The Blessed People
Today, let's meditate on the gospel according to Matthew, chapter 5. The sermon that Jesus delivers is affectionately called the sermon on the mount. In my opinion, the sermon on the mount is more like a devotional on the mount. But traditionally, we call it the Sermon on the Mount.
This sermon that Jesus taught us is to challenge us and to encourage us. The Sermon on the mount took place on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. There is a church over there, and its name is called the Church of ‘The Beatitudes. Beatitudes mean blessings, and there are eight different beatitudes that Jesus teaches here in these verses. His Sermon on the Mount is his longest recorded sermon, 107 verses. The first verse of this sermon was given to his disciples, and it begins here with eight beatitudes, which also means blessings.
The goal of Jesus' sermon was to both explain and challenge us. About how to live as a follower of Jesus Christ who is motivated by the heart rather than by the law. We have to remember that in Jesus' day, the religious leaders prided themselves on obeying the letter of the law. That only produces self-righteousness. When Jesus comes along with a different perspective, if you know me and have a relationship with me, you will be more motivated to obey me because of the love relationship. So it becomes a heart obedience rather than a legalistic obedience. Jesus teaches here that since we have a relationship with him, we're going to obey God's law because there's a heart relationship. Out of love, it's not legalistic. Jesus says that chapters five to seven are somewhat revolutionary. We have a response to that. We can either choose to obey, listen to have a heart relationship, or want to honor God or please God that way, or we can decide. We have a love-heart relationship with him, so we want to please him.
"The sermon on the mount is probably the best known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood and certainly it is the least obeyed." —John Stott (an Anglican theologian who died in 2011).
Jesus has given us eight statements in this passage. These eight statements that Jesus makes here and these beatitudes have been somewhat compared to the ten commandments. There are eight beatitudes here, and there are ten commandments in the old testament. and compared in this sense, whereas the ten commandments were a list of what you should not do. The eight beatitudes are a list of what you should do. Jesus approaches things at the beginning of the sermon by saying, "Here are eight character traits that my followers need to understand and follow." First of all, I want to lay out three general thoughts about the beatitudes.
1. These are eight character traits that identify true followers of Jesus Christ.
They are not multiple choices. You can't read the beatitudes like that. This is a package deal. It starts out with "blessed are the poor in spirit." Why do you need Jesus to begin with? That's the first one he's going to end with: blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. You're going to start out by needing to come to me, approaching me with an understanding of how poor you are in your spirit. That's where it begins, but at the end, at point number eight, he's going to talk about people who are persecuted for their faith, and so it needs to be seen as a package and it needs to be seen with intensity. We don't get to pick and choose. It's not multiple choice.
2) It's important to realize that these traits open the door to inner happiness:
The word beatitude translates literally as "blessed." So Jesus's going to begin with Each verse is blessed. This is the only time that Jesus repeats a word eight consecutive times in any of his teachings recorded in the Bible. And he's going to talk here about how blessed he is, and how each character trait opens the door to inner happiness. That word "blessed" literally means "oh how happy" in Greek. So he's basically saying, "Oh how happy you are, men and women who follow me in this way." How happy you are. That's the idea behind these beatitudes.
3) The third general observation before we look at these eight is that attached to each character trait is a corresponding promise. We read through it and he talks about what the character trait is and then he attaches a promise, a blessing of some kind. He holds out a particular benefit for each particular quality that has an eternal value, and so he's not just saying you're blessed if you do this. He's saying you're blessed if you do this, and here's the promise for you because of your faithfulness in these ways. Jesus begins with some wonderful blessings. Here are some wonderful things. Let us meditate one by one.
1) The Poor in Spirit:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. --Matthew 5:3.
It literally says, "How happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He's not talking about material poverty here. He's talking about spiritual poverty. Those who are poor in spirit are not poor materially. He says here, basically, that happiness begins when we see our emptiness. He's saying, how happy are the poor in spirit? The promise for them is the kingdom of heaven. The ultimate reward is that we will enjoy heaven. That's our eternal reward.
