The Beatitudes: Living at Home in the Kingdom (1)
The Kingdom of GOD • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 48:51
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· 19 viewsIn this series, we are looking at what it means to be citizens in the Kingdom of GOD. We are learning about how we should live and how we partner with the FATHER in HIS reign. This week we take a look into the details of the Sermon on the Mount as we begin looking at the second triad of beatitudes, focusing on verse 6.
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Announce text: Matthew 5:1-16
Key Text: Matthew 5:1-16
Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgx0HeNGFSg
We began our series with a look at how the KINGdom of GOD is a theme that runs throughout the Bible, basically from cover-to-cover.
Really, it is the story of GOD - HIS Love for humanity: HIS desire to rule and reign with mankind.
It started in the Garden where GOD created man in HIS Image.
Being created in HIS Image, we discovered that we were given a royal task of ruling with HIM as gardeners.
We were given the task of working with GOD’s creation to make something better.
GOD intended to share HIS rule and reign with us.
Three main mandates:
Be fruitful & multiply
Cultivate the earth
Rule over Creation
Adam & Eve broke their trust in GOD.
Still have those tasks living in GOD’s KINGdom
However, now those tasks have been cursed & much harder to carry out.
Eventually, through Cain, man sets up his own kingdom
Effectively, GOD is replaced as the Ultimate Ruler
Man sets himself up in a role he could not possibly fulfill
Enters a state of rebellion - complete, willful disobedience
Constant clash of kingdoms
GOD’s KINGdom vs. man’s kingdoms
GOD is constantly trying to invade man’s kingdom and offer him opportunity to come under GOD’s rule & reign
GOD chooses Israel to reveal the nature of HIS KINGdom through them
To be a light to other nations and be an example of submitting to the rule & reign of YHWH
Cycle of rejection, captivity, repentance, rescue, return
JESUS arrives and preaches the Gospel - the good news, the eungelion - the KING has returned
Announce text again: Matthew 5:1-16
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the hillside, and sat down. His disciples came to him.
2 He took a deep breath, and began his teaching:
3 “How good is life for the powerless, because theirs is the kingdom of the skies.
4 “How good is life for those who grieve, because they will be comforted.
5 “How good is life for the unimportant, because they will inherit the land.
6 “How good is life for people who hunger and thirst for God’s justice! You’re going to be satisfied.
7 “How good is life for the merciful! You’ll receive mercy yourselves.
8 “How good is life for the pure in heart! You will see God.
9 “How good is life for the peacemakers! You’ll be called God’s children.
10 “How good is life for people who are persecuted because of God’s saving plan! The kingdom of heaven belongs to you.
11 “How good is life for you, when people slander you and persecute you, and say all kinds of wicked things about you falsely because of me!
12 Celebrate and rejoice: there’s a great reward for you in heaven. That’s how they persecuted the prophets who went before you.”
13 “You’re the salt of the earth! But if the salt becomes tasteless, how is it going to get salty again? It’s no good for anything. You might as well throw it out and walk all over it.
14 “You’re the light of the world! A city can’t be hidden if it’s on top of a hill.
15 People don’t light a lamp and put it under a bucket; they put it on a lampstand. Then it gives light to everybody in the house.
16 That’s how you must shine your light in front of people! Then they will see what wonderful things you do, and they’ll give glory to your father in heaven.
16 That’s how you must shine your light in front of people! Then they will see what wonderful things you do, and they’ll give glory to your father in heaven.
Prayer for added blessing to the reading of the Word
Message
Message
Driving up from Beersheba, a combined force of British, Australians and New Zealanders were pressing on the rear of the Turkish retreat over arid desert. The attack outdistanced its water carrying camel train. Water bottles were empty. The sun blazed pitilessly out of a sky where the vultures wheeled expectantly. "Our heads ached," writes Gilbert, "and our eyes became bloodshot and dim in the blinding glare...Our tongues began to swell...Our lips turned a purplish black and burst." Those who dropped out of the column were never seen again, but the desperate force battled on to Sheria. There were wells at Sheria, and had they been unable to take the place by nightfall, thousands were doomed to die of thirst.
"We fought that day," writes Gilbert, "as men fight for their lives... We entered Sheria station on the heels of the retreating Turks. The first objects which met our view were the great stone cisterns full of cold, clear, drinking water. In the still night air the sound of water running into the tanks could be distinctly heard, maddening in its nearness; yet not a man murmured when orders were given for the battalions to fall in, two deep, facing the cisterns" He then describes the stern priorities: the wounded, those on guard duty, then company by company. It took four hours before the last man had his drink of water, and in all that time they had been standing twenty feet from a low stone wall on the other side of which were thousands of gallons of water.
