The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

Immanuel – 12/10/23

In Jesus of Nazareth the King has come, though He was the King that no one expected. So this unexpected King climbs up some unnamed Galilean mountain and from there launches a world conquering kingdom.

We’ve heard Him say that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, but how can this be? The kingdom of heaven on earth? It takes no genius to look around and see that this is no heaven: there’s poverty, sorrow, corruption, injustice, cruelty, godlessness, wars, persecutions. And if these things are obvious in our day, they were far worse in Jesus’. So how can Jesus possibly talk about the nearness of the kingdom of God.

Well, just as Jesus is the King no one was expecting, so also is His kingdom. The kingdom of heaven, which Christ claims has invaded the kingdoms of the earth, takes a special set of eyes to see. Today we begin reading the sermon where Jesus gives His disciples eyes that see heaven’s glories on earth. And when we have those eyes, we will realize just how close the kingdom of heaven really is.

Purpose

1. Introduce the Sermon on the Mount.

2. The blessings of the kingdom of heaven are present and future.

3. The beatitudes are for those who receive, not those who earn.

In week one of this gospel, I mentioned that there are five major discourses in Matthew. With the Sermon on the Mount we come to the first discourse, and it happens to be the longest of the five. In fact, the Sermon on the Mount is the lengthiest recording of a single teaching by our Lord. We would do well to open our hearts to His teaching.

The Sermon on the Mount

In Mattew 5-7, Jesus has delivered the greatest sermon ever heard by human ears. Not only is the content revolutionary and transformative, but Jesus also spoke with such power that the crowds were stunned, awestruck, in complete wonder. Listen to how Matthew puts it:

When Jesus had finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

-Matthew 7:28-29

Perhaps one or two of you have been moved by one of my sermons. Perhaps you have been wowed by another preacher you’ve heard somewhere. But no one compares to the magisterial potency of Christ’s preaching. Metaphorically speaking, the Sermon on the Mount altered the orbit of the world.

This is Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God, what it looks like, and how its citizens are to live out their lives. As one author put it, the Sermon on the Mount is the beginners guide to the kingdom of God. Certainly, it is the beginners guide, but there are endless depths here. Libraries of books that have been written attempting to unpack this sermon’s expanse, power, and beauty.

Perhaps the most famous and most beloved section of the Sermon on the Mount is the Beatitudes. Books have likewise been written on the Beatitudes. Books have been written on just single lines from the Beatitudes.

But today I am going to cram all 9 (or 8 depending on how you count) Beatitudes into a single message. This means this will be a very basic and rudimentary look at the Beatitudes. I hope this sermon will encourage you to dive deeper, both in terms of understanding and obedience, into the reality that Jesus unfolds through the Beatitudes.

Read vs 1-2

As the end of chapter 4 says, Jesus’ fame spread throughout the entire region. Crowds of people were coming to Him from Galilee, Judea, the Decapolis, Syria, and beyond. They were coming to see His miracles, perhaps receive a healing, and to hear His teaching.

Remember, Jesus is now in Capernaum of Galilee. The northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee is very hilly; the slopes rising abruptly from the lake. Very likely, the crowds have followed Jesus out of Capernaum and up some prominent hill overlooking the water.

Before we get to the Beatitudes, I want you to see what Jesus is doing that is more than a sermon. Matthew wants us to see it too. There is a profound historical echo and covenantal reshaping happening here.

When Jesus goes up the mountain and delivers something like the law of the kingdom of God, there is an unmistakable link to when Moses went up Mount Sinai and delivered the law of God to Israel. This comparison would have jumped off the page to every first century Jewish reader, and as we remember, Matthew wrote this gospel for Jewish Christians.

But as similar as this is, there are also some very significant differences. Moses received the law from God, Jesus is God out of which this new law emanated. When Moses went up the mountain, the people dared not go with Him, for God’s presence was too terrifying (Exodus (20:18-21). But the Son of God is supremely approachable, and the crowds go up the mountain with Him.

