Beatitudes
Matthew
5: 1 – 13; Luke 6-21 - 26
And seeing the multitudes, He went up
on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2Then He opened His mouth and
taught them, saying: 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11“Blessed are you when they revile and
persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12Rejoice and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward
in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:1-13
And seeing the multitudes Jesus went up into the
mountain where there was room for everyone. His disciples - not only his twelve
disciples, but everyone who desired to learn of Him, came to Him. “And He opened his mouth” this
phrase always denotes an important and solemn discourse “and taught them.” This shows the importance of teaching the Word
of God. Our Lord took the time to teach people how to live. The people there
took the time to listen and learn.
Our Lord came into the world to save man from his
sin, to bless men; to make men happy and give them peace. All men desire, yet few attain, happiness or peace because they look
for it in the wrong places. (Read Isaiah 61:1-3 and Proverbs 6:16-19 with
the Beatitudes. Proverbs 6:16-19 is the opposite of the Beatitudes and lists
things God hates.)
In the original
writings of the Beatitudes there are no verbs. There is no word “are” in the
original sermon or writings.
In the King James Version (KJV) the “are” is in italics. When a word is shown
in italics in the KJV it means there is no equivalent word in the Hebrew or
Greek. The word “are” was added to bring out the meaning of the sentence for
English. An example is Matthew 5:3
which, in the Greek, reads “Blessed the poor in the spirit for theirs is the
kingdom of the heavens.”
Each of the
beatitudes is formally a declarative sentence; but each requires a response “O the blessedness of the poor
in spirit” is an example. The beatitudes deal with what is,
and on what will be. They are in the present, and the future.
The blessings which belongs to Christ are not postponed blessings. They are
blessings that exist in the here and now. The blessings are something into
which the Christian has already entered, and into which they will enter
sometime in the future. The beatitudes are statements of the unspeakable
joy and radiant gladness of living the Christian life.
The word used for
bless is an exclamation of the
inner joy and peace that comes with being right with God. It describes that joy which is
serene and untouchable. That joy which is self-contained and completely
independent of all the vagaries and changes that happen in life. The blessings that come with following
Christ are completely untouchable and unassailable. Without Christ human
happiness is dependent on the vagaries of life and what we experience as
humans. True happiness and joy are found
only in Christ that is why Christ can call for rejoicing under intense
persecution. The Lord’s declaration of “blessed” is a pledge of divine
reward for the inner spiritual character of the righteous; it is His
description of the spiritual attitude and state of people who are right with
God.
Note that the
Beatitudes all work together. We
often look at them separately when we should look at them as one unit with each
building on the other to make a complete blueprint for being a happy person and
Christian. Christ gives us eight steps to being a happy person and
especially a happy Christian. It is important to realize wealth and/or power
are not part of any of the blessings.
Each of the beatitudes has two
parts—a pronouncement of blessing and a result of that blessing. Notice that the first and
last Beatitudes have the same results: “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
(Matthew 5:3 &10). By opening and closing the list this way, Jesus is
telling His disciples that all of the blessings, from the first to the last,
are of the kingdom. Mourning,
gentleness, and peacemaking, for example, are blessed ways of life only if
God’s kingdom is indeed coming as well as is already here in the believer. Once
again faith is an integral part of the blessed Christian life. We have faith
in God’s Word so we can live in assurance the blessings are here now and will
come.
Jesus is saying something that
is hinted at throughout the Gospels: God’s kingdom is already here, and it also
hasn’t yet arrived. (See Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:2.) That’s why He can proclaim the
blessing here and now while also speaking about the blessings of a future
kingdom. It’s the reason why those who mourn, those who make peace, and those
who face persecution are blessed: the kingdom of heaven is already here in
Christ and therefore in the believer. Yet there is still a time for mourning, a
need for peacemaking, and the threat of persecution because the kingdom has not
yet come in its fullness. As Christians,
we live in two realities at the same time. We belong to God’s Kingdom and live
in that reality. We also live in the physical world and its reality. Our fist
allegiance and responsibility is to God’s Kingdom, His Word.