From an account of the British liberation of Palestine by Major V. Gilbert in The Last Crusade, quoted in Christ's Call To Discipleship, J.M. Boice, Moody, 1986, p. 143.
The beatitudes are 9 sayings of JESUS in which HE is reframing what the good life is. We are going to continue digging into the Greek and Hebrew words underlying our English translation of what JESUS is saying in our text, as we begin looking at the second triad covered in vv.6-8.
Here is the second triad in context in a blended paraphrased translation from the BibleProject and the NTFE version:
6 “How good is life for people who hunger and thirst for God’s justice! You’re going to be satisfied.
7 “How good is life for the merciful! You’ll receive mercy yourselves.
8 “How good is life for the pure in heart! You will see God.
So, where the first triad was a look at the unexpected places or states of being that JESUS identified as a state of blessedness, HE now begins in the second triad of identifying the type of people GOD is forming - those who live in the KINGdom.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to begin looking at three essential qualities or three characteristics of one at home in the KINGdom. We’re going to look at the first one today. So, three essential qualities of a citizen of heaven:
Crave KINGdom Righteousness.
Let’s look at v.6:
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
JESUS continues to describe those who are living the good life by starting this verse with a metaphor: those who are hungry and thirsty. So, that is part of the perspective in the first line, and then the blessing is that those in this state will have their needs met with the second line - they’re going to be satisfied.
A few weeks ago, watched Dr. Busic’s message from the ordination service at District Assembly. This satisfied state is like the “after Thanksgiving dinner” scenario he described. When everyone is lounging around the living room about to drift off into a food coma, and someone (usually mom or grandma) offers more desert. Just the thought of another bite makes the buttons on your shirt pop and the belt slip back a couple notches just to relieve the tension - the pressure-cooker - of what is already percolating in your gut. You can’t imagine another bite because, you’ve already overdone it. You’re fully satisfied to the breaking point of gluttony. He also tied into this satisfaction watching the Cowboys lose … I would add watching the Lions win …
Now, thinking back to the first triad, this also a description of one who is lacking and powerless to change their state of lack - of doing without. HE’s continuing in that theme. Those who suffer loss - who are grieving, those are unimportant - those in the margins of society, outcasts … He now adds being in a state of perpetual hunger. Again, not a state we want to find ourselves in, yet JESUS says how good life is for this individual. This is a state of lack, not a state of abundance.
The lacking is one side of the coin, but the other side is that this person strongly desires that which they lack - they crave it, they’re starving for it. Carly doesn’t like hearing anyone in our home say, “I’m starving.” She ignores the exaggerated expression, going straight for the literal sense of the phrase and does her best to change behavioral thought patterns so that we realize we do not truly know what it means to be starving, whereas so many others around the world do. We have a lot to be thankful for. In that same frame of thinking, JESUS uses that as a metaphor to describe a state of blessedness.
There is an incredible longing for something you don’t have - like the soldiers desperately in need of a life-saving water.
Training for the USA-Canada half-marathon
Carly, Brandon, Tara, & I
- push through the pain
— sports vs. running
— shin splints? hairline fracture
— not just lacking comfort
— constant, irritating pain, with every step
So, this is kind of the image of hunger and thirst here. It’s not just the lacking something - in this case food or water. It’s that this state of lacking is also a state of irritation - an agitating state, a constant state of tension that creates an acute awareness of the thing that is lacking.
In the context of our verse, the thing they are lacking - what they hunger and thirst for is the Greek word, dikaiosuné. It is the Greek word behind our English translation, righteousness.
Greek word dikaiosunē
translation: justice, justness, divine righteousness
definition: righteousness
The version you use probably uses that same English word. You got kind of a sneak preview with the NTFE translation.
Several weeks ago, we had a discussion about the words righteous and righteousness. We were collaborating on puzzling out what the word righteousness means. There was some really good conversation that took place that night.
So, once again, let me ask you a rhetorical question: what would be your definition of righteousness?
Like that Wednesday evening conversation, perhaps we would hear a number of definitions or thoughts on what it means. Perhaps there would something like a state of purity or goodness, flawless? Maybe there would be wording that would link it to the FATHER and our relationship with HIM?
Underlying the Greek word, dikaiosuné, is the Hebrew word, tzedekah.
