The Unveiling of the Kingdom of God in the Beatitudes (1)
Matthew 4:23- 5:1-6
Matthew 4:23 “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. 24 The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, (They brought everyone who was sick to Him.) those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics ; and He healed them. (There was no disease that Jesus could not heal.) 25 Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.”
Jesus’ teaching and preaching that “God’s Kingdom was near” were accompanied by An Explosion of Miracles. His miracles and message combined to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah as the one who would bring “good news” (Is. 52:7) and who would also be the sin-bearer. How would you be able to recognize Him? You couldn’t miss Him. This is the One who was promised: Who else could do these things?
Matthew 5 continues: 1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
“Kathizo” is word for “sat down”; The same words are used in Matthew 25: 31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He WILL SIT on His glorious throne.”
Mark 16:19: So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
Ephesians 1: which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.”
Rev. 3:21: 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Jesus as the “Teacher” and “rabbi” sits down with those disciples who come to Him, but He who will reveal the Essence and Character of the Kingdom of God. We have the HISTORY of the New Testament to know that NOT ONLY is He TEACHER but He would reign as KING in His Kingdom.
Matt. 5: 2: “He opened His mouth (as the Word which became flesh, He testified by His words that He was the LIVING WORD) and began to teach them, saying,
I. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
This is the first of eight Beatitudes; They are not eight classes of people or different types of people. The sayings are describing God’s Heavenly Kingdom which is beginning at the commencement of Jesus’ Ministry. It was in part THEN, it is in part but more so now, and it will continue to Increase.
First of all, the kingdom of God (Heaven) are both the same kingdom, but they are not reflected in the things that you might acquire on Earth. They are not of this EARTH. It is God’s spiritual Empire. They are not possessions but UNNATURAL Godly characteristics.
The World says Blessed are the rich; Jesus says “Blessed the poor!” “BLESSED” means “to be fortunate, happy, or privileged by God”. It is not a fortune that you have gained, but a Spirit God has given.
In the Greek language the word for “POOR” pertained to a person’s social and economic condition, much like it does in the world today. It means to be destitute. So, how could a person who is POOR also be blessed, happy and fortunate? In the eyes of the world, to be “poor” is to be cursed with no fortune, but Jesus talking about being spiritually destitute and bankrupt, and you recognize it yourself.
In the OT, the idea of “the poor” is mentioned as being “afflicted”. There is a tremendous verse in Isaiah 29:19 which coincides with Matt. 5: “The afflicted (POOR or MEEK) also will increase their gladness in the LORD, and the needy of mankind (POOR, people without the essentials) will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”
Another way of saying it: The poor will increase their gladness in the LORD (Your gladness or riches are in the LORD), and the needy of the entire world will have the opportunity to be glad or BLESSED in the Holy One of Israel.
The difference between the poor and the rich of the World is not in possessions but in their relationship with God. When the people of Israel were in captivity, they were indeed poor, but they were bankrupt and “poor”, not because they had lost their possessions, but because their relationship with God had been broken.
Luke 6:20: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Matt. 5 uses the words” poor in spirit”, which emphasizes the spiritual nature of God’s Kingdom. Those who are poor in spirit are those who stand before God with no pretense. They stand without masks, no deception before God, just emptiness of spirit, waiting HUMBLY on the LORD as their only hope. We stand knowing that the world cannot deliver us and we are empty-handed, no, worse than that: We are dead without God. God comes to humble but resists the proud. The kingdom of God inhabits those who have no righteousness or hope of their own and to those who recognize their own spiritual bankrupcy.
II. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. The world in which we live seeks pleasure and escape from mourning and repentance. The world promotes happy people with self-esteem, with pride and superficiality. The world teaches that you should mix business and pleasure, that no one is sinful, and that everyone should do their own thing without restrictions. It says: You deserve.
The truth is that we have sinned and deserve death. When we realize this truth, we mourn over our sins with the same intensity as we would mourn over someone who has died. We realize that WE in fact, ARE DEAD in sin. When we realize that Jesus offers life and that He has picked us up out of that dead situation and has washed us, we repent of our sinful ways.
In Luke 4:16, Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me (appointed before all time and anointed visibly at His baptism) to bring good news to the afflicted (the POOR) ; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, (Those who are broken to pieces!) To proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners ; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God ; To comfort all who mourn.”
Then in In Luke 4:21- “And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Jesus has shown us that True comfort is only realized by God’s intervention as Savior and as Comforter. We found that we could not and would not come to this point without the supreme and amazing word of God in our lives. “The kingdom of God” includes those who recognize their own sin and come to God in repentance and sorrow on His terms.
