The Beatitudes | Matthew 5:1-11
Introduction:
1) Matthew is very good at making a comparison between Jesus and Moses throughout the Gospel.
2) Both Moses + Matthew were…
o Born during a time when the nation of Israel were being oppressed.
o Both had to escape being killed when they were babies.
o Both ended up in Egypt during their escape.
o Both would ultimately deliver the people of Israel from bondage (Egypt/Sin).
o Moses went up a mountain (alone) and retrieved the 2 tablet (10 commandments)
? 10 is symbolic completion.
o Jesus brought his followers up the mountain.
? 8 is symbolic of ending/new beginning (days of the week and the flood on the 8th day).
3) “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights – that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (Declaration on Independence) … This is our founding document, what our nation is built upon. It was the hope of who we would become.
4) The beatitudes are NOT IMPERATIVES – NOT COMMANDS – they are a present reality – this is a DESCRIPTION of a Follower of Jesus – it is a description of a CITIZEN of God’s kingdom.
5) What Jesus is saying is “because of the kingdom of God, you are blessed…” (Blessed means, happy/fortunate/to be envied/prosperous)
6) Blessed is also empowerment. Following God creating mankind, his 1st act was “he blessed them.” He did so they could multiply, create, rule and influence the world.
7) There is a contrast Jesus uses in the beatitudes that says, “In the kingdom of God, you have to emptied of yourself, so you might be Filled with God.”
8) The beatitudes should cause us to reevaluate what we value in this life because in them, Jesus is revealing what God values in this world according to his perspective.
The Poor in Spirit
1. If I just had _____, I would be happy. Jesus says this: you’ll be happy when you’re (spiritually) bankrupt.
2. Blessed are those who have a sense that they need God and they don’t boast in themselves and they don’t boast in their position in life. The truth is we are all poor in spirit before God BUT we are not all blessed. We cannot do it on our own. So why are some blessed and others not? This is where our sense and acknowledgement comes in – those who are blessed realize their need for God and depend on God.
3. “Being filled with the Spirit is simply this – having my whole nature yielded to his power.” Andrew Murray
4. The Greek term for poor is, ptochoi, which means ‘a humble devout person, to crouch or cower like a beggar; bent over.”
5. Babies come out of the womb crying / screaming – because they are in survival mode – they are breathing on their own for the 1st time. They are desperate (for their mother) – that is what it means to be poor in spirit.
6. If we are not poor in spirit, then it is due to a pride issue in us.
Proverbs 15:33
Thor: banished by his father, King Odin, from Asgard because of his pride (starting a war) and he had to learn humility while on earth and then he became worthy of the throne.
James 2:5
God has chosen to share his kingdom with those who are poor. Why? Because they are rich in faith! They are poor not because they lack finances but because they lack pride! They live dependent upon Jesus.
Those Who Mourn
1. Often, we associate mourning with grief over a tragedy (like losing a loved one).
2. Time heals all wounds simply isn’t true. We would do anything to alleviate the grief that caused or is causing us to mourn.
3. John Gill “Blessed are they that mourn for sin, for their own sins: the sin of their nature…which is always working in them and is a continual grief of mind to them.”
2nd Corinthians 7:10
The mourning here is godly sorrow.
Psalm 30:5
Blessed are those who are broken over their sin and not excusing sin. The Psalmist reminds us of this though: the sorrow we are dealing with is coming to an end!
Those Who Are Meek
1. Meek means to have and shower power under control (God’s) control. Those who do not use power for personal gain.
2. In this world, in our culture, meekness is seen as weakness. Power, control, influence is what is important and the way we gain those is by ‘any means necessary.’
3. How to we gain land? By conquering others – that’s how we become known (famous). Land is a prized possession – it was back then and it is today. Jesus’ promise to those who are meek is they will inherit what they are denied in this life – they will be seen as great. Inherit the earth vs inheriting the promised land – it is no longer about a specific location but includes the whole earth.
4. Good to Great by Jim Collins: Studied 20 companies that did well, hit close to rock bottom and then became great again. The criteria was that the same CEO had to be in place (no leadership change). In every scenario where the company went from good to great was that the CEO began to see teamwork as the essential ingredient for success and they moved from a “me” to “we” frame of mind. They would point the success of the company to the people. This is an example of God’s principles at work in the world. (Principles work whether one believes in God or not).
5. Moses was meek (Numbers 12:3) and Jesus was meek (Matthew 11:28-29) They both had positions of authority but did not use that authority, that power to overwhelm people. Power under God’s control is using power/authority for the benefit of others. In Moses’ case, he used his position to lead Israel out of Egypt and led the people to God. Jesus used his authority/power to restore people.
6. Rule Over Someone v Rule For Someone.
Hunger For Righteousness
What do you Crave?
