Matthew 5:1-12

Scripture Reading:

Last Time

Jesus Begins His Public Ministry in Galilee of the Gentiles

He Takes the Baton from John the Baptizer and Begins Preaching, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is Near!”

Then We See Him Call His 4 Fishermen Disciples to Join Him in His Ministry

Then He Begins Healing People from All the Surrounding Regions

And this Great Multitude Begins to Follow Him

Matthew 5:1-12

Chapter 5 Begins the Sermon on the Mount

And Jesus Begins His Teaching with the Beatitudes

These 9 Characteristics of Citizens of God’s Kingdom are What We are Going to Focus on this Morning

Matthew 5:1 (NASB)

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

Jesus Went Up a Mountain

Here We Have the Picture of the New Moses Bringing the Law from a Mountain

Rabbis Would Typically Sit When Teaching Their Disciples and Listeners

Who Were the Ones to Listen to Jesus’ Teaching?

The Crowds or His Disciples?

Both!

Jesus Begins His Teaching with the Beatitudes (“Blessed”)

Blessed = Happy, Fortunate, Enviable

Jesus will Describe the Characteristics of a Person Who is Made Happy/Blessed by God

“Blessed” Teachings Were Common by Jewish Rabbis

But Their “Blessed” Teachings Were Quite a Bit Different than Jesus’

“You are Made Happy/Blessed by God When You are Successful”

We Still Tend to Think Along Those Lines Today

We Find Happiness in Pleasure, Power, Polularity, Wealth, etc.

Rabbi Jesus Ben Sirach (c.150 B.C.) had His Own List of Those Who Were Blessed by God

Some of Those Included:

One Who Lives to See the Downfall of His Foes

God Blesses His People by Making Them Victorious Over Their Enemies

One Who Speaks to Attentive Listeners

God Blesses His People by Making Them Popular and Well-Respected

And One Who Has Not Served an Inferior

God Blesses His People by Making Them Honored and Served by Those Beneath Them

This was Pretty Typical of Rabinnic Teachings

But Jesus is Going to Flip that on its Head

Remember the Context

Jesus was Speaking to a Large Crowd of People Who Were in Need of Help

They Weren’t Elite Rabinnic Teachers

They Weren’t Members of the Sanhedrin

They Weren’t Pharisees or Sadducees

They Were Ordinary People Who Had No Power or Influence

No One Cared About Their Opinions or Beliefs

By All Accounts, These are Lowly Peasants Who No One Would Consider Successful or Blessed by God

Notice What He Teaches this Crowd of People

Matthew 5:2–3 (NASB)

He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

God Blesses/Makes Happy the Poor in Spirit

The Spiritually Bankrupt

Those Who Recognize Their Flaws, Sins, Iniquities, and Need for Forgiveness

This Crowd Would Have Been Refreshed by These Words

It’s Not the Influential, Arrogant, Self-Righteous Jewish Leaders and Teachers Who are Blessed by God

It’s Those Who Recognize Their Filthiness and Need for God

That Describes this Crowd!

“God Blesses/Makes Happy People Like Me?”

How Does God Make Those Who are Poor in Spirit Happy?

Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

The Kingdom of Heaven Belongs to the Poor in Spirit

The Rich in Spirit Religious Jewish Leaders Would Have Believed that the Kingdom of Heaven was First and Foremost for Them

Jesus Says Quite the Contrary

The Kingdom Message is Brought First to the Spiritually Bankrupt, Not the “Spiritually Rich”

The Blessing of the First and Last Beatitude are in the Present Tense

Both of Them Say, “Theirs is (Present Tense) the Kingdom of Heaven”

Jesus Said the Kingdom of Heaven Currently Belongs to Those of a Spiritually Poor Nature

But I Thought the Kingdom Wasn’t Established Until Pentecost?