Are the
Beatitudes another 8-step program for happiness? Why or why not?
For each of the Beatitudes:
What does this specific
characteristic mean to you? Can it really be
done in our lives? How do we
implement it in a practical way? How can we help
others develop and implement this characteristic?
POOR IN SPIRIT
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
The Greek word used here for “poor” is well beyond
the person who has nothing unnecessary, it describes the man who has nothing at
all. The Beatitudes were originally written in Aramaic, not Greek. The Aramaic
word used describes the person who, regardless of wealth or lack thereof, puts
all their trust in God. If we put together the Greek and the Aramaic
definitions, we can translate the passage as “Blessed is the man who has
realized his own utter helplessness and who has put his whole trust in God.”
People who are “poor in spirit” are those who are
humble before God. The person who
realizes their own helplessness and has put their entire trust in God becomes
detached from things and attached to God. The person who has become
poor in spirit realizes things, position, poverty, wealth, etc. mean nothing
and God means everything. They are free from pretensions and therefore they are
free for God.
Perhaps the beatitude can be written: O the bliss of the person who has realized
their own utter helplessness and has put their whole trust in God. By this
alone can that person render to God that perfect obedience which will make them
part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The poor in spirit not only shall have--they
already have--the kingdom. The very sense of their spiritual poverty is
begun true riches. While others take a false view of themselves and all that is
around them the poor in spirit are rich in the knowledge of their true reality,
having courage to look this in the face and own it. They feel strong in the
assurance that to those who accept Christ as Savior there is light in the
darkness (Ps 112:4);
and soon it gloriously breaks forth as the morning. God wants nothing from us
as the price of His saving gifts; we have but to feel and know our destitution
and unworthiness and cast ourselves upon His compassion (Job 33:27,28 1Jo 1:9).
The poor in spirit are enriched with the fullness of Christ, which is the
kingdom in substance. He will invite them to the full enjoyment of an already
possessed inheritance.
Those who have humbled themselves and become
dependent on God--they have the kingdom of heaven. In fact, everyone who is in
the kingdom must become poor in spirit. Everyone must come with a broken heart
and a contrite spirit seeking the Savior.
Ps 40:17 Isa 41:17). (Jas 2:5 2Co 6:10 Re 2:9 (Ps 73:12 Lu 6:20,21 (Ps 10:12,17 (Ps 22:26 (Pr 3:34), as Lu 10:21 Joh 11:33 13:21 Ac 20:22 Ro 12:11 1Co 5:3 Php 3:3 (Re 3:17,18 Mt 9:12,13).
THOSE WHO MOURN
Blessed
are those who
mourn, for they shall be comforted.
To
start we must note that the Greek word used for “to mourn” here is the
strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. It is the word used for
mourning for the dead. It is the kind of grief and mourning that takes such a
hold on a person it cannot be hidden. The words used are the same words used to
express Jacob’s grief when he thought his son Joseph was dead. This mourning is
mourning for those dead without Christ. Though they are alive physically they
are dead spiritually.
For
mourning to be “in the faith,” it will be a mourning not just for the suffering
and sadness of life, but for the sinfulness that causes it. Those who mourn
understand that their grieving is for a world that is lost and ruined. A world in
which God and His will do not prevail. The instruction here concerns the focus
of the mourning, not the mourning itself. The mourning that will be comforted
is the mourning of Christ’s disciples, those who have the proper understanding
of the reasons for the mourning. And they will have the proper faith to see
them through.
This
beatitude can be taken as:
Blessed
is the person who has endured the bitterest sorrow that life can bring.
or
Blessed
are those who are desperately sorry for the sorrowing and suffering of the
world. Christianity is caring.
or
Blessed
is the person who is desperately sorry for his own sin and unworthiness.
or
All of the above.