Hebrew word tzedekah
translation: right relationship
definition: right relationship
The Hebrew word, tzedekah, means to be in right relationship with GOD - which I think is kind of the communal definition we came up with that night. However, not only is it being in the right relationship with GOD, but is also being in right relationship with others - like the loving our neighbor as ourselves application. It refers to the character of the individual - one who is in right relationship with those around him or her. But wait! There’s more … Not only is it applicable to an individual, but it can also apply to a group of people. Tzedekah, then means how everyone is relating with one another - those relationships are equitable.
I know equitable is a little bit of a politically charged word these days, but in this instance it means everyone is doing right by one another. The way that plays out is dependent upon the type of relationship within that group, e.g., someone who is a father, a sister, a teacher, someone you meet on the street, etc.
In the Hebrew Bible, the most common use of the word tzedekah is when it is used to describe someone who is responsible for creating and ensuring tzedekah in the community - and it’s usually only used when someone is not doing their job well. So, it is being addressed in the passage.
So, this isn’t about me “doing all the right things” while ignoring others - it’s not a personal, individualized state of “holy living” while I could care less about the state of others.
Here’s an example from the prophet, Jeremiah.
1 Thus said Adonai: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and speak this word:
2 ‘Hear the word of Adonai, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David—you, your servants, and your people who enter by these gates.’
3 Thus says Adonai: ‘Execute justice and righteousness ...
Here, YHWH sends the prophet Jeremiah to confront the king of Judah’s terrible behavior. HE instructs Jeremiah to give him a command, “Do justice and righteousness ...” - “Execute justice and righteousness ...” I like that word, execute - I looked it up in the redneck, and it means, “Git ‘er dunn ...” In Gold Rush’s Tony Beets speak (viking), it’s “Make it happening ...”
YHWH is saying, “Repent and turn from the way you’ve been leading my people - stop mistreating them and start doing right by them.” Look at the rest of v.3.
3 ... Rescue the one who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the fatherless or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
So, we’re presented with an idea of what the current state of the reign of the king of Judah was like. Lots of injustice and lacking in righteousness. In the Hebrew Bible, justice and righteousness are often tied together like we learned about grief and comfort a couple messages back in this series. The Hebrew word for justice there in v.3 is the word mishpat.
Hebrew word mishpat
translation: judgement
definition: a judgement, verdict; a case or charge; justice
The Biblical theme of justice is that humans are set apart from the rest of creation being created in the image of GOD. We were all created to rule the world - to take dominion - within the authority HE gave us as HIS regents under HIS reign - HIS representatives. That power was given to all humans. We were all created equal before YHWH and have the right to be treated with dignity and fairness, no matter who we are - position, rank, be damned.
So, if you look close enough in v.3, we see the king of Judah is mistreating the group of people we just looked at in the first triad - the powerless, the grieving, the unimportant - those in the margins who are easily taken advantage of. He is abusing his power as king, and he’s abusing his power as an image-bearer of GOD. He’s marginalizing them because they can’t offer him anything - they don’t matter to the selfish ambitions of the king.
Justice is what creates righteousness in a community, and when justice isn’t carried out, societal relationships - right ways of living mutually together (equitable) - are broken in that community. Equity doesn’t mean everyone has the same of everything in a materialistic sense. Rather, it means everyone is treated the same. In our context in v.3, no one is being oppressed, mistreated, killed.
But it’s not just treating someone right, it’s also elevating the lowly - the poor, the marginalized - and bringing them to the same level as everyone else. If there’s a need - if someone is in need - that need is being met within the community. I’m not keeping my abundance - my surplus - while others around me are destitute. I’m sharing what I have to elevate them, so they no longer are in need. And the action of meeting that need is righteousness - it makes me righteous.
It’s the Good Samaritan scenario. Maybe a better word than equity might be mutuality. Dr. Ben Tertin says he likes this word because it forces one to think,
Am I looking at a person as better or worse than me? ... as soon as I’m doing that, I’m out of a right way of relating. Because I'm measuring them according to something I can see, or whatever. God wants me to say ..., “You … are a miraculous, image-bearing creation of Yahweh ... therefore, you are worth loving, blessing, caring for, and never to be oppressed, harmed, mistreated, taken advantage of, or … consumed ... [at] other times the prophets talk about this they will say, when unrighteousness is happening, it's like you're devouring each other, rather than blessing and encouraging and enlivening one another.
So, here’s another verse in Psalm 11:7.
