The Beatitudes

Jesus has begun his public ministry—preaching the Kingdom, healing, gathering disciples—and now he begins his teaching in earnest with the Sermon on the Mount. Expectations are high. What will the Kingdom be like?”

And what does he say? Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the broken, the sad, the losers. If he were running for office, we might say this wasn’t the best campaign kick-off speech. But this is how Jesus begins—he presents his value statements about His Kingdom, a Kingdom that will upend any human expectations, a Kingdom that will subvert in its values and mission every Kingdom of this world—whether its my personal Kingdom or the greatest Kingdoms in History. And in presenting these value statements in this way: “Blessed are the…” he is drawing on an ancient Biblical tradition that serves as an encouragement and invitation into this Kingdom that is at hand.

I want to start by considering this: what does Jesus mean by the word “blessed,” and what does it mean in context here? To our modern, Western minds, typically when we hear the word “blessed” we think of some external gift or favor that is being bestowed or proclaimed onto someone. We want the Lord to bless me, I want some measure of the Lord’s favor, a gift, provision, etc. There is a whole set of Hebrew and Greek words that correspond to this kind of blessing.

But that’s not the word used here in Matthew 5. The “Blesseds” here in Matthew 5 use the word makarios. Makarios and its Hebrew equivalent—asher—are typically used to articulate the values of a community, to pronounce something as honorable or blessed. It is not the resulting divine action of blessing that is conferred on to a person for their good behavior, rather it is a description of one’s state of being, a statement of value over one’s condition.

The great Scottish theologian and scholar F.F. Bruce in his commentary on the book of Matthew prefers the word “Congratulations!” And here we being to see how radical the beatitudes are. Congratulations you mourner! Congratulations you, at the end of your rope! Good on you, for being persecuted!

The beatitudes then, I would say, function in three ways—they are 1) descriptions, 2) commendations (or congratulations!), and 3) they are invitations. The whole of the beatitudes give us an image of the good life in the Kingdom. Thus they describe the good life and the values of the kingdom, they congratulate those that are like this, and they invite us all into this life.

To illustrate how these blessed statements function, let’s look at a famous Blessed statement from the Old Testament, one that Jesus undoubtedly had on his mind as he preached the sermon on the mount. It starts with the Hebrew equivalent of our word “blessed:”

Psalm 1 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Blessed is the one who…what? It’s describing a certain kind of blessed or commendable person: this person does not do this set of things (walk in the counsel of the wicked), but instead this blessed one does delight in the law of God and he meditates of God’s law all the time!

And look at v. 3: He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season and it does not wither. It doesn’t say, IF you study God’s law THEN you will be like a tree planted by streams of water. These are not if…then conditional statements, they are also not sequential statements, first comes this and then this. First comes being poor in spirit and then comes the kingdom.

No, the purpose of the statement is to describe the person more fully. The person who delights in the law of God is the person who is planted by streams of water. It’s not conditional or transactional but it’s also not optional. You can’t be the tree planted by streams of water if you’re not also the person who delights in God’s law day and night. They’re two sides of the same coin, to be one is to be the other.

So it is with the beatitudes—they are a composite portrait of every citizen of the Kingdom.

Jesus is revealing to us in these statements then the values of the Kingdom, the very inherent qualities of His kingdom that fly in the face of every cultural value of this world. You will not possess the Kingdom if you are arrogant or self-sufficient or self-righteous, you must recognize your poverty of Spirit, they go hand-in-hand.

But these statements are simultaneously an invitation. They are Jesus’ appeal to the brokenhearted and the arrogant, the virtuous and the self-assured, to awaken and turn their perspective right side up (or upside down compared to the world). The Beatitudes are a set of invitations showing two paths available to us, both calling to deep places within us to come and taste. That’s just like our example passage in Psalm 1—you can be like this (blessed one who is like a tree and delights in God’s law) or you can be like this (the wicked that are carried away like chaff in the wind). These are all ideas Jesus will present in the sermon which ends with a statement about being a tree that bears fruit and then the parable of the man who built his house on the sand and was washed away or on the rock and withstood the storm. This or this. The invitation is out there, the choice is yours.

It’s a commendation, a congratulations to those who mourn, those who are broken, those who are meek. And invitation to carry on in that! The world’s recommendation at the first sign of hardship, of weakness, of poverty of spirit, of mercy is the opposite—flee from this weakness! Flee from this poverty, flee from all these values. And Jesus says: is this you? Come deeper still, this is the life that’s worth pursuing. Come into it! The poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek are being congratulated for already possessing the Kingdom and are invited to embrace more fully the character that defines it.

Now, with my remaining time, I want to talk through each of these statements, just briefly, to uncover what it is Jesus is commending and inviting us into. And let this be our lens, he’s describing people in the Kingdom of Heaven, he’s describing Christians or people who are on their way to becoming Christians.

Blessed are the poor in Spirit

Poor in Spirit is what’s in view here. This is not about material or economic poverty—though the Bible has plenty to say about that—this is about those who are poor in Spirit. Think of it this way: most people think of their lives and if they suddenly appeared before God, they would say: I’ve done some bad things, and I’ve done some good things. Yes there’s bad, but my good things are there and they’ve got to count for something! Tim Keller put it this way: most people in the world look at their deeds, good and bad, and say, I’ve got some money in the bank because of my good deeds. I’ve got money in the bank, I’ve got something to offer.

But the poor in Spirit, the Christian and only the Christian is the one who looks at their deeds and says: I’m spiritually bankrupt, I have no money in the bank, I’ve got nothing with which to pay off my debts. And even my good deeds were probably done for the wrong reasons, to earn my way of some sort. Only Christians, who truly understand the Gospel and our condition in sin say: I’m spiritually poor and bankrupt. No one else in the world says that! No one else in the world is aiming for that either!

