Beatitudes

Last Week

We looked back on the events leading up to the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus was beginning his public ministry.

In Matthew 4:17, Jesus began public ministry with the proclamation - “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 4:17)

We saw that Jesus’ righteousness was declared at his Baptism when a voice came out of heaven and said, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Luke 3:22

Then we saw Jesus’ righteousness demonstrated when the Spirit led him through the wilderness for forty days during which he was tempted by the devil.

I want to take a closer look at this -

The Judean wilderness stretches from an area about fifteen miles north of Jericho, and continues on down to the Dead Sea.

And it extends back to what are known as the Jerusalem Hills.

It’s a very barren, desolate area known as the Judean wilderness.

There is about an average of one inch of rain a year.

And Jesus went into the wilderness.

Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. - Luke 4:2

and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

I’ve been told by people who have fasted for prolonged periods of time that after five days your appetite leaves, and you really don’t get that hungry.

I don’t know if that’s true or not, but what I DO know

is that after three days you’re famished.

You start having visions of prime rib, hot fudge sundaes and strawberry shortcake. But they tell me, if you can get past the fifth day then the hunger begins to leave,

and you won’t feel hungry again until you begin to starve to death. I guess that’s the body’s way of saying, “HEY, you need to do something!”

So Jesus had been fasting, going without food for forty days. And now He was hungry. Which means that He was beginning to starve to death.

That’s when Satan came. That’s how it works in our lives too. Things pile up, when everything seems to be going wrong, that’s when Satan shows up. And he knows exactly the best way to tempt us. He knows our weakness in that moment, and he has absolutely NO problem using it against us.

So the devil comes when Jesus is literally starving to death, and says to him,

If You are the Son of God -

And in the Greek, the if is in the subjunctive, rather than in the indicative case making it a statement.

In the original Greek, this isn’t a question, it’s a declaration, "Since you are the Son of God".

He isn’t questioning whether Jesus is the Son of God.

He’s saying,

Since you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. - Luke 4:3

Use your divine gifts to satisfy the needs of your own flesh.

Jesus denied Satan’s suggestion with the word of God, declaring -

IT IS WRITTEN, Man shall not live by bread alone - Luke 4:4

Jesus responded with Deuteronomy 8:3 -

He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

The way that Jesus responded is a lesson for us today.

It is WRITTEN!

After each temptation, Jesus responded with scripture - IT IS WRITTEN.

When we are tempted, the word of God is our strength. The word of God is how we overcome temptation.

We have an example of this!

There is a glaring contrast between Eve’s and Jesus’ temptations, and we see it in their different responses to the truth claims of the enemy.

The serpent begins his temptation of Eve with the phrase, “Did God really say…?,” basically testing her knowledge of God’s commands.

Eve remembered what God has said — at first.

But she quickly ran out of ammunition.

Jesus, on the other hand, replies to every one of the devil’s words with words from Scripture.

Every time Satan baits Jesus, every attempt to lure Jesus away from righteousness, every temptation Satan offers Him, Jesus has an “It is written…” in response.

Eve ran out of Bible verses. Jesus did not.

If we plan to overcome the lures of the enemy who wants to devour us, we have to stay in the Word, reading it diligently, prayerfully and constantly. The Word of God is our Spiritual sword.

Shortly thereafter, armed with his Spiritual sword, Jesus began his public ministry.

Matthew 5: 1-2

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:3

In the beginning of this message, Jesus is describing the people that he’s addressing the message to - the children of God.

Last week I said that Jesus wasn’t talking to the multitudes but was speaking to the disciples.

Here’s further evidence of that.

Jesus is talking to those that would become children of God, and it is in the form of what are known as the beatitudes.

The word "blessed" literally means "oh, how happy" and because that is the meaning, it seems paradoxical to say, "Oh how happy are the poor in spirit".

Somehow we don't think of the poor in spirit as being very happy people, and yet Jesus, when he begins his description of the child of God, declares,

Oh how happy are the poor in spirit.

I've known poor people who have a very bitter spirit and poverty does not automatically make for a blessed or a happy spirit.

Jesus is not talking about physical poverty, poor in spirit.