One
of the great results of the cross is to open our eyes to the absolute horror of
sin. When we see the absolute horror of sin we can only experience deep intense
sorrow for our sin and the sins of the world. We are also driven to care for others and help them to see the
horror of sin. Christianity is caring.
Blessed
is the person who is intensely sorry for their sin and is truly broken hearted
for what sin has done to God, Jesus the Christ and the world. Blessed is the
person who sees the cross and is appalled by the havoc wrought by sin. This is the person who will be comforted for
this is the truly repentant person.
Perhaps
the meaning of this beatitude can be translated:
O the bliss of the person whose
heart is broken for the world’s suffering, sin and for their own sin, for out
of their sorrow they will find the joy in God.
MEEK
Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
In
the Bible the meek are those who have a spirit of gentleness and self-control;
they are free from malice and a condescending spirit. The meek may appear, like
the poor, with no resources of their own. But they do have resources. Moses was
described as being meek and humble (Num. 12:3) but knew his resources were
in God and were infinite. The meek do not exploit and oppress others; they are
not given to vengeance and vendettas, they are not violent, and they do not try
to seize power for their own ends. In short, they have emulated the nature of
Jesus in their lives and learned from Him. This certainly does not mean that
they are weak or ineffective in life.
The
word “meek” carries a negative connotation in our society. We look at a meek
person as being weak, unable to face the trials of life. This is the present
baggage the word carries with it. This was not always the case. It so happens the word meek (in Greek praus) was one of the great Greek
ethical words. Aristotle defines meekness as the mean between excessive
anger and excessive lack of anger. Meekness to the Greeks (and hence how it is
used in the Scriptures) is the happy medium between two much and two little
anger. This makes a possible translation of the verse to be:
Blessed
is the person who is always angry at the right time and never angry at the
wrong time.
We
can see this in the actions of Christ. He was angry with the moneychangers in
the temple but not angry with the woman taken in adultery. These two actions
can be a guide for us when we look at when and why we get angry. It is not
appropriate to be angry for an insult or injury done to ourselves, but it may
often be right to be angry at insult or injury done to others, especially to
God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.
The
Greek word praus has a second standard
Greek usage. It is the word used for an animal that has been domesticated. It is the word for an animal that has learned
to accept control. This leads to a
second possible translation of the verse:
Blessed
is the man who every instinct, every impulse, every passion under control.
Blessed is the man who is totally self-controlled. I would take this a bit
further and say Blessed is the person who has allowed God to control their
every passion, instinct and impulse of their life.
Without meekness (using the Greek definition) a person cannot learn. Learning
requires a person to admit they do not know everything. The learner must lose
some of their pride and lofty self image, otherwise it is impossible to learn
from another person. The direction people should follow to cultivate a spirit
of meekness would be to walk by the Spirit, be controlled by the Spirit of God
so that the qualities of Christ can be produced in and through them.
A
person reaches true maturity when they are always conscious that they are the
creature and God is the creator and without God the person can do nothing. This
leads to another possible translation:
Blessed
is the man who has the humility to know his own ignorance, his own weakness and
his own need.
Jesus
makes it very clear that the person who has self-control, the person who has
their passions, impulses and instincts under control. They that hold all their
passions and affections evenly balanced. They shall inherit the earth - they
shall have all things truly necessary for life and Godliness. Alexander the Great, Napoleon,
etc, were not able to do this and could not inherit the world. Moses, Abraham
Lincoln and others did have it and are seen as great leaders.
The
word praus means much more than the
word meek means in our present society. In
some ways the present meaning of meek is the opposite of the original meaning
and use.
Looking
at all of this perhaps the best translation would be:
O the bliss of the person who
is always angry at the right time and never angry at the wrong time. The person
who has every instinct, passion and impulse under control because they are
God-controlled. The person who has the humility to recognize and realize his
own ignorance and weakness for such people are the true inheritors of the
earth.