The Doors of the Kingdom Were Officially Opened at Pentecost…

But if We Rememeber John’s Mission, then We can Know How the Spiritually Poor Could be Considered Part of the Kingdom Already

Those Who Recognize Their Need for a Savior Were Those Who Responded to the Message of Repentance Preached by John

They Were a People Prepared for the Kingdom Before it Ever Fully Began

So the Poor in Spirit are Currently Accepted into the Kingdom of God

But the Rest of the Blessings in this List are in Future Tense

Which Means God Makes Us Happy/Blesses His People with Promises for the Future, When Jesus Returns

Matthew 5:4 (NASB)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

God Makes Happy Those Who Mourn

Mourn Over What?

Over Their Own Sinfulness?

Over Their Own Physical, Mental, Emotional Pains and Sufferings?

Over the Social Injustices, Overall Wickedness, and Oppression that Takes Place in this Present Fallen World?

Yes, All of the Above

Jesus Didn’t Give Any Qualifiers of Why the Mourners are Mourning

His Listeners Would Have Been a Crowd of Mourners

How Does God Make the Mourners Happy?

He Promises Future Comfort

How Wonderful is this Good News that Jesus is Bringing Them!

Those Who are Mourning the Present State of Things Will One Day be Comforted by God

Their Sins will be Taken Away

Their Physical, Mental, and Emotional Anguish will Be Forever Forgotten

Justice Will be Served, Wickedness will be Destroyed, and All will be Free

Matthew 5:5 (NASB)

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

God Makes Happy the Gentle

Most Translations Say “Meek”

But Gentle Brings about the Same Idea

Some Have Described Meekness as “Power Under Control”

Jesus had the Power to Summon 12 Legions of Angels to Protect Him at Any Moment

But He Always Chose Gentleness

Jesus Likely Pulled the Idea of this Beatitude from Psalm 37:9, 11

Psalm 37:9 (NASB)

For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for YHWH, they will inherit the land.

Psalm 37:11 (NASB)

But the humble (meek) will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

The Jews Would Defeat Their Enemies and Inherit the Promised Land, Not Through Military Strenth…

But Through Meek, Gentle Trust in God

Jesus Uses the Same Language Here

God Makes Happy the Meek and Gentle by Promising Them the Wonderful Inheritance

Those Who Choose Gentleness Over Strength and Power will Inherit the Land

This Doesn’t Mean Christians will Rule the World in this Present Age

Remember, this is Future Tense

It Points Us Toward the Return of Jesus When All His People will Inherit the Wonderful Land He has Prepared for Us

The Bible Describes it as the New Heavens and New Earth

Matthew 5:6 (NASB)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

God Makes Happy Those Who Crave Righteousness/Goodness

What Kind of Righteousness are We to Hunger and Thirst for?

To be Righteous Ourselves?

Or for Righteousness to Reign in the World?

Both!

This was Something this Crowd Knew All Too Well

They Recognized Their Unrighteousness and the Unrighteousness of the World Around Them

To Understand How this Should Feel, Let’s Take Jesus’ Words Literally

What Does it Feel Like to be Hungry or Thirsty?

Depending on How Hungry/Thirsty You are…

It Could be Simple Hunger Pains in Your Belly

You Could Have Pretty Intense Cravings

You Could be Irritated and Angry (Hangry)

Or You Could Become so Weakened and Defeated that You Just Can’t Hardly Bear the Hunger/Thirst Anymore

You’d Do Just About Anything for Food and Water

It’s Now Your Greatest Desire

This is How it Should Feel to be a Citizen of the Kingdom in this Fallen World

These are the Feelings We Should Have Toward Righteousness

We Should Look at Ourselves and the World Around Us and Crave it

We Should Get Irrated and Angry When Unrighteousness Consistently Rules Within Us and Our World

We Should Feel Weakened and Defeated by All the Unrighteousness

So How Does God Make Happy Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness?