Poor in spirit is in opposition to being proud

This is the inevitable consequence of a man coming into a personal, genuine confrontation with God.

If you have come into a true confirmation of God in your own life,

the result is always an immediate poverty of spirit.

If you see a person who is proud and haughty, that’s a person who has not had a true encounter with God.

Pride often comes by comparing ourselves with others, seeing ourselves in the light of others.

You want to feel better about yourself? Go to Walmart and look around, that’ll pick you right up!

Often times, when I look at others, I don't look near so bad.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." - 2 Corinthians 10:12

In Isaiah chapter six, upon the death of the popular king Uzziah, when the throne of Israel has been emptied of this great popular monarch, Isaiah writes,

"And in the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on the throne, high and lifted up, and his train did fill the temple...Then said I, woe is me! For I am undone; and I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips:" (Isaiah 6:1,5).

That's always the result of a man seeing God in truth.

"Woe is me! I am undone".

We see a beautiful example of this in Luke chapter 5.

5 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.

5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing:

Peter, who had years of experience fishing, faced a dilemma.

What to do with this instruction of Jesus?

A carpenter gave an experienced fisherman a command that is TOTALLY at odds with his professional experience.

During the night there was a much greater prospect of a good catch.

If you didn’t catch anything during the night, the chances of a good catch during the day even smaller.

Plus, Peter was dead tired after a night of fruitless work.

But he admired Jesus. He’d heard Jesus’ sermon in Capharnaum (Luke 4:31-32) and he had been witness to the healing of his mother-in-law and of other sick and possessed people (Luke 4:33-41).

At that moment Peter was inwardly tense.

On the one hand, there were his considerations and thoughts as a fisherman.

On the other hand, there was his admiration for Jesus.

For Peter, the instructions from this impressive man from Nazareth, who WASN’T a fisherman, were totally unexpected.

Peter loved Jesus. He had esteem for him. He always addressed him as ‘Master'.

So, in his spontaneous nature he added:

5 nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

And so he did.

Peter did an act of faith which,

seen from a purely human point of view,

contradicted his professional experience as a fisherman.

He went along with and was obedient to the word of the Lord and did not react to the Lord's invitation with "yeah, but’s” or questions.

He put aside all the excuses that had to be in his mind on the basis of his thinking, his feelings and his experience.

He rose above himself and stepped out in faith.

Peter proved in that moment that he didn’t want to remain only an admirer of Jesus.

He showed that he was prepared to obey him with a loving faith.

He disregarded his own ego and refrained from doing only what he could understand.

He made his own purely human truth subordinate to divine Truth and Will.

He had a personal, genuine confrontation with God.

6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

Suddenly Peter was aware of God’s work.

He was aware of God’s power.

He was aware of the presence of God, and that is always a humbling experience.

No man who has stood in the presence of God can be proud.

So Peter said, "Depart from me; for Lo, I am a sinful man" (Luke 5:8).

The man who truly sees God sees himself in truth.

When we look at the Lord, that purity, that holiness, that righteousness,

It’s impossible to do anything but say, Oh, God help me. Woe is me, I'm undone.

That’s what happened to Peter.

It’s what Paul was referring to when he said in Romans 7:24, "Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?

That's always the beginning, the beginning consciousness of a man who has a true relationship with God.

Jesus said, really happy is that man. WHY?

Because he has had a true encounter with God, and as the result, the kingdom of heaven belongs to him.

He's no longer living in just this temporal material realm, but he is now transferred into the kingdom and as a child of God and as a citizen of the eternal kingdom.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. - Matthew 5:4

Now that really is even more paradoxical, isn't it?Happy are they that mourn.But having come to a true awareness of myself in the light of God, coming to that poverty of spirit, my heart is broken over my own condition.I mourn over my failures, over what I see of myself and in myself.But the promise of the Lord isThey shall be comforted (Mat 5:4).As the Lord begins to minister to me, the power of his Holy Spirit and his strength, and I begin to experience victories of Jesus in my life and that makes me indeed happy.But that doesn't come until I've come to the end of myself, and that place of just mourning in the fact that I have no strength, no ability, no power.I feel that helplessness.I cry out from helplessness and then I begin to experience the glorious power of God, doing in my life what I could not possibly do for myself. That leads me then to a true evaluation of myself.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. - Matthew 5:5