7 For Adonai is righteous—He loves justice. The upright will see His face.
In the phrase, “ADONAI is righteous,” we see that GOD is always rightly relating to you and I - to everyone: HIS creation. So, when we are righteous, we are proper image-bearers of GOD. Dr. Ben Tertin goes on to say,
When it says, “Yahweh is righteous,” it means that Yahweh treats people right. He loves it when people do right by each other ... why does he love it? Because we're obeying his rule? No. Because he knows that when we do right by each other, ending oppression, blessing those around us, we are coming into fullness of life. And so are they. That's his will. Love and life. It's a gift. It's not just a rule to obey, it's a way of right relating with everybody.
Isn’t that beautiful?
So, let’s look at another verse, as we begin to shift gears a bit.
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?
In this verse, the Psalmist asks a question. Who can stand in the presence of YHWH - the holy place? This is temple imagery. Only certain people could serve in the temple: had to be from the tribe of Levi, and only priests who upon completion of purifying themselves could enter into the Holy of Holies. Dr. Tim Mackie points out that this is also, Eden imagery. Who can go to the place where Heaven and Earth are one - passed the cherubim guarding the entrance back to Eden?
If we continue on in v.4, we see the image of such a person:
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully.
The phrase “pure heart” is what we will be looking at next in this series. Notice, clean hands - innocence - living right. Not someone who is prone to lying or dishonesty. Not one who tries to manipulate others. They’re not two-faced. They are the same inside and out.
5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This person will receive the blessing - there’s our words berakah & barukh again from the first message in this series. One of our good friend Becky’s favorite Hebrew words - barukh - right, Becky?
Hebrew word berakah
Hebrew noun form
Definition: a blessing
Hebrew word barukh
Hebrew noun form
Definition: blessed, one receiving GOD's abundance and life
5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Who does this person receive blessing from? From the LORD, because only the LORD can bless someone, remember? So, this person receives the blessing and righteousness from GOD, WHO is the person’s deliverer - “the GOD of his salvation.” This person will receive righteousness.
So, this is interesting. In this instance, we’re not talking about our behavior - living in right relationship with YHWH and others. No, this verse says righteousness is something you receive from the LORD. Like Abraham in Genesis 15:6 :
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
YHWH looks at a person’s life and declares them as righteous because that person is one who has done right by the LORD. We can often present a facade to others, or we can be misled when looking at others. Someone can do what looks like righteous things, but it’s not a true indicator of what is in a person’s heart. JESUS points this out in Matthew 6:1:
1 “Beware of practicing your tzedekah (righteousness) before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
So, JESUS warns against this and says this person will not receive blessing.
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
So, back to Abraham (Abram), GOD told Abraham he would be the father of many nations. GOD had shown HIMSELF faithful to Abraham many times in the past. So, when YHWH tells Abraham of this promise, Abraham believes and it’s credited to him as righteousness. Abraham believes YHWH will do for him what he cannot do for himself. Abraham is powerless to change the ability to have kids or not.
Because Abraham has received righteousness from GOD, he should be a person who does right by others. Yet, when we trace the life of Abraham in the OT, we see there are many failures and successes in his life of not doing and doing right by others. It’s a blended dose of successes and failures - and isn’t that how our life is?
Yet, Abraham, later in life is tested one last time - and it’s the biggest test of his faith, ever! In Genesis 22, YHWH instructs Abram to offer his only son as a sacrifice to HIM (YHWH). Abraham acts in faith, as he obeys the LORD’s command. So, this is the ultimate act of faith with language from the LORD in v.12 and again in v.16 that foreshadows HIS ultimate sacrifice - that of HIS OWN SON. The phrase, “your son, your only son” is the same as in John 3:16 , “only begotten.” Because Abraham is faithful, he is rewarded with a promise.
15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven,
16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Dr. Tim Mackie points out the apostle Paul talks about this event in Hebrews 11:8-19 where he provides:
a super important insight into the whole story of the Hebrew Bible. The one who God will count as righteous, the one who does right by me, is the one who stakes everything on God's Word and promise and just trusts in him … for Paul, that's what it means to give your allegiance and trust and faith to Jesus.
So, this word tzedekah, then has two meanings (layers):
To do right by GOD by doing right by others.
To trust GOD.
It’s both at the same time.
Using Abraham as an example - it could just as easily be you and me - we see the tension and the provision of righteousness encapsulated in one person. GOD wants our trust, our faith. HE also wants us to do right by HIM and others. One who is righteous does right by others. So, we do right by others. But … we don’t always do right by others - again, we could refer to the “do do” chapter of Paul. When we don’t do right by others, we’re no longer righteous. So, how does one become righteous, if we don’t always do right by others? Because on the basis of trusting GOD, HE will declare us - an ungodly people - to be those who are in right standing with HIM.