III. "Blessed are the gentle (or meek), for they shall inherit the earth. Meekness is the disposition of Spirit which accepts God’s dealing with us as GOOD and trusts in God’s ability to rule. The meek or not the weak, but they are gentle of spirit and attitude and free of offense. A meek Spirit does not argue or object to the way God DOES THINGS. The Meek are those who are amazed that they have far more than they deserve.
Gentleness or meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. It trusts in God's sovereignty and control over all situations. The gentle person is not occupied with self. This is a work of the Holy Spirit and the will of God, not of the human will and it automatically is conducive to healing relationships and reconciliation.
The chosen of God whose spirits are in habited by God are His HEIRS. The “inheritance of the earth” includes receiving the spiritual in the NOW as well as the recreated earth in the future. One day the proud will inherit judgment as the fruit of following their father, the devil but the meek will inherit the eternal blessing from God their Father. “The kingdom of God” includes those who, upon a true self-evaluation, have received God’s Spirit of grace and forgiveness for their lives on His terms.
IV. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” It is out of spiritual poverty, mourning over our sin and as meek citizens of God’s Kingdom that we cry out for fullness from God. Christ’s righteousness is perfect. It has been imputed to your account, and so you want your life to be filled with the same,
If you realize that Christ IS your righteousness, then HE WILL be the one you crave more than anything else, and so Righteousness (Christ) is our desire and our diet; Those who have been justified BY CHRIST hunger and thirst for Him. How shall we live if we have been declared NOT GUILTY of our sin? Our lives should be consistent with the One who has justified us! Lord, make me more like Christ. Fill me up with Him!
Christ’s righteousness is not only imputed but imparted: It gives us a new legal standing but it also calls us to a new way of life. In the same way that our works DO NOT JUSTIFY US, if we have been JUSTIFIED, it is impossible for us to live without DOING WORKS! Our justified lives will naturally lead to righteous living.
Because it is Christ’s Righteousness, IT always satisfies. It always fills and fulfills in every way. It fulfills God’s demands for sin inwardly, but then with work of HOLY SPIRIT, we begin to fill up our lives for HIM outwardly with a change of conduct. The Kingdom of God includes those who were and are being sanctified by God. As a result they are pursuing righteous living and God’s standard.
Revelation 7:16 says this about the future of God’s saints: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
I want to mention four characteristics of God’s Kingdom in the first half of these benefits and benefactors of the beatitudes:
1. The Beatitudes indicate the working of God’s Spirit in believers as Kingdom citizens.
2. The Beatitudes contrast God’s Kingdom from that of the world:
They contrast the unnatural or spiritual from the natural or flesh.
3. The Beatitudes are born into (or BORNE by, LIVED by) Christians, but they are alien to unbelievers.
4. The Beatitudes cause us to examine ourselves concerning our own hearts and lives.
These teaching of Jesus should cause us to ask: “Am I in your Kingdom, LORD?” If you are uncertain, come to God in Humility and beg the saving power of Jesus and His Life-giving Spirit. Become a part of a Christian fellowship which teaches God’s Word, and spend time each day with the God who is your only hope for this life and the life to come.
OUTLINE
“The Unveiling of God’s Kingdom in the Beatitudes” (1-4)
Matthew 4:23- 5:1-6
Matt. 4:23-25:
Jesus sat as Teacher but would reign as King. (“sat down”)
Jesus spoke words as the Word who became flesh and as the LIVING WORD.
I. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
A. “The kingdom of God” (Heaven) is not of this earth.
B. “Blessed” means “to be fortunate, happy, or privileged by God”.
C. “Poor” means to be spiritually bankrupt and know it.
“The kingdom of God” includes those who realize they have no righteousness
or hope of their own and who recognize their own bankruptcy.
II. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
A. We mourn over our sins with the intensity over one who has died.
B. True comfort is only realized by God’s intervention as Savior and Comforter.
“The kingdom of God” includes those who recognize their own sin
and come to God in repentance and sorrow on His terms.
III. "Blessed are the gentle (meek), for they shall inherit the earth.”
A. The “Meek” are gentle of spirit and attitude and free of offense.
B. “The earth” includes the spiritual in the now as well as the future.
“The kingdom of God” includes those who, upon a true self-evaluation,
have received God’s Spirit of grace and forgiveness for their lives.
IV. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
A. Righteousness (Christ) is our desire and our diet.
B. Because it is Christ’s Righteousness, it always satisfies, inwardly and outwardly.
The Kingdom of God includes those who are pursuing righteous living and God’s standard. They were and ARE being sanctified by God.
Characteristics of the Beatitudes
1. The Beatitudes indicate the working of God’s Spirit in believers as Kingdom citizens.
2. The Beatitudes contrast God’s Kingdom from that of the world:
They contrast the unnatural or spiritual from the natural or flesh.
3. The Beatitudes are born into (or BORNE by) Christians, but are alien to unbelievers.
4. The Beatitudes cause us to examine ourselves concerning our own hearts and lives.