Now that I’m seeing myself in truth, I’m no longer puffed up.I’m no longer deceiving myself about myself. The word meek can probably best be defined by putting a hyphen in the middle of it: me-ek.It is again looking at myself in the light of the Lord and realizing that I am nothing.It’s interesting that these aren’t characteristics that are admired by the world. If this were being written by man the blessings would include wealth, pride, victory, strength, domination, popularity, power.Jesus turns all that upside-down because Jesus is describing the child of God, he's describing the characteristics that are admirable in the Kingdom of God.

The meek: they shall inherit the earth - Matthew 5:5

This earth is not the earth that God created. This earth has been spoiled by rebellion against God, but God is going to restore this earth to His original divine intention. Wars are going to cease. Man is going to dwell together in righteousness, in true justice, in peace. And God's kingdom will come to earth and those who are the children of God will inherit the earth. Jesus said, "And I will say to them in that day, come, ye blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundations of the earth" (Matthew 25:34). Revelation tells us concerning the body of Christ, "And they shall live and reign with him a thousand years on the earth"(Revelation 20:4,6). What a glorious place this earth could be if it weren't for the pollutions that man has brought.If it weren't for the wars, the hatred, the greed but we will see the earth as God intended it. We will inherit the earth as God intended it. Those first three are more or less what we might call the negative characteristics. The fourth of the beatitudes is the benchmark; Seeing myself in the light of God, recognizing the truth of my own weakness, having a true evaluation of myself; I begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. - Matthew 5:6

Paul said in Romans chapter 7, paraphrased - "I consent to the law that it is good, but how to perform it I can't discover. For the good that I would do I'm not doing and that which that I would not allow, that is the thing I am doing. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?"(Romans 7:16,7:18-19,7:24) There is that cry, oh God, help. I hunger, I thirst after the ideal but I haven't been able to attain it. Who will help me to find the ideal?If you're hungering and thirsting after righteousness, God will answer that hunger and thirst of your heart and you will be filled with the righteousness of God. Now we come to more positive kind of characteristics.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. - Matthew 5:7

Jesus declares that our having been forgiven so much should be the incentive for our forgiving. Having obtained the mercy of God, then we should be merciful, but here he puts it the other way. "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy". Well, we have obtained mercy and that's really what makes us merciful.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. - Matthew 5:8-9

This ends the description of the child of God. In the next beatitude, Jesus declares what will be the response and the reaction toward that kind of person from the world.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. - Matthew 5:10-11

Reading these characteristics you'd say, oh that guy ought to be well-accepted anywhere he goes.He would be in any church, but when he gets out in the world it's another story.Jesus said, "Don't be surprised that men hate you, they hated me. Don't be surprised they didn't receive you, they didn't receive me"(John 15:18).Each of these characteristics where surely present in the life of Jesus Christ and the world crucified him.Jesus says this will be the response of the word towards a child of God showing these characteristics.So he said,Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake If you are this kind of a righteous person, you'll be persecuted for being that kind of person. People will take advantage of you,people will run all over you people will resent you, because you will make them uncomfortable when you are around them because you are doing the right thing and they're wanting to do the wrong thing. Thus they will begin to project against you their feelings of guilt. And Jesus said,

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. - Matthew 5:12

That's a difficult thing to do when you are being reviled and persecuted for the sake of Jesus, it's awfully hard to rejoice.Our natural tendency is to mope, well Lord, all right. If that's the way you're going to let people treat me, I'm just going to keep quiet, and just sulk because we don't like to be reviled. We don't like to be persecuted but Jesus said "rejoice".Can you? Consider a time when you were extremely thirsty. What emotions and desires did that stir within you? What could that experience of thirst tell us about what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6)? The last two beatitudes warn that there may be resistance or even persecution as we seek to live as followers of Christ? Have you experienced either, and if so when and how? What makes it hard to follow Christ today?