He Promises a Day When We will Finally be Satisfied

Righteousness Will Rule Within Us and Within All the World

Matthew 5:7 (NASB)

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

God will Make Happy the Merciful

Mercy is One of the Most Defining Characteristics of God

He Loves to Show Mercy to People Who Don’t Deserve it

But He will Not Show Mercy to the Merciless

This One Ought to Especially Scare Us Today

Many Christians Today Would Rather Judge and Condemn Someone than to Show Them Mercy

Because of that, We’ve Moved Away from Jesus Believing, in the Name of Truth, that We’ve Become More Pleasing to Him

I’m Not Saying We Shouldn’t Oppose Sin

I’m Saying Our Knee-Jerk Reaction Ought to be to Show Mercy, Not Judgment

If We Would Stop for 5 Seconds and Sympathize with People Before Condemning Them to Hell…

We Might Actually Have an Opportunity to Save Them from that Place

But if We as the Church Continue Down a Path of Mercilessness, We are Going to be the Ones Who Open Our Eyes in a Lake of Fire

Being a Merciful Person is Very Difficult

But God Makes Happy the Merciful by Promising Them that They Will Receive His Mercy in the Day of Judgment

Matthew 5:8 (NASB)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

God Makes Happy the Pure in Heart

The Religious Elites of Jesus Day Made Sure They Were Ritually Clean on the Outside, but They Didn’t Focus on Inward Purity

A Pure in Heart Person is Sincere, Good Intentioned, and Pure in Their Motivations

They Truly Love God

They Genuinely Want What is Best for Others

They are Not Hypocritical in Any of Their Ways

They are Pure

How Will God Make Happy Those of a Pure Heart

He Promises that They Will See Him in the Resurrection

Matthew 5:9 (NASB)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

God Makes Happy the Reconcilers

There is Hardly a More Godly Characteristic than Reconciling People at War/Odds with One Another

God’s Very Mission Through Jesus is Peacemaking and Reconciling

When We Bring Lost Souls to the Reconciling Grace of Jesus…

And When We Make Peace Between or Reconcile Others Back Together…

We are Doing the Very Work of God’s Son

How Will God Make Happy the Peacemakers?

He Promises to One Day Adopt Us into His Family, Making Us His Beloved Children

Matthew 5:10–12 (NASB)

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

God Makes Happy Those Who are Persecuted for Living Righteously

When We Choose to Live Our Lives for Jesus, We will be Insulted, Treated Wrongly, and Slandered

This will Sometimes be Very Hard to Endure

But Jesus Promises Us that God Makes Us Happy When We are Persecuted for His Sake

Jesus Even Tells Us to Rejoice and be Glad When it Happens

How Does God Make Us Happy, and How are We Supposed to Rejoice in Our Persecutions?

Jesus Gives Us 3 Reasons

Because the Kingdom Belongs to Those Who are Persecuted for the Sake of Righteousness

Because They will be Like the Prophets

In the 1st Century Jewish Mind, Being Compared to an Old Testament Prophet was Like Being Compared to a Superhero

Because Their Reward will be Worth it

Romans 8:18 (NASB)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

These Characteristics of Jesus’ Kingdom are Things You Wouldn’t Expect to Provide a Happy Life

But That’s the Whole Point of the Upside Down Kingdom of Jesus

Jesus Doesn’t Lead Us to a Worldly Standard of Happiness…

But to True Happiness

The Characteristics of a Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom are:

Recognizing One’s Own Spiritual Need for Jesus

Mourning Over the Current Wicked Ways of the World

Being Meek/Gentle

Craving Righteousness Within One’s Self and Within the World

Being Merciful

Being Pure in Heart (Sincere, Without Hypocrisy)

Being a Peacemaker/Reconciler

Being Persecuted for Doing What is Right

Those Who Embody These Characteristics of the Kingdom of Jesus will be Blessed/Made Happy by God

How so?

Because God has Gaciously Given His Kingdom to Them

And They Get to Enjoy All the Blessings that Come from it

And Because He has Made Them Precious Promises for the Future

I Know When Jesus Returns, I Have a Reward Waiting for Me that is Beyond Imagining

If I Embody These Characteristics, God will Bless Me

God will Make Me Truly Happy