HUNGER AND THIRST FOR
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for
they shall be filled.
This
one of the most demanding and perhaps the most thought provoking of them all. Hunger
and thirst constantly cry out for satisfaction; it is a basic human drive. The
image then is portraying the desire to do the will of God as being that
constant and strong. Most of us here do not know what it is like to be truly
hunger and truly thirsty. We do not know what it is like to be on the edge of
death from starvation or thirst. Esau knew that experience and, instead of
trusting God, sold his birthright to Jacob for some food.
Many
people in the time of Jesus knew what it is like to be one step away from
starvation. The average wage was three pennies a day. Even given the difference
in purchasing power, this is not much. In times of crop failure there was a
real danger of starvation for those on the margins. Even those with wealth
could not buy food where there was none. People then could not turn on a tap
and get water. They could not go down to their local store and buy water. If a
person was in the desert and a storm blew up there was a good chance they could
die of thirst before the storm blew out and they found water. People in these
conditions know what it is to truly hunger and thirst. Their life depends on
finding water and food.
We
have already thought about righteousness with its meaning of conforming to the
standard, i.e., doing the will of God. Here the word probably has two meanings.
One would certainly be in the personal life--the strong desire to be pleasing
to God, to do what God wants, to live up to the will of God. But out of this
would grow the desire for righteousness in the land, for social justice in a
world that is unrighteous and unjust. The desire for personal righteousness
cannot be separated from righteousness for the world around us.
This
is the hunger and thirsting Jesus is speaking of here. He is speaking of the person who recognizes they will die if they cannot
feed on spiritual food and drink spiritual drink. It becomes much more
important than physical food and drink. Jesus referred to this food and drink
when he met the woman at the well. He told the woman the person who took a
drink from His well would never go thirsty. After His disciples came back with
food Jesus told them He had already eaten. Since the disciples saw no food they
did not understand. Jesus said He had food of which they knew nothing. He was
eating spiritual food which is much more satisfying. Jesus makes it very plain
during the Last Supper that He is speaking of that spiritual food and drink
that saves from death and satisfies eternally. Luke 22: 17 – 20; Mark 14: 22 –
24
An
important thing to remember is Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, He did not say blessed are those who attained
righteousness. If the blessing is only for those who attain it none of us
should be blessed since none of us are completely and truly righteous, not one.
The
way this passage is written in the Greek is a bit unusual. Normally it would be
written “I hunger for some of the bread” or “I thirst for some of the water.”
In both cases the meaning is wanting some bread or some water. It is not asking
for all of the bread or all of the water. This
passage is different in that it is written “I want the whole loaf” or “I want
the entire well.” This makes the passage better translated as:
Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for the whole of righteousness, for complete righteousness.
People
seldom hunger or thirst for the whole of righteousness. We are content with a
piece of it. Enough to take off the edge but not enough to be truly filled. To
be truly filled can be a awesome and frightening thing. To be truly filled
means we can see our own unworthiness and are responsible to carry the food to
others. It changes our lives or at least should. Christianity is caring. When
we hunger and thirst after righteousness we begin to truly care about others
being filled also.
The
great thing about hungering and thirsting after righteousness is, once we start
to be filled and we truly care for others, we become truly satisfied. We have a
satisfaction that material things cannot begin to touch. Satisfaction comes
from following righteousness. The closer one lives to the Lord, the more
sensitive he or she becomes to the unrighteousness and injustice in the world.
The truly spiritual person then will begin to long for and active work for righteousness.
Perhaps
the best translation of this passage might be:
O the bliss of the person who
longs for total righteousness as a starving person longs for food and a person
dying of thirst longs for water for that person will be truly satisfied.
MERCIFUL
7Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy.
