The Beatitudes
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Our passage today is found in Matthew 5, there are some things we really should pull into the conversation of Matthew 5 that precedes this passage:
1st) Jesus’ public ministry starts at His baptism — which is found in Matthew 3 when the Father comes upon the clouds and and says “this is my son whom i’m well pleased”
one quick note on that —- isn't this the statement each one of us desires to here from our father?? don’t we want to go to heaven and hear “this is my son or daughter, who I am well pleased, enter — good an faithful servant” —- it is no accident for this to be the crescendo that begins Jesus’ public ministry
2nd) Chapter 4, as we heard last week, was centered around Jesus calling His first disciples - this means that what we are about to dive into is Jesus’ first teaching…
What someone says, especially Jesus, first should hold extreme importance to the believer!
3rd) The Beatitudes is what we will be learning about today —— this phrase is directly translated as “a series of blessings” —- what we will be learning today is a what blessings the Lord has for His people who follow Him —— this sermon today will both act as an introduction to Jesus following —— as well as a deep understanding of the person of jesus
Jesus begins His public ministry by displaying what He provides for those who love Him
sometimes, if we are not careful, we as Christian leaders can display the faith we have in Jesus like that of the Mail Person —- if we aren't careful we can highlight a large aspect of Jesus following, which is the great commission “go and tell” of the good news…. at the expense of making sure we too have and hold and receive the good news ourself.
a mail delivery person does not receive the very thing they are delivering —- the are just giving without receiving —- this is not our duty as believers —- we both receive and give the good news —- today we focus on receiving, while living it out
let today be the opportunity to be reminded of what is yours in Christ Jesus. and it is an extensive list.
4th) If the Beatitudes is a “series of blessings” given to those who love Jesus —— then what biblical framework do these blessings work within? —- we ask this question because Jesus is adamant in His teachings that he is not coming to abolish what was, rather he has come to fulfill what has come before Him.
The clearest way God blesses His people in the old testament is through His covenant promises — God uses these promises to progressively reveal more and more of Himself to His people —- and if Jesus is the culmination of these promises, which He is in the New Covenant of grace, than getting familiar with these covenants is very helpful to place this teaching of Jesus within
here is the backdrop to what God has done before the “kingdom of God is at hand” Jesus says in Matthew 4 .
The Adamic covenant: God calls Adam & Eve to be fruitful and multiply Gods image to the world by subduing the land and stewarding it well — this would bless all of creation as Gods image would multiply to the ends of the earth while humanity stewards and expands its domain on the earth which God gave to humanity —— HOWEVER - this would not come without great sacrifice as they would need to not sin against God and follow what he has told them
The Noahic Covenant: God promises to never agin flood the entire earth, and that the seasons will be upheld by Him —- He also commissions Noah and His family to be fruitful and multiply an faithfully subdue the land — this would bless the rest of the world as Gods promise would sit in the sky, a rainbow, to remind humanity that God will never flood the earth again —- HOWEVER — this would not come without sacrifice as Noah was called to establish a humanity through His family that honored the Lord
The Abrahamic Covenant: God promises Abraham land, descendents, and a great nation that would bless the entire world through the kingdom of God —- HOWEVER this would not come without great sacrifice as God called Abraham to leave his father and his land to the place where God would call him
The Mosaic covenant: Gods calls Moses to receive the law of God atop Mount Sinai to bless Gods people by giving them the way to follow God. The announcement of the first grace that the NT often refers to as is the law of God. The Law would distinguish Gods people from other nations, and in doing so God is building His nation that he promised Abraham. HOWEVER — this would not come without great sacrifice as the law would act as a great mirror to the lives of Gods people, placing on direct display where they were in sin and needing to repent and follow God
The Davidic Covenant: God calls David to reign within the bloodline of the throne of God. God promising this earthly king a king to come — through his bloodline —- this promise would result in the ultimate reign which was King Jesus’ reign. This promise furthers the covenant that God made with Abraham in that the descendants of Abraham would be blessed, and ultimately would inherit the kingdom of God that is now at hand through Jesus. HOWEVER — this would not come with great sacrifice as many wanted that earthly throne that was rightfully given to David and David had to govern not with his own interest in mind, but with the kingdom of God in mind.
What is the overarching theme here in Gods covenants?
God gave His People a series of blessings through His promises: the land, the descendants, the great nation, the rainbow, the earthly throne, grace, and ultimately resulting in Jesus’ coming —- and in each and every one it came with great sacrifice and commitment
this is the lens in which we should see the “series of blessings” that we will read today in the opening of the sermon on the mount: “God has never called His people into His blessing, void of their participation. todays passage is no different.”
Rachel is going to read the Word of God for us today and as she comes up would you please stand for the word of God
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Today we will cover the first 3 beatitudes and end the sermon series with the back half of them
The Beatitudes Are Jesus’ Blessings to His People that displays the Upside Down Nature of His Kingdom
following Jesus changes how we see everything.