The invitation is to see that, indeed, we have nothing that can save us, we must rely on God.

Mourning

Blessed are those who mourn—again, if we remember that what’s in view here is a spiritual reality, then we see the emphasis is on those who mourn because of their spiritual condition. Those who look at, then, their deeds and grieve over their sin. It is the mark of those in the Kingdom who, when confronted by their sin, will mourn over it. Look at the rest of the world! Our culture revels in its sin. Sin is celebrated at every turn.

Not so for the Kingdom of God, we mourn our sin! And those who mourn they sin will indeed be comforted, for they will find forgiveness! Right, when Jesus announced the Kingdom he said: Repent and believe! Repent, turn from you sin.

Meek

Blessed are the meek—meekness isn’t simply to be powerless and weak. Meekness carries with it this quality of humility and submission. We might say meekness is having rights and having power but then refraining from wielding that right and instead submitting to some higher authority.

What is the value of our world today? Seek power, influence, glory, recognition and then use these things for your own benefit. Power will lead to better position. Authority can be used to oppress others and to make a name for ourselves.

It’s our rugged, Western individualism that says: I will make a name for myself!

But this is not the way of the Kingdom. The way of the Kingdom says, whatever power I do have is meaningless, whatever authority I have, whatever position or status, none of these things matter and none can save me—I must depend totally on the One who can save me. I will be meek and say, God, I need you completely!

I need to rely on your mercy and forgiveness and grace completely!

Hungers and thirsts for righteousness

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—this is describing someone who, when they behold Jesus and His holiness, or when the hear the commands of God or the commands of Christ in the rest of the Sermon the Mount; when they see the holy life on display in scripture, these people say: I want that!

The world doesn’t say that. The secular world hears the demands of the Sermon on the Mount—don’t even look at another person lustfully—and they roll of their eyes! Isn’t that a little out dated or old fashioned. Or they’re repelled by—that’s too demanding, that’s oppressive! That’s no freedom, says the world.

It is people of the Kingdom who say: I need righteousness and I don’t have it!

The apostle Paul expressed this when he said in Phil. 3:9

Philippians 3:9 ESV

9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

It is this kind of person, this kind of person that then can look at the Sermon on the Mount, I need that, I’m hungry for it!

Merciful

Blessed are the merciful…again, by now you see the pattern. The person of the Kingdom is one who has reckoned with their forgiveness, who has tasted and known the mercy of God for them. Blessed are the merciful, not because they are inherently good, compassionate, gracious, or merciful, but because they know they mercy they have received from God and they could do nothing else but to show that mercy to others!

What of the world? The world traffics in revenge, getting even! But those who know the mercy of God, they are changed!

Pure in heart

Blessed are the pure in heart, we get a clue as to the meaning here in the second half: for the shall see God. Purity of heart is the one who loves God with all their heart, undivided loyalty to God and an inner life (your heart) that matches your outer life, your outward actions, behaviors, and profession.

This world and the false gods in it are constantly fighting for our loyalty, to divide our attention, our focus, and our affections. But Jesus will say, in this Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 6:24 “24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other…”

Seek God with a purity of heart and He will be found!

Peacemakers

Blessed are the the peacemakers; blessed are those who see themselves and recognize that apart from Christ we were at war against God, rebels against Him. And what did we need? We needed peace with Him and He made peace with us first. And what is the result of the peace we now have with God? We are called sons of God, it’s right there in the verse! We’re adopted because of the peace we have.

Now, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:18 “18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;” We participate in this ministry of peacemaking. We are people now, because of the peace that was freely given to us, we are now ambassadors of that peace, calling others to receive this peace!

True peace only comes through this relationship with Christ in the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the world makes peace through war and violence and showing who’s the greatest. We know peace by surrendering.

Those who are persecuted

Blessed are those who are persecuted—it is only the one who has encountered the grace of God and become so convinced of that free gift, so convinced of the holiness of God and Christ Jesus, only this person would then be willing to be persecuted because of it.

It is people of the Kingdom who willingly take on persecution for something they believe and have become so convinced us. The world says: deny, abandon your faith to save your own skin!

The world says: save yourself, deny Jesus.

The Kingdom says: this suffering wont’ last, but the good news is eternal.

Jesus

Friends, we walk through those 8 sayings of Jesus and what do we feel?

Daunted? Overwhelmed? Like we don’t measure up? It’s OK. That’s part of the point to, none of us will perfectly measure up to what we see here in the Beatitudes. We will inhabit some of these qualities better than others, but it’s all an invitation for growth and for deeper faith in Jesus.

For here’s the other thing the Beatitudes do, and we’ll close here, the Beatitudes should drawn our attention to the One who perfectly embodies these things, and does so for our sake.

We blessed not because of what we have done, but because what He has done.

Why do we receive the Kingdom and its riches? Because Jesus became poor for our sake. Why will we be comforted? Because He mourned, grieved, and cried out to no reply for so we could be forgiven. Why will we inherit the earth? Because he let go of power, he became meek, he surrendered His life.

Why will we be satisfied? Because He lived a perfectly righteous life. Why will we receive mercy? Because He was merciful. Why will we see God? Because Jesus was undivided and totally pure in his loyalty and obedience to the Father. Why are we called Sons of God? Because He was shown no peace on this earth, dying in a violent act in order to make peace between us and God.

Do you see? Before the Beatitudes describe us, they describes Jesus. When we see that He has done these things for us, then it helps us take these things on ourselves, to trust in Him completely and be changed, inside and out, in thought and word and deed we can be like Him.