Christ
is insistent that to be forgiven we must be forgiving. When He taught us to
pray He included “Forgive us our sins as
we forgive those who sin against us.” (Matt. 6:15) The forgiveness we
receive is tied to the forgiveness we give. If we refuse to forgive how can we
then ask for forgiveness. This theme is carried throughout the New Testament. (Mt 18:23-35; Mt 5:23,24 James
2:13. Col 3:13 Eph 4:32: Lu 6:37 Jas 5:9.)
The Hebrew word for mercy is chesedh. Chesedh means the ability to
get right inside the other person until we can see things with their eyes,
think things with their minds and feel things with their feelings. It is similar to our word
empathy but is really a combination of what we term sympathy and empathy. It is
far beyond pity. It requires no demands. It is a very deliberate effort of the
mind and will. Sympathy means a feeling of care and concern for someone, accompanied
by a wish to see the person better off or happier.
Empathy is a person’s ability to recognize and share the
emotions of another person. It involves, first, seeing someone else’s situation
from their perspective, and, second, sharing their emotions.
These
people are called blessed because they place showing mercy above their own
rights; they take no hostile stand against people but try to show kindness to
others and heal wounds. It is not that they are merciful by nature, but because
they have been shown mercy and live in constant dependence on the Lord. It is
important, then, that people have a good understanding of the grace of God in
their own lives.
If
we make a deliberate attempt and achieve identification with the other person
it makes a great difference. It is also demanding. It is an act of Christian
love that carries a great responsibility and great reward. Once we learn something, we are responsible for that knowledge. We
are responsible to use that
knowledge to benefit others. It is the same with being truly merciful. It
demands action.
Being
truly merciful stops us from being kind in the wrong way. Often we want to be,
and try to be, kind but our actions are predicated on our experience and our
feelings. That is not necessarily a bad thing but, since our experience is not
the same as their experience, is not always the most useful or appropriate
thing to do. Being merciful (chesedh) takes us into the experience and life of
the other person. It also helps us to be sensitive to the guiding of the Holy
Spirit for that circumstance and need. Our actions are then predicated on the
true need as revealed by the Spirit and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to
serve that need.
There is always a reason a
person thinks and acts as they do. The issue is what is behind their thinking
and actions.
Once we know the true reason it makes understanding, forgiveness and tolerance
much easier because we approach the others through the love of Christ,
understanding and being a part of their experience through the Holy Spirit.
This
is what God has done for us through Christ. While we were in sin He came to
save us. We need to take the same road. We need to be blind to the apparent
condition of a person and see them through the eyes of Christ. This is the
point Cervantes was making with Don Quixote and Dulcinea. Don Quixote saw what
she could be, not her apparent and immediate circumstances.
In
the parable of the unmerciful debtor, the servant to whom his lord forgave ten
thousand dollars was naturally expected to exercise the small measure of the
same compassion required for forgiving his fellow servant's debt of a hundred
pennies. It is only when, instead of this, he imprisoned him till he should pay
it up, that his lord's indignation was roused. The servant treated with mercy is
then treated with the same wrath he treated others. (Mt 18:23-35;
and see Mt 5:23,24 6:15 Jas 2:13).
As
we look at this verse perhaps we can translate it:
The bliss of the person who
gets inside other people, until s/he can feel with their feelings, see with
their eyes and think with their thoughts. They will know what God in Jesus the
Christ has done for them also.
PURE IN HEART
Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The
Greek word for pure is katharos. Katharos has a variety of meanings. It
means:
- Clean
- Corn that has been winnowed, sifted and cleaned of all chaff
- When used with akeratos it is used for milk or wine that is unadulterated with water, or metal with no tinge of alloy.
Katharos means completely unmixed,
unadulterated, unalloyed. It describes both an inner purity and a singleness of
mind. The “heart” is used in the Bible for the will, the choices. And so to be
pure in heart means that the decisions one makes, the desires one has, the
thoughts and intentions of the will, are untarnished by sin and that the will
is determined to be subject to and pleasing to God. From the pure of heart come
only good things, acts of love and mercy, desires for righteousness and
justice, decisions that please God. This can lead us to translate the verse:
Blessed
is the person whose motives and actions are entirely unmixed, unadulterated
with sin, for that person shall see God.