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Now I want to pause here, and give a really detailed understanding of blessing…. this word in the original language that was given to us in the NT is this word Makarios —- it means Fortunate, happy, and flourishing
so, here we could read the beatitudes in this way … “to be blessed by Jesus is to live in a current and consistent state of flourishing and happiness because you have embraced the path, worldview, and life of Jesus.”
there is a key word in that definition: Embrace
as the covenants give away…. this word embrace is to be taken very seriously.
surly all of us desire to be flourishing, happy, and fortunate —- however if we do not embrace the realities that Jesus is about to put on display we can mistake blessing for all sorts of other things —— like financial freedom, or a lack of struggle
for many people they mistake blessing for a lack of trouble in their lives. this is not what Jesus is getting at here.
so, every single day we have a decision to make as those who love Jesus: DO we live in alignment with Jesus’ blessings, or do we desire a worldly understanding of blessings that simply brings lifes comforts.
STORY: i ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while at a coffee shop this past week, he and his wife spent some time away from the city and they lived in a much more “churched” context during their time away —- he mentioned how difficult that experience was after living here as a believer for a while —- and I don’t intend to say that a churched culture is bad but our conversation brought a lot of light to this idea that we as humans can even miss-define the idea of blessing within the context of christian values being upheld in society” —- that our greatest need is not for people to be ok with the Christian worldview, but for us to embrace and live within christs realities
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here are some of the words Jesus will use to described being blessed in Him:
poor in spirit // mourning // meek // hunger // pure // peacemakers // etc.
if we fail to understand how Gods upside down kingdom is good for us we will constantly feel uncomfortable or confused within our walk with Jesus. We risk being frustrated, dismayed, or down right annoyed at this life in Jesus if we do not have this upside down reality that Jesus Blesses us within.
the Beatitudes that Jesus displays in this passage is one part teaching and one part integrating —- he is teaching the disciples how to integrate into the life and way of Jesus:
lets look at the first 3 blessings:
Matt. 5:2-5
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
The Poor In Spirit: theirs is the kingdom
Begin to see each teaching through the upside down lens: this is phrase just means that it is inverted to how we are naturally wired to see things through
for instance, upon my first reading I translated “poor in spirit” to a type of ho-hum ee-ore type person. one who is down trodden —- usually people who are hard to be around because they drain energy from you. —— this is who jesus says gets the kingdom of heaven!?!!?
maybe I need to work on my down troddeness?!?!? NO.
BUT — upon further investigation and understanding how Jesus communicated later on we come to find a completely different meaning: this is when we allow the text to interpret the text
the poor in spirit is a recognition of our inabilities — those who are poor in spirit have a recognition of their poverty —- if left by ourselves we are poor — meaning we have no ability to be made rich no matter what we own or what we accomplish —- if it weren't for the one who is RICH, the one who holds the key to salvation in His hands, we would be left poor —-
that acknowledgment is what Jesus is defining here —- the Kingdom of heaven is given to those who understand their depravity apart from Him.
what we don’t get to see here because we jumped into Matthew 5 is Matthew chapter 1 —- the genealogy of Jesus:
Jesus’ family line was filled with:
Liars, Cheaters, Cowards, idolaters, adulterers, hypocrites, prostitutes, and murderers —-
The family Jesus came FROM reflects the family He came FOR - Sam Alberry
he isn't asking you to become rich to stand in His presence, hes asking you to understand your poverty before Him —- therefore declaring your desperation for Him!
Jesus had a PHD in understanding sin…. yet He was not amongst those who did —- but He sure came FOR them. \
the book of Psalms uses this direct translation to poor as Jesus is using here —— and it describes poor as a “profound neediness”
so, Jesus is saying you are blessed if you have a profound neediness for Jesus
ill never forget a Sunday at cultivate a couple years back when the sermon was on Romans 10:9
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
after the sermon a person ran up to me and said “How do I get saved!” —— what I saw in this persons eyes was a profound neediness for Jesus Christ.
how do you display your neediness? A good reflection of ones neediness is to observe their prayer life —— i only say that becuase a lack of prayer is a lack of needing God to move.
Matthew 5:4
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
once again, those who mourn is the second thing that Jesus highlights in His first teaching moment!?
what you begin to recognize is that Jesus didn’t come to save the mighty, build power with the proud, teach those who were already teaching —- rather He came to save the sick, heal those in NEED, and give humanity a new vision and pathway for TRUE LIFE.
In Christ we do not have to avoid our pain —— is what Jesus is teaching here —— this is in direct opposition with what the world may describe as happy, fortunate, or flourishing —- usually those things are void of acknowledging our suffering and pain
“not only do we acknowledge our sin (the poor in spirit), but we do not have to avoid its aches and pains in Him (those who mourn) —- we now handle them with Christ —- meaning we have understood the weight of this life, and the weight of sin in us and in others —- and once again taking our NEEDS to Jesus the one who comforts
If I trust Jesus with my sin, than I can trust Jesus with my needs.
some of in this room are in waiting….. waiting on something you deeply desire ….. A) it is ok to mourn the fact that you don’t have that (unless the thing you desire is not God-honoring) —- bring it to Jesus for those who mourn he comforts —- B) C.S Lewis says this to those who are waiting “I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that is is good for them to wait”
What Jesus is not declaring here is that you ought to be happy that you are in mourning —— no, no, no what He is saying that comfort comes to those who mourn the things that are not of God and willingly wait on the things that are of God BECAUSE ultimately there will come a day where your mourning will be reversed in heaven with God in perfection - reversed to WORSHIP and GLADNESS in HIM
this is good news!
