The Upside Down Kingdom - Part 1 -

Perception

Matthew 4:23–25 (ESV)

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

The people that where in the crowd when Jesus preached the sermon

Psalm 1:1 “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;”

Psalm 119:1,2 “Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,”

Yeshua, Jesus Ben Sira

I can think of nine whom I would call blessed, and a tenth whom my tongue proclaims: blessed is the man who delights in his children, and the one who lives to see the downfall of his enemies; 8 blessed is the one who lives with a sensible wife and the one who does not plow with ox and ass together;[b] blessed is the one who does not sin with the tongue and the one who does not serve an inferior; 9 blessed is the one who finds a friend and the one who speaks to an attentive audience.

Matthew 5:3 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The greek for poor is deep poverty

Matthew 5:4 ESV

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

Mourning for the fact they are poor in spirit.

Matthew 5:5 ESV

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

Jesus described himself as meek, Moses is described as meek, it is the opposite of self exaltation

Matthew 5:6 ESV

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

Think of the last time you where hungry and thirsty - Maybe you get hangry, it is not a nice feeling. He did right by his wife. The mechanic did right by his customer. If you look at on this earth and see broken relationships, between cultures, people, nations, and people and God and you physically makes you hurt, then this is you. That person can’t wait for God to restore all those relationships, for God to restore righteousness.

Matthew 5:7 ESV

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

We should understand mercy

Matthew 5:8 ESV

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

Heart here in the greek means more intellect. This is about everything.

Matthew 5:9 ESV

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

What Jesus is meaning here is those that help bring people into harmony with God. If we know the prince of peace then we will be peaceful with each other. God is not the enemy, that is what Jesus showed us on earth.

Matthew 5:10–12 ESV

“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.

We are to rejoice in whatever the christian walk brings us to.

Jesus would have got to the end of this portion of his sermon, and the crowd had they been sitting on chairs would have fallen off them. This was so counter cultural, so upside down and so Jesus announces what his kingdom is going to be like.