Paul declares this in Romans 4:5:
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
What an extremely gracious and merciful GOD - that HE would overlook my failures, my unrighteousness: Isaiah 64:6 “6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment … ” - and declare me as righteous because of my trust in HIM!
The problem in Christianity comes when we want to try to take advantage of this and think that the prayer of salvation is our escape clause from certain disaster - an eternity in hell. You know, we said the prayer, so we’re in - we have nothing to worry about. So, we can be lazy in our faith … we can compromise a little here and there … we can live in an unrighteous state - in whatever that means (insert sin here) … and it’s okay. I’m on “the list.”
I think that sort of attitude already demonstrates there’s a problem here. That doesn’t reflect a hunger and a thirst for righteousness - a deep desire for right relationship with GOD, let alone others.
It also demonstrates a level of comfort there that isn’t a true reflection of one who is living in right relationships. The idea of hungering and thirsting, like those soldiers from the illustration at the beginning of this message, is that it should be this constant, irritating thing - an agitation - a state of anxiety and discontent that compels me to see those around me deprived of righteousness. Someone in that state sees the injustice being done to some, while others ignore it with their distractions - they try to avoid it (sound familiar?) - and they appear to be doing just fine. Yet, the one in the constant state of discontent is grieved by the injustice - like the second beatitude - they grieve the lack of mutuality, harmony, shalom in relationships. The hungering and thirsting means you’re desperate for a time when all of the injustices you’re seeing are made right - true justice!
So, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, then, should mean we are bothered by what we see when my spheres of influence are not aligned with GOD’s sense of what’s right and wrong - when those around me aren’t living in right relationships; when people are being taken advantage of; when there is serious lack in another’s life. In the same way the soldiers desired the life-saving, quenching of their thirst, we need to not only desire GOD’s righteousness, we need to be intentional and active about partnering with HIM to set things right - not just locally (Love INC), but globally (OCC, Samaritans Purse).
So, our verse again in the blended paraphrase from the NTFE | BP:
6 “How good is life for people who hunger and thirst for God’s justice! You’re going to be satisfied.
So, pj … What’s the point?
Conclusion
Conclusion
Am I really hungering and thirsting to see GOD’s justice - to see others elevated so they no longer lack? So much of the Christian life requires a level of effort on our part, but there’s a fine line between “working out our salvation” and “trusting in works.” It’s more about partnering with YHWH. In order to partner with HIM, we must first spend time with HIM. Seeking & finding HIM, we rest in HIS Presence. From this place of rest, we feel HIS Strength, we hear HIS Heartbeat, we feel HIS breath, we hear HIS Voice, we more clearly recognize HIS commands - HIS desires, and we respond in obedience aligning our heart with HIS and carrying out HIS Plan, allowing the KINGdom of GOD to break out where we are.
As we reflect on the soldiers who marched through the blistering desert to Sheria, their throats parched and lips cracked, yet standing disciplined before the wells for hours to ensure all received water, we see a glimpse of what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus declares in Matthew 5:6, “How good is life for people who hunger and thirst for God’s justice! You’re going to be satisfied.” This isn’t a passive wish for a better world but an aching, relentless craving—like the powerless, grieving, and unimportant of the first triad—for tzedekah, right relationships with God and others, where justice (mishpat) lifts the oppressed and restores shalom.
Like Abraham, whose faith was credited as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), we’re called to trust God’s promises, even when injustice surrounds us, and to act justly, as he did in offering Isaac (Genesis 22:1–18). Righteousness is God’s gift to the undeserving (Romans 4:5), not a “golden parachute” for complacent faith, but a charge to do right by others, as Jeremiah urged (Jeremiah 22:3). Our hunger for righteousness should grieve us, like the mourners of Matthew 5:4, when we see inequity in our communities—locally through ministries like Love INC or globally through Samaritan’s Purse. Yet, Jesus promises satisfaction (chortazō), a fullness that begins now in His presence and community, and will overflow in His Kingdom, as Job’s restoration foreshadows (Job 42:10).
So, where are you hungry for justice today? In your family, workplace, or world? Don’t ignore that God-given agitation; embrace it as a call to trust Him and partner with His Kingdom work. As a community, let’s reject apathy and actively pursue tzedekah—sharing resources, elevating the marginalized, and fostering mutuality. Let’s pray for the Holy Spirit to deepen our hunger for righteousness, guide us to live as God’s image-bearers, and anchor us in the certain hope that He will satisfy every longing in His perfect Kingdom.
Closing prayer & benediction
24 The Lord bless you, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’
Scripture records the following words in v.27:
27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”
So, receive and go with the blessings of YAHWEH!