We live in a world, come from families, and even have somewhat have been taught by “playing church” that you should not show it when you mourn —-
-Social media talks much about not over-sharing with people because they may turn around and hurt you with that information
-the news will tell you one horrific story and 30 seconds later it will show you a happy story —- no time to mourn just on to the next story and we hope your entertained
-we also hear that a lot that people likely won’t even be able to understand your unique mourning, so don’t share
-or that its not ok to mourn and you are supposed to show up and put a smile on and act like nothing is going on
If i trust Jesus with my sin, than I can trust Jesus with my needs. —- and the Church ought to be the second place you can bring your mourning to (second toGod Himself of course) because we should be excellent at lamenting deep deep pain, struggle, and sin. We should understand the comfort Jesus has given us, and so therefore we can comfort others.
Matthew 5:5
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
the dictionary defines Meek as: quiet, gentle, or submissive
Jesus here uses it close to that definition but I’d add Humility and under control
If you could pick any of the beautitudes that New York City would imparticularly directly oppose it would be this one. Our city doesn’t run off of humility, self-control, or gentleness —-
in fact most often I don’t desire it to —- iv’e never desire my uber or taxi driver to be humble in their approach to driving OR the person making the sandwich at the deli to practice his or her self-control —- no,no,no add as much sausage to that sausage egg and cheese as possible!!
or the job market in our city —— it isn’t looking for the most gentile or quiet applicant
Rich Villodas speaks of the opposition to meekness in His book The Narrow Path —- as “aggressive possessiveness” it is what our culture runs upon
However, this word MEEK is not propelling the Christian into passivity —- that we walk with heads low and never speak our mind in fact one could argue its a the complete opposite
being passive is to withhold due to a lack of power or ability —— this is not what Jesus is teaching.
Jesus here is is teaching that we both do not impose our control or withhold ourselves from action —- but that we understand correctly the power we in fact do have.
“in Christ we don’t have to anxiously & aggressively control our lives or everything around us because Christ is our greatest inheritance”
to be meek is to correctly understand the power that we have in christ Jesus
- to correctly asses when to withhold from saying something to someone because me being right isn’t my savior
- to correctly understand that what I have or do not have on earth pales in comparison to my inheritance in heaven in Jesus
-to correctly understand what is mine in Christ, so I do not need to build a name for myself
What does it say those who are meek will receive? they will inherit the Earth —- well isn’t it fascinating that Jesus chose not to use “they will inherit heaven?”
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Think with me for a second —- which person of the covenants that I mentioned at the beginning failed to fully inherit what was His in the Earth?
Adam & Eve “be fruitful and multiply and Subdue the Land” which beatitude did Adam & Eve fail the most at? ======= Meekness AND which end phrase did Jesus add to “Blessed are the Meek!? —- “for they shall inherit the earth”
I do not think this was accidently by any stretch if the imagination —- Jesus is saying that the meek will inherit here, what God designed humanity from the beginning to inherit which is a relationship with God while bearing His image to the world through gentleness, self-control, while submitting to His plan and design.
When you live with meekness:
there is nothing to prove
nothing to protect
nothing to possess
you can live humbly, gently, freely in Christ
2) Application of the first 3 Beatitudes
I want to remind you of each beatitude truth and give us some confessions around each truth that we can offer to God consistently
Poor In Spirit Reality: In Christ: We do not have to save ourselves because we are saved through the acknowledgment of our poverty:
Confession: Father, rid me of the areas of my life that I believe I am capable of handling on my own // Father, rid me of my unbelief that you aren’t sufficient for all of life // Father, rid me of my own kingdom, my own ways, and the sin that so easily makes me believe that I am all that I need
Those who Mourn Reality: We do not have to avoid the aches and pains we experience on this side of Heaven
Confession: Father, I admit that feeling weak, mourning, or acknowledging that I am lacking is uncomfortable and unnatural, but heal me and allow me to trust you with myself and my pain. // Father, remind me that you have saved me, made me new, and have eternally set me free from the ultimate ache and pain in sin which is death // Father, help me believe that you meet me in the midst of my struggle and my pain
The Meek Reality: Gods inheritance is far greater than anything we could build for ourselves
Confession: Father, help me believe that I do not ultimately have to prove myself, protect myself, or possess something to be a recipient of your loving kindness and all that you have for me. // Father, help me see where I do boast in me and not In you. // Father, teach me to be gentle, humble, and exhibit self-control.