In the Bible, there are two phrases that are sometimes used interchangeably: the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of Heaven. In this passage, He talks about the kingdom of heaven. A lot of times, those phrases are used interchangeably in the gospels. Sometimes they are not; The difference between the two is basically this: The kingdom of God is about God's rule in our hearts and in our lives. In a broader sense, we know it's much larger. But generally speaking, the kingdom of God is when the Lord rules and reigns in your heart, and in your life. In Luke 17:20-21, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, "See here"! Or "See there"! For indeed the kingdom of God is within you. " In other words, as a follower of Christ, I submit my life to the king, who is Jesus, and now he dominates my life and I'm subject to him. Every kingdom has a king and has subjects of the king, and the kingdom of God comes into my life to rule and reign. It means I'm subject to him; as the king, I surrender my life to him. He's in charge. He's my Lord, and I serve him. And I follow him. That's the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of heaven is where God reigns. Heaven is a real place, and heaven is the ultimate reward for those who know him and love him. That's where we will ultimately go. The Bible talks about a new heaven and a new earth. This present heaven and present earth will be replaced by another one. This is the ultimate destination and this is the promise of those who love the Lord. And that begins by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
2) Those who mourn:
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." —Matthew 5:4
Jesus addresses those who mourn. This is another quality of character. He talks about those who are grieving. Those who are emotionally grieving are: because sometimes we go through stuff in life. Literally speaking, the loss of a loved one is a personal hardship, an accident, or a big tragedy that we might be facing. Why would Jesus talk about those who mourn? Because as a follower of Christ, you know if you've been through terrible, difficult times, that it builds a character trait in you through suffering. During these times, He is shaping us and molding us. What is Jesus saying about those who are going through suffering in this lifetime? Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted.
The other aspect is simply spiritually mourning. In other words, you know, coming to Christ involves dying to self, there's a grieving process. I mean, there's somewhat of a grieving process when you leave the life you used to live and you come into a relationship with Christ. There's dying to self and there's a mourning process, and it could be that the Lord is simply saying when you are grieving over your own sinful condition and you come to me empty of self that's poor in spirit, I will comfort you. The promise here is that they will be comforted. The Apostle Paul would write in 2 Corinthians 1:3, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles." So it enables us to comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God, just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives. So also, through Christ, our comfort overflows. So what Paul is writing there is that God is not unaware of your suffering and of the grievous things that you and I go through, and so he will comfort us. Then Paul says that once we are comforted, we need to comfort others who are going through similar things. Because we understand and we can comfort them with the same comfort that we have received from God.
3) The meek:
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." -Matthew 5:5
Meek does not mean weak; sometimes people think that meek means a weak person. Meekness is not a weakness. Jesus was the meekest man who ever lived, but there was nothing weak about him. So meekness is not thinking less of myself, right? Meekness is not thinking less of yourself. Don’t think that you are down on yourself. Or think less of yourself compared to other people. In fact, the apostle Paul writes in Philippians 2:3: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility and meekness, think of others greater than yourself." He commends us for being meek; this is what he wants. He wants us to follow his example and be meek. The Greek word for meek translates literally as a domesticated wild animal.That's a picture. It means that once I was wild and the Lord came into me and had a relationship with him, and now I'm kind of a domesticated wild animal. Now he is my master, right? He's saying to us, "This is a character trait you want to follow."
There is a promise in the scriptures. The promise is for those who are meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The Bible says He will return with the saints and we will rule and reign with him. And that's what he's talking about here. In future days, the saints will rule and reign with me, and you will inherit the earth.
4) Those who hunger for righteousness:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." —Matthew 5:6
The first three beatitudes were about emptying yourself, dying to self. Poor in spirit are those who mourn and are meek. That's kind of an emptying of self, that's dying to self. Now here in the fourth beatitude, he's talking about getting filled up with hunger and thirst. I want more of His righteousness. There are two types of righteousness: one is following the letter of the law, which produces a sense of self-righteousness that can quickly turn judgmental. That's the kind of righteousness that the Pharisees pursued in Jesus' day. They prided themselves on obeying the letter of the law. I'm a really good person because I follow all the rules and regulations, which nobody can really do.
But Jesus wants us to pursue righteousness, and it can only be given to us as a gift because of our faith in what Jesus Christ did. The Bible says that we must trust Christ, that he paid the price for our sins, and that He died on the cross for our sins. I cannot live up to the letter of the law. I need a Savior. I need someone who will have mercy on me. I need someone who will forgive me. Someone who will pay the price on my behalf. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." So God's righteousness is a gift. It is imputed to us by faith. This is the kind of righteousness that we are to follow. This is what righteousness is all about. The promise is for those who pursue righteousness, that they shall be filled. When we hunger and thirst for more of him, he will fill us up.