And surrounded by the crowds, Jesus delivers the law of the kingdom of God. But just as Jesus is a king of another sort, and His kingdom is a kingdom of another sort, so is His law a law of another. But more on that later.

Notice in verse 1 how Matthew writes: His disciples came to Him. The entire Sermon on the Mount is addressed to Jesus’ disciples. Yes, the crowds are there listening, but it is more like they are overhearing Jesus’ message, and perhaps being called into the kingdom. But do not miss it, Jesus is speaking to His disciples. That means that if you are a disciple of Jesus, then He speaks to you today.

And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

Read vs 3

Beatitude is derived from the Latin word for “blessed.” Blessed: you see it on wall décor and pillows, preceded by hashtags, printed on clothing, it’s everywhere. It’s become cliché, a Christian trope.

But far from overdone tropes, Jesus was speaking about something that is entirely countercultural, revolutionary, earthshattering. So, when Jesus says “blessed,” what exactly does He mean?

As the cliché indicates, blessed is indeed a state of happiness, but it is also so much more. Otherwise, Jesus would be to cruel to tell people who are in mourning that they are actually happy. Instead, Jesus is talking about a blessedness that transcends the woes of earth, of a joy that is indestructible. He speaks of the supreme satisfaction that comes within right relationship to God.

Perhaps there is no clearer expression of this blessedness than what David writes in Psalm 16.

My heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. -Psalm 16:10-11

What an expression of blessedness! Notice how the future flows into the present to create such blessedness. David is hoping in the resurrection, and entering into the presence of God, and his whole being is rejoicing. And yet he speaks of joy in God’s presence as if he is currently experiencing it. David is on earth, basking in the warmth of heaven’s rays, though it is only at the resurrection where he will be consumed in its light.

And here is a fundamental reality of the kingdom of heaven, one that Jesus wants every one of His disciples to understand: Future glories become today’s joys through faith. It’s why Jesus can declare that we can experience blessedness while also experiencing poverty, mourning, persecutions, and so on.

The Sermon on the Mount is indeed deep; all this time on only the first word, “blessed” – and we could go further. But let us now see who is blessed.

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

Who are the poor in spirit? These are the humble who have nothing to offer God, those desperate for God’s provision and salvation. As David wrote:

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles…The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

-Psalm 34:6,18

9 Attributes of the Blessed

David wrote this Psalm about himself, and when he did, he was not poor in terms of money. He was poor in his ability to help himself. He was desperate for the Lord’s salvation. He was poor in spirit.

The poor in spirit recognize their destitute condition. They recognize that God possesses every wealth. All is his and none is ours; and if it is ours, it is because He has given it. The poor in spirit have a deep understanding that there is nothing you could ever do that would earn them entry into the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit are the polar opposite of the self-righteous.

Remember, just last week we heard Jesus declare, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Are not the poor in spirit marked by a spirit of repentance? Repent, recognize your spiritual poverty, and yours is the kingdom of heaven.

When Jesus says, “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” it’s not so much a statement about timing – that it’s coming to you in the future – it’s a statement about certainty. If you are genuinely poor in spirit, then – truly, entirely, absolutely – yours is the kingdom of heaven. The riches of God’s kingdom belong to you! You can bet your life on it!

Every one of the promises in the Beatitudes function similarly.

Read vs 4

Those who mourn are not those who suffer bereavement. If you have suffered the loss of a loved one it would be strange, even cruel, to suggest that “It’s not really that bad because one day you will be comforted.” Certainly, there is an element of truth there, found in the hope of reunion, but that is not what Jesus is after.

You’ll soon see that each one of these beatitudes finds an echo in the Psalms, and Psalm 119 helps us to understand what kind of mourning Jesus refers to.

My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.

-Psalm 119:136

Blessed are those who mourn because injustice and lawlessness fills the land. Blessed are those who are grieved by godlessness. The world takes pleasure in evil and celebrates pride. It is a kingdom of darkness. But the repentant are grieved by evils – by their own evils and by the evils of the world.