The pure in heart are those who
are free from evil desires and purposes. They are free from the “wants to” of
sin. This does
not mean they do not sin but, like David, do not want to sin and truly repent
when they do. They have that similarity of life to the divine life which
excludes all uncleanness, and which enables them to comprehend, to a certain
extent, the motives and actions of God. The pure in heart see God by faith now,
by the spiritual vision of a regenerate heart (Ephesians
1:17,18), and
shall see Him face to face hereafter (1 Corinthians
13:12; 1 John
3:2,3). The
transformation from a heart of flesh to a pure heart will come by following
Christ, but it is not an easy or a swift change. Those who enter the kingdom of
righteousness must have this new heart.
The
Jews to whom Christ spoke, having their hearts defiled with carnal hopes and
self-righteous pride, failed to see God, as He reveals Himself in the person of
his Son. The same can be said for many churchgoers today. They are much like
the Jews in Jesus’ day. This is a sad contrast to the gracious promise of the
beatitude.
In
every part of life we see what we are able to see and that is partially
determined by our paradigms and what we want to see. Do we have carnal or
spiritual eyes? Do we want to see the things of God or of man? Christ said to “be
perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). Learning
to live by the word of God, will change the way we think so that our hearts will
grow more and more pure. As the light of
the Word reveals impurities, we must deal with them and seek the Holy Spirit’s
help to change. This beatitude is a warning and exhortation to keep our hearts
clean. We are preparing ourselves to either see or not see God.
Perhaps
a final translation could be:
O the bliss of the person whose
motives are absolutely pure, for that person will one day be able to see God.
PEACEMAKERS
Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
In
Greek the word for peace is eirene
and in Hebrew it is shalom. In Hebrew peace is never a negative state,
it is never just the absence of trouble but rather it always means everything
which makes for a person’s highest good. When a one person says to another shalom he does not mean he wishes for
the other person simply the absence of evil things but the presence of all good
things. Shalom is an active peace, not a
passive peace.
A
second thing to note is in the beatitude the blessing is not on the peace lover but
rather peace maker. Again, this is active, not passive. The peace maker
is not someone who hopes for peace and ignores reality but the person who
recognizes reality and works for peace. The peace that Christ calls blessed
does not come from an evasion of issues but rather from dealing with them
through the leading of the Holy Spirit. A very important distinction to make
here is we are talking of the person who works for God’s peace, not man’s
peace. When we work for man’s peace we usually do more harm than good since it
is not led by the Holy Spirit. True peace that the world needs calls for a complete
change of nature. Only God can give this kind of peace. It is a peace that the
world does not understand (John 14:27). It begins with
reconciliation with God and extends to reconciliation with other people. The
person who makes peace is engaged in the very work which the God of peace is
doing. (Romans 15; 33; 2 Corinthians 13: 11; 1 Thess. 5:23; Hebrews 13:20.
This
passage can be taken to mean blessed are those who make this world a better
place for all people. It can also be taken to mean blessed are those who have
peace with God in their own heart and own soul. There is another meaning which
was emphasized by the Rabbis. It is blessed is the person who works to
establish right relationships between man and man. The promise to peacemakers
is that they shall be called the sons of God. That means they will be true
children of God.
There
are always people who seem to be the epicenter of trouble, chaos and confusion.
Wherever they are there are quarrels, dissension and strife either between them
and others or between others, but caused by them. These are the trouble-makers.
The person who divides people for strife is doing Satan’s work. (Romans
16:17-20) The person who unites people through Christ is doing God’s work.
I
must put in a caution here. The peace makers are those who establish right
relations between people and people to God through the leading of the Holy
Spirit. A peacemaker is not the person who unites people by accepting anything
and everything. The true peace-maker is the person who unites by standing on
the Word and promises of God. Without the Word and promises of God there is no
true peace. The disciples of Jesus should be promoting peace. They do this by
spreading the Gospel of peace to the world, and by promoting reconciliation
within the household of faith as well. In short, they should be doing the work
of the Messiah.