5) The Merciful:
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." -Matthew 5:7
Jesus tells us to be merciful. He wants us to live a merciful life because we've received mercy. You know justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. All of us deserve hell because all of us have sinned, all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). God sends his Son Jesus to die on the cross. What did He do for us? He allows us to receive the mercy of God so that we do not get what we deserve. God is merciful to us. But guess what? As recipients of his mercy, he wants us to be dispensers of his mercy. He wants us to be merciful to other people in the same way that we have received his mercy.
God calls us his followers. I want you to be merciful. I want you to extend mercy to people, and the promise is that they shall obtain mercy. The more merciful you are, the more merciful God is to you. Therefore, Jesus said in Luke 6:36, "Therefore be merciful just as your father also is merciful."
6) The pure in heart:
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." --Matthew 5:8
He wants us to be pure in heart. The Pharisees in Jesus' day taught that they should practice strict commitment to follow the letter of the law. They were always concerned about outward appearances. Whereas the Bible says, God is always concerned about the inward appearance, the heart. God is not concerned about outward stuff, he's concerned about inward stuff. To be outwardly clean, the Pharisees would ensure that they followed every ritual aspect of cleansing. There were ritual baths and mikvahs. There were ritual ways of washing your hands. There was a strict code of how to properly wash their hands and how to properly wash the outside of their bodies.
The cleansing aspect of Moses' law was intended to point people to that fact. They needed a greater cleansing, which they couldn't do by all the scrubbing and bathing that they could possibly engage in. They needed a cleansing of the heart and that's only what God can do, so all the ritual baths and all the ritual ways of washing your hands were all part of just leading up to the greater cleansing that we need, which is the need for the cleansing of the heart that only Jesus can provide for us.
A pure heart through faith in Christ cleanses us from the inside. When we come to faith in him, we say, "Lord, forgive me my sins." But it's a responsibility for us to continue to walk in purity.
For in Acts 15:8-9, "God, who knows the heart, okay, it's pure in heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the holy spirit to them just as he did to us." He made no distinction between us and them, between Jews and gentiles, for listen, he purified their hearts by faith."
Now that's not a visible thing. You can see somebody's heart becoming purified, but Peter knew that Cornelius' family experienced the same thing that he experienced, that anyone experiences when they come to faith in Jesus. God gives you a clean heart. He purifies your heart and then he calls us to walk in that kind of purity, and the promise is that they shall see God. There's going to be a day when believers in Jesus are going to stand before the Lord. John would write in I John 3:2: "Beloved, we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is."
7) The peacemakers:
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." —Matthew 5:9
He wants it to be our goal to make peace with people. Not because we are necessarily at odds with someone, but to be people who facilitate peace between one and another. A peacemaker is not just someone who puts an end to quarrels or conflict; a peacemaker is one who brings good into other people's lives because they pursue peace. And a peacemaker, by the way, never compromises the truth for the sake of making peace. A lot of people who want to be peacemakers will do the wrong thing in trying to make peace. We should never compromise the truth in order to make peace, and we should never engage in evil in order to make peace. Instead, as peacemakers, we should always strive to please the Lord and use wisdom from above to promote peace in various situations. He promises that they shall be called "sons of God." This is the promise of a relationship. You're not called a son or a daughter in a universal way, like you're not called a child unless there's a relationship, and so he promises us how we shall have that relationship with him. Through the cross, God made peace with man. God is a peacemaker. He reconciled man to himself through the cross, and we exemplify him and we reflect him when we are peacemakers ourselves.
8) Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteous sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." —Matthew 5:10
The lesson here is to get ready for a little persecution. Of course, we don't suffer the kind of persecution that a lot of people do around the world. We have it really easy, correct? As Christians, we must be prepared, and we shouldn't take for granted our religious liberties. They may not always be there. As part of being my follower, you have to be prepared for some persecution. He doesn't hold back the fact that this last beatitude is the only one that he adds two more verses to amplify, and they are verses 11-12. Look at your Bibles. This is not another beatitude, this is just an amplification of the last one. For in verses 11–12, he said, "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake." "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, because they persecuted the prophets before you."
How did they persecute them, the prophets who were before us? They killed them. Christianity and being a follower of Jesus Christ is something that people are dying for on a daily basis around the world. Jesus warns us that this is part of being a follower of mine. He reminds us that in this world you will have trouble, but I've overcome the world. There is an ultimate destination: don't fix your eyes too much horizontally, but fix your eyes vertically and always keep that perspective. Fix your gaze on the Lord. Fix your gaze on the ultimate reward of heaven. Don't get too comfortable here. And don't think that the world offers any solutions. The solution is in the Lord, and we always need to be mindful to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Paul would write this in 2 Corinthians 4:16. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. " Amen.
