
As you will know in the history of Christianity there has been ample persecution, Christians refusing to worship the roman emperor were executed, often used as a means of entertainment first, and throughout the ages persecution has continued. There has also been persecution of one Christian by another or of others who were not believers, please remember none of this was the actions of God, but the foolishness of men.
In New Zealand today there is very little persecution of Christians, I mentioned in an earlier sermon that there may be a few remarks, the missing out on an opportunity or two because of your faith and refusal to bend to the worlds standards. But by and large persecution is rare.
This takes me to beatitude, in Matthews gospel if we read from Matthew 11: 1-6 we find another blessing that Jesus talks about. Let’s read that passage!
“Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
So in Matthews’ gospel we have this journal of John the Baptist sending his disciples to Jesus to ask if he was the Messiah or should they expect some other bloke to come as the Messiah?
Jesus gives this no nonsense reply, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
Now John the Baptist was an interesting character, the gospels tell us that he was a teacher of scripture who lived in the desert, that he lived on locusts and wild honey, that his clothes were made of camels hair and that he wore a leather belt, that he was an evangelist, telling people to repent of their sins and the baptised them in the Jordan river. By birth he was Jesus slightly older cousin the son of Mary’s relative Elizabeth. John had himself denied being the Christ, but recognised that Jesus was the messiah when he came to be baptised with these words, “Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him but the reason I came baptising with water is that he might be revealed to Israel.” (John 1:30-31) Then John gave his testimony about how he had seen the Spirit of God descend on Jesus like a dove and remain on him.
So we have this picture of John the Baptist who knows who Jesus is, who sees the Spirit of God descend on Jesus, he knows that Jesus is the promised messiah. He knows that he baptises with water and declares that Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit, can I get an amen from someone who knows that baptism?
This same John the Baptist who leapt in his mother’s womb when the pregnant Mary came to visit, the same John the Baptist who said this about Jesus, “The Father loves the son and has placed everything in his hands, whoever believes in the son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (John 3: 34-36).
John the Baptist who was so sure, who had seen the miracles, he had known Jesus and was full of the Holy Spirit before either of them was born, he was an amazing man of faith, he had seen the Holy Spirit descend onto Jesus, yet he had his time of doubt.
Why?
1) Well he was in prison, because he had given the Jewish ruler Herod Antipas the raspberry about taking his brother’s wife Herodias into his bed and a few other evil things that Herod had got up to. It didn’t pay to wind up powerful men back in the day!
So here is John this holy man in his mid-thirties, a desert dweller, this man of faith who was used to the wilds of the desert, with its wild open spaces, the warm wind and the cold nights, the rough vegetation, the Jordan river, the wild animals calling at night and a roof of stars, the call of the cricket, the whistle of the wings of the swallow as it collects flies above the river surface, the rising sun bringing the colour of the new day to the black and white half-light of the world now locked in a room, unable to meander to the cool river for a drink, unable to watch as the wild antelope fight on the plain or ponder the workings of an ant as it struggles with part of a broken insect in the hot mid-day sun. This freest of men now caged awaiting his fate; already he may have had an indication that his head was to be presented on a platter.
As he sat in this prison, hard walls, hard floor, the smell of human waste, little natural light, no view, bug bitten and bruised, he started to wonder, maybe he had his doubts. Maybe the tempter whispered in his ear, “you could be wrong, are you sure, how could he be the messiah, he’s not what you think a messiah should be!”
Doubts, concern, questioning, So John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus with a question, “Jesus are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus reply “Go back and report to John what you hear and see” Yes look at what is happening, ‘I am’”. Blessed is the man who does not fall away!
2) Doubts, concern, questioning, we come to Jesus, in our struggles our battles with life, in sickness, in confusion, our concerns about relationships, struggling with those habits we have, wondering about what others might think about what our family will say when we tell them about this God we serve. So we come to Jesus “are you the one, are you the one who will turn my life around, are you the one who will save me from myself.”
What is it that Jesus would say to us: Yes look at what is happening, ‘I am’”. Blessed is the man who does not fall away!
In his prison cell the message came to John the Baptist, life change is happening and the good news is being preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.
Some commentators read this as “blessed is he who takes no offence at me.”
Why would Jesus say this to John, well for a start he was answering Johns doubts, are you the one? Here’s a paraphrase of what Jesus was saying “Yes look at what is happening, ‘I am’”. Blessed is the man who does not fall away!
3) John the Baptist died knowing Jesus was the messiah, many don’t. Many come to ask is Jesus the one, what is our answer, do we allow people to remain in doubt? Or do we show them what is happening in our lives, the healing that we have received from Jesus, the Good News that we have received and the Holy Spirit at work in our lives or do we allow them to believe that that that prison of a life that they are now living is all there is? Do we allow them to continue to believe that or do we tell them about the blessings that come from living in the Grace of God?
We can learn something from the difference between Jesus and John the Baptist.
4)There was difference in the teachings of John the Baptist and Jesus. “John spoke a gospel of divine holiness and divine destruction. Jesus preached the gospel of divine holiness with divine love.” (Matthew: William Barcley, pg. 4).
As believers we have a choice, as non-believers some of you have a choice also, believers and non-believers alike share this choice, either to remain in condemnation or turn aside from the destruction that comes from remaining in sin and receive the forgiveness that comes through the divine love of Jesus Christ. Blessed are those who accept Jesus forgiveness! Blessed are those who don’t fall away but continue to live accepting Jesus.
In seeing what Jesus was doing John probably began to realise that the messiah was not behaving as he had expected a messiah to behave, but Jesus was still the one!
The blessings of Jesus, for the poor in spirit, for those who mourn, for the meek, for those who desire to have a right relationship with God, for the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted. These blessings all start when they accept Jesus as Lord of their lives and live in the grace of God, that comes through the cleansing blood of Jesus that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins, the forgiveness of sins, and remaining in that place their blessings continue, as they don’t fall away or take offence at Jesus, they know what it is to be in God’s favour, to understand those hidden things and the love and forgiveness of God therefore they will not fall away, standing clean before the most high, the Holy God!
Blessed are those who don’t fall away but continue to live accepting Jesus!