1. The Greek words used in this verse, peinontes, means “to desire earnestly, to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire.” Consider your cravings (food, power, money, etc.)
2. Jesus paints this picture that those who crave righteousness will be satisfied.
1st Corinthians 1:30 & Philippians 3:8
Jesus is our righteousness and he is the one who satisfies. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and when we live in a way that honors God and submits to his will for our life (which is to be conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus) we find we are satisfied.
Righteousness also deals with restoring relationships. In ancient Judaism, the term righteousness meant, “acquit, vindicate, restore to a right relationship.”
Christianity accomplishments: Higher learning (College Universities such as Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale all began as Christian colleges) and Hospitals (which in their inception were free of charge.) Christianity also abolished and spoke against and stood against slavery in several parts of the known world.
John 14:4 (The Effects of Dehydration)
Our intake of God’s word and prayer has an impact on us. If we fail to read the Word and pray (daily) it gets us off course and causes our lives to go into directions, we are not called to go.
There are times when I read the Bible and pray and it doesn’t appear to have any impact on me and it feels like going through the motions. What I find though is that I continue to do these, I do change (for the better) and while its not all the time, there are times I fall in love with Scripture and prayer. Keep yourself hydrated!
Those Who Are Merciful
1. This beatitude flows from the previous (hunger for righteousness).
2. Righteousness (right standing) has to do with our relationship with God and mercy is about our relationships with others.
3. To be merciful we need to treat others better than they deserve. This means to be merciful we need to be understanding (of their conditions/place in life), we need to be compassionate and we need to be forgiving.
Luke 6:36 & Matthew 6:14-15
We are thus called to be merciful (understanding, compassionate and forgiving)
Forgiving others: God’s forgiveness is not conditioned on our forgiveness of others; this is about the depth of forgiveness we receive and the freedom we walk in.
The Pure in Heart
1. Charles Ellicott, “Here, as with the poor in spirit, the noun determines the region in which the purity is to be found – the heart – as representing desires and affections, as the spirit represents the will and personality.”
2. The Greek term for pure is, Katharoi, which means, ‘clean, pure, unstained (literally, ceremonially, spiritually).
3. When our hearts are clean, the more we see God for who he truly is.
4. False Religions come into the picture when people try to convey a message while their lives are lived under the influence of sin and attempt to paint a picture of who God is.
Jeremiah 17:9 + Ezekiel 36:26
The issue here is that our hearts are deceitful above everything else.
“Do what your heart tells you to do.” “Follow your heart.” Biblically speaking, that’s really bad advice because our hearts are deceitful!
The good news is that God gives us new hearts and new spirits. When we are given new hearts and new spirits then we desire God’s will, not our own. We are given hearts that are responsive to the call of God.
1 Timothy 1:5 (The GPS)
In this scripture, Paul places the word pure before heart because our hearts are now renewed because of God’s saving activity and God’s influence in our lives. From this new heart, we can begin to love God and love people.
The Spirit redirects/recalculates as needed to get us to where God is calling us to be.
The Peacemakers
1. This beatitude is directed towards those who are both peaceful and those who promote peace.
2. We need to be peaceful people and speak peace. There are many doctrines in the Bible which have caused separation in churches, splits even, over trivial matters.
3. Jesus’ call to his followers is unity…how can we unite if we are not on the same page as everything the Bible says about a topic or a subject? Baptism, creation, Bible versions, etc.
4. Peace making says that we work towards right relationships rather than establish our rights and our preferences. “In essentials unity, in non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”
5. We need to be peacemakers in our homes, workplace, shelter, in the community.
6. Shalom = the way things are supposed to be. (the way they were in the garden before the fall; the way they will be again). As this time, we live in between the resurrection of Christ and the restoration of all things.
Those Who Are Persecuted!
1. This beatitude comes last because it is the result of living out the other beatitudes. Jesus is essentially saying, because of who you are (God’s child) and you are a citizen of heaven, the forces of darkness will be against you. Due to your present reality (blessed = happy, fortunate, to be envied, prosperous) you should expect persecution.
2. Persecution for Christians
(1) Imprisonment
(2) Martyrdom.
(3) Outcast.
(4) We are told we are wrong because we stand on truth.
Romans 1:25 & 2 Timothy 3:12
Persecution is a reality for followers of Jesus. If you’re not being persecuted, you need to check and see if you’re following Christ.
We will be persecuted, Jesus overcame the world, we will be rewarded for our struggles.
The Message
Matthew 5:3
“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope, with less of you there is more of God and his rule.
Matthew 5:4
You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
Matthew 5:5
You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are-no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
Matthew 5:6
You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
Matthew 5:7
You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being careful; you find yourselves cared for.
Matthew 5:8
You’re blessed when you get your inside world-your mind and heart-put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
Matthew 5:9
You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
Matthew 5:10
You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
