Matthew 5:1-10 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
God, not human beings, will bless these characteristics within the human spirit. In fact, mankind will ridicule such goodness, humbleness, such perceived weakness. In America, these attributes or conditions of the soul oftentimes are considered foolishness, naivety, or a deficiency. Those who exhibits these flaws are losers, even traitors to the American spirit. We are “can do” people, pioneers who fought through adversity to conquer a continent and come out winners. We are the “John Wayne people” who shoot first and ask questions later. After we have killed a few, righting the wrongs of the world, we ride off with the heroine into the sunset, as the music fades with a romantic interlude. We are the champions; if you do not believe it, just ask us—we will set you straight. What we see in the beatitudes is a world turned upside down: not violence, comfort; not gloating, humility; not aggressiveness, tenderness; not judgment, forgiveness. We see a world that God admires, but most people do not. All of the rewards are in heaven. And the intractable behavior of fallen humans on Earth is set aside by God as not worthy of value or reward. Jesus epitomizes the beatitudes; on Earth He was the human illustration of them all. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30) Jesus is humble of heart, not arrogant or aggressive. Perhaps Jesus could have avoided the cross had He followed Peter’s aggressive intention of using a sword to avoid capture. Maybe He could have slipped away into the darkness during the commotion. He could have fled and hidden in the desert or the mountains for years with his band of men, fighting the Romans and the Jewish establishment. Why give up so easily when He knew what was coming: his capture and death? Why did He not flee to fight another day instead of waiting in the Garden, easily accessible to those out to kill him? As a marked man, his days were numbered in Jerusalem. Why did he not fight? Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. No reward on Earth for being naive, helpless, and poor; but God promised the kingdom of heaven to such as these. Jesus was kind and incessantly disturbed by those with no shepherd. He ministered to them, healed them—mourned over the people of Israel. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41-42) Jesus showed mercy to the sinner, ate with them, taught them, comforted them with his presence. Jesus was meek in spirit, always doing the Father’s will. Never selfish or seeking his own will, He was pure in heart. Tirelessly walking from city to city, ministering to people, delivering them from bondage to Satan; Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and taught the Good News of salvation. As a peacemaker, when the disciples were at odds with John and James because they sought a special place in heaven by the side of Jesus, Jesus calmed the situation, saying to secure good standing in heaven, they should serve all men on Earth. And of course, He was persecuted for his righteousness, his goodness. His lifestyle and teachings exposed the lack of righteousness in the religious leaders. Consequently, the elite hated him, for his teachings of righteousness and right living manifested adversely their sinful lifestyle and self-aggrandizing attitude. Jesus revealed the true Shepherd, fulfilling his own words.
Many people teach the beatitudes as if they are attributes we should have or as building blocks on which we should construct our lives. Of course, we should be more merciful, kind, and pure in heart as we follow Jesus. We should make peace and not war and endure persecution in the name of the Lord. They are garments that we should put on just as we wear a garment of praise to God. Nonetheless, sometimes these characteristics do not fit well with our human nature. We look rather silly in a garment of mercy when our spirit has not been merciful. We can be posers, pretending to be kind, loving, caring, empathetic, but inside the heart is still carnal or self-willed with a “me first attitude.” We are not pure in heart, and neither do we really intend to be pure in heart when our nature is carnal. This is a problem for people who teach the attributes of the beatitudes in isolation. Yes, they are good, as the law is good, but this kind of instruction or even a desire for these qualities does not solve the human condition of violence, self-interest, and other fleshly attitudes. We should hunger after righteousness, and we can teach people to seek righteousness by going to church or by reading the Bible or by being helpful to others, even being a servant to others; but this still does not alter the Adamic seed that is found deeply embedded in the souls of people. As we have mentioned in the past, human nature (Adam’s seed of rebellion) requires attention. We see this at the very beginning of mankind. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5) Mankind evidences difficulty with being pure in heart, merciful, and kind. We do not naturally go about making peace and hungering for righteousness. We might mourn for our own or our situation, but hardly for others and their problems. When we consider death or sickness as with our present pandemic, we often consider them as statistics, not really mourning the losses of others. Our nature of self-interest often overrides our feelings of sorrow and concern for others. Oftentimes when people listen to someone’s problems such as a sickness, they deflect the conversation to themselves or to someone else who has had a similar experience with the sickness. It is hard for us to mourn for others, feeling their pain. Many will seek diversions such as entertainment to remove themselves emotionally from the hurts and experiences of others. People use alcohol and drugs to mask the awareness of the pain around them. Jesus mourned over a whole city, crying for them. We know God mourns over the world, even over godless cities such as Nineveh. Jesus models what people should be like as they live their lives on Earth. They may not receive a reward on Earth for being meek, mild, tender, loving, caring, and the like; but God will reward them in the afterlife, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They will receive their blessings from the Father God.
People often try to live the beatitude life. By doing this, they consider their lives to be worthwhile and productive. We agree with them; living a beatitude life is better than living a self-interested life. They become poor for Jesus’ sake; they are merciful for Jesus’ sake. They are peacemakers for Jesus’ sake; they seek righteousness for Jesus’ sake. We could go on. All of this is good and all of this makes for a much more peaceful world, a world of cooperation. But, if this life experience is not from the heart, if it is just clothing you put on, an effort of works, you have not found the real design for life that is pleasing to God. You are living a life of effort, not a life that follows from intrinsic impulses of the heart. You are once again law bound, living a life of fleshly effort. God judges the heart; He can tell a poser from the true thing. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7) In Christ, we are not living to try to please God; we are living a life that is pleasing to God. Of course, Jesus said, we must be born again. For covering the old Adamic nature with works will not deceive God; He knows if you are a new creature or not. He knows if the beatitudes are from the heart of the new creature or part of the old creature trying to be good. We need to do good things. In fact you will know Christians by their good works. Christians will readily display God and his goodness to the world. We are to be different from the world. How are we different? We are different because of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit inside us. His power is resident in us. His likeness shines through our actions. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35) We are not those who confront the world with criticism and anger, even with violence and rebellion. No, we are the ones who love their enemies, pray for those who despitefully use us and hate our existence. We are not the loud voices protesting in the market places. No, because of the Spirit inside us, we mourn for the world; we are meek as Jesus was; we are merciful even to the wayward; we are pure in heart towards all people, not deceitful and full of anger; we bring peace to every environment, not disruption and conflict; we always seek righteousness in everything we do, for we are servants of the world, not controllers of the world. How do we do all of this successfully? We love people as God loves people; we seek good for all people, regardless of who they are and what they believe. The Pharisees disliked Jesus because He associated with sinners, the poor, the problems of society. But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, sought out these people. Are we full of the Holy Spirit or are we full of ourselves, our perspective of the world? No, we do not put on the beatitudes—we are the beatitudes, for we have been changed from the inside out. Our chamber of holiness bought by the blood of Jesus is within us. Abiding within that chamber is the Spirit of God. He leads us in a righteous life, for in Christ we are holy, pleasing, acceptable to God. Be strong in the Lord today!
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