Christ’s disciples are grieved by our own sins because we see on the cross the great cost of our sins. We are grieved by the sins of the world because it is not meant to be this way, and because countless souls are hurling themselves into the eternal fires. How grievous! The disciples of Jesus are not called to a lighthearted existence but are to be pierced by this two-fold grief. We weep over the sins within and the sins that surround.

Just as Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:5), so must His disciples be, for then we shall receive the comfort of God; and He shall wipe away every tear from our eye (Revelation 21:4).

Read vs 5

Meekness is not weakness. It is not being a doormat or a beta. Quite the opposite. Meekness is strength withheld; it is rights unclaimed. The meek withhold their strength and let go of their rights in order to serve and love others.

Think of Jesus. He could have called down legions of angels to fight for Him. Instead, in meekness He took the shame and agony of the cross. He could have taken up His rights as King and God, yet He did not consider it something to be grasped. In meekness He allowed sinners to crucify Him that these sinners could be forgiven and redeemed.

Jesus’ disciples are called to a similar meekness, a meekness that David writes about.

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends to only evil. For the evildoer shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land…the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. -Psalm 37:8-9,11

When we are wronged, we could try to strike back, to lash out, to demand our rights. Instead, the meek lay these things aside and wait upon the Lord. Vengeance is His and He will vindicate. Fret not yourself. Do not worry. Wait upon the Lord in all meekness, and you shall inherit the earth.

How wonderful that what is promised is not only spiritual in some faraway place called heaven. No! Christ promises the earth: this earth! And it’s more than this earth. It is this earth now and this earth when it is fully united to heaven.

Thus, if the meek are to inherit the earth, we must care for it as precious. As Amy-Jill Levine writes: “The point is not to strip [the earth] of its resources any more than we should strip gold from our great-grandmother’s wedding ring.”1

For those that have the ability to take or demand, the meek serve.

Read vs 6

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is, at its essence, hungering and thirsting for God.

As the deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for the living God. -Psalm 42:1-2

This is the kind of hungering and thirsting that Jesus is talking about: a desperation for righteousness, eagerly longing for the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven, yearning with all that you are to see the return of the King and the fulness of His kingdom.

And if your soul pants after such things, then you shall be satisfied. And this is not a self-satisfaction, this is satisfaction that God gives. If you hunger, He will feed you. He will give of His own righteousness!

There is no self-righteousness in the kingdom of God. There are only those who are filled by the goodness of God. There are only those who are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

Read vs 7

It would be so easy to see this as a quid pro quo kind of statement. This is not, give a little mercy, receive mercy in return. The blessed merciful are those whose entire disposition is given unto mercy. When they could take offense: mercy. When there is an annoyance: mercy. Where there is yet another error: mercy.

The merciful person is quick to see things from the other’s point of view. For if you offend or annoy or mess up again, do you not want to be shown mercy? And has not God shown you great mercy, incredible mercy, mercy that flows through the blood of Christ and forgives you for your very many offenses? As God has done for you, and as you would want others to do for you, so should you show mercy.

And then, it is as David writes in a song:

With the merciful you show yourself merciful. -Psalm 18:25

The kingdom of heaven is filled with the merciful rather than the judgmental. Disciples of Jesus offer no scorn or judgment for failure, but mercy.

Read vs 8

In our culture, the heart is mostly associated with emotions; but that is not what the heart is in the Bible. The heart includes your emotions; but it is also your psychology, your desires, your thought. In essence, your heart is your essence.

The pure in heart are those that are entirely uncorrupted, desiring truth and hating deceit of any kind. No lying to yourself and no lying to others. No false desires and no false behaviors. Since God is pure, only the pure can approach Him.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from His salvation. -Psalm 24:3-5

It’s as Jesus will say later in the Sermon on the Mount:

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

-Matthew 5:48

Even though Scripture tells us that the heart is desperately sick, deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), Christ tells us that only the pure in heart shall see God. No one with impurity of heart will ever see God.