Perhaps
a translation of this verse might be:
Blessed
are those who produce right relationships between man and man, and man and God
for they are doing the work of God as His children.
“Blessed are those who are
persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds
of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your
reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.”
Note
that the eighth and ninth “blessed” are one unit with the ninth expanding on
the eighth and taking it from general to individual. Part of the persecution
will be insults, slander, lying about a person, etc. This is in addition to
more physical types of persecution but no less hurtful and harmful.
After
the blessing above Jesus tells us what happens when we follow Him and implement
what He just said. We will be persecuted. There are two things to note here.
The first is that Jesus never makes
false promises. We are not promised a new car, lots of money, etc. We are
promised peace now and for eternity and an inheritance in the Kingdom of
Heaven. The second is that living a
joyful life does not mean we will not have trouble. Joy is not predicated
on an absence of trouble. A peaceful spirit is not predicated on an absence of
trouble. Joy and peace come from the working of the Holy Spirit internally for
each person. They are not dependent on external factors.
The eight characters here
described in the Beatitudes are all contrary to the spirit of the world. The hearers of this discourse
must have been startled, and had their whole system of thought and action
rudely dashed. We in this day are no different.
Poverty of spirit runs counter
to the pride of men's heart. A pensive disposition, in the
view of one's universal deficiencies before God, is not relished by the
callous, indifferent, laughing, self-satisfied world. A meek and quiet spirit, taking
wrong, is regarded as weak, and rasps against the proud, resentful spirit of
the world. Craving after spiritual
blessings rebukes the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of
life. A merciful spirit rebukes the
hard-heartedness of the world. Purity of heart contrasts
painfully with painted hypocrisy. The peacemaker cannot easily be
endured by the contentious, quarrelsome world. Thus does
"righteousness" come to be "persecuted." Despite this, blessed are they
who dare to be righteous. It is not for the weak of faith or the half-hearted
follower of Christ.
Truly
following Christ and implementing the Beatitudes disrupts the life of the
believer and those around them. If we follow Christ we can no longer take part
in those business or personal actions that work against Him and the Kingdom of
Heaven. If the building contractor is offered the contract to build a pagan
place of worship they cannot do it. If the newspaper owner is asked to run ads
for a pornographic movie they cannot do it. It is not always easy but it is
always necessary for our spiritual well being and our communion with God.
The
one thing to remember about Christianity is that it is exclusionary. That is,
if we truly accept Jesus is the Savior of the world then we cannot say other
religions are right in their own way or just as good as Christianity. Either
Christ is salvation or He is not. This brings us into conflict with the world
at many, many points. Christ knew this and, in this last section, warns us what
will happen. I must add that Christianity is also inclusive. Anyone can accept
Christ as their personal savior.
In
the early church accepting the salvation of Christ often brought a high
probability of death. It almost certainly brought a division in the family and
often business loss. In our time some of the penalties are more subtle. We are
ridiculed, can face job loss, financial and perhaps division in the family and
loss of friends because we stand up for Christ.
Note
that Jesus equates being persecuted for righteousness and being persecuted for
His name sake as the same thing. The message here is clear, Jesus is the embodiment of righteousness.
This would have been a shocking statement to His listeners at the time. It is
still a shocking statement to many today. Standing up for Christ is standing up
for righteousness. The immediate result can be persecution. The long-term
result is our reward in heaven for eternity.
The final sentence in this passage states it
best. There will be trouble and persecution but: “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in
the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (James
1:2-6) What will happen is nothing new and the reward is great.
Sources:
William
Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1
Wesley’s
Expository Notes,
Matthew
Henry’s Commentary
Holy
Bible, New International Translation.
Holy
Bible, King James (Authorized) Translation