Read vs 9

Being a peacemaker is not about being afraid of conflict or being a people pleaser. This is not blessed are the peace-keepers, but blessed are the peace-makers. A peacemaker brings together those who are estranged, actively seeking ways to end hostilities.

Peacemakers confront those who are difficult and are unafraid of hard conversations with the divisive, if only peace would be attained. And though peacemakers risk becoming collateral damage, they self-sacrificially push forward for the sake of reconciliation.

Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

-Psalm 34:14

There is something godlike about peacemakers. Thus, they shall be called sons of God. The sons of God, children of the kingdom, are serious about their ministry of reconciliation. And so, they will be given full kingdom benefits, as sons and daughters of God.

Read vs 10

Each one of these Beatitudes are for those who pursue righteousness. They are of the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of the world. The world will thus rage against such righteousness and will persecute those who love the righteousness of God. I think of those who I have met: the Iranian Christians facing prison, those in Iraq who have had to flee the country, or the Nigerian disciples who are actively being hunted.

How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me?…In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.

-Psalm 119:84,88

Those who are persecuted for righteousness sake are willing to count everything as loss, even their own lives, if it means that the righteousness of God will be received by more people and spread across the earth. Indeed, they are bringers of the kingdom. Blessed are they, for even if the kingdoms of earth reject them, theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

Read vs 11-12

Though the prophets were slandered and persecuted in their time, God has vindicated them. God has proven that they were on the right side of history. So shall it be for those who are persecuted today on account of Jesus. Let them slander you for being a Christian. If they take away your rights, or scoff, or worse, you share in the sufferings of Christ. It is a badge of honor. Rejoice! Great are your rewards, kept in heaven for you, imperishable, undefiled, unfading.

If you are like me, then you hear these nine attributes of the blessed, and see how far you fall short. Poor in spirit, and yet I am wracked by pride. Mouring over godlessness when I am so prone to forget God. Hungering for righteousness, but I give into my fleshly appetites all the time. Merciful, but I am spring loaded to be judgmental. Pure in heart, and I am gripped by filth. Peacemaker, but sometimes I’d rather throw gasoline on the fire. Persecuted, but comfort is so nice. Ready to be reviled when I so desperately cling to my reputation.

If Jesus is delivering the law of the kingdom of God, then I must admit that I am entirely unfit. Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips awash in the uncleanness of this world. What hope do I have? Where does my help come from?

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and the earth. -Psalm 121:1-2

There He sits, overlooking Galilee, seated on the hill. Immensely approachable, even though He is God, in lowliness of spirit He emptied Himself to become like us. He is the one who weeps over the perishing unrighteous. In breathtaking meekness, He took the cross. His only food was to do the will of His Father, even unto death. He is the spotless Lamb, perfectly pure in heart. The Prince of Peace, He forgives the wicked, redeems them, and reconciles us to God. He was slandered and persecuted to turn aside the punishment we deserve.

Jesus is the only Blessed, and in Him are all the blessings.

But this is wonderful news, because the law of the kingdom of heaven is that you must not try to earn your way in. You cannot be good enough; but Christ’s righteousness is enough. Trust in Him and He will cover you, clothe you, and wash you in His righteousness.

Be reconciled to God. For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. -2 Corinthians 5:20-21

By faith in Jesus, we sinners become the very righteousness of God. It is more stunning than a heart can understand! By faith all is yours! Yours is the kingdom, the comfort, the earth, the satisfaction, God’s mercy, God’s presence, God’s family, and unfading heavenly rewards. All the blessedness of the Kingdom of Heaven is yours in Christ!

Repent, let go of the old way of living, trust in Jesus, and all is yours. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And by faith in Jesus, because of Jesus, the certainty of your future glories become today’s unshakable joys! This is the law of the kingdom of heaven: Trust in His promises!

1Levine, A. J. (2020). The Sermon on the Mount. Pg 20. Nashville, TN: The United Methodist Publishing House.