Today we are in the first half of the fifth chapter of Matthew. It's the chapter that is commonly referred to as "The Sermon on the Mount" and which begins with the Beatitudes...or as many have come to refer to them as the BE-attitudes, for Jesus sits down on the top of the mountain, and begins to teach His disciples what they are to BE like to receive the blessings of God.If there had been any doubt in anyone's mind up to this point that Jesus was a different kind of teacher, a different kind of leader, a different kind of man, than all those doubts should have been dispelled with this lecture series that we call the Sermon on the Mount. For everything that Jesus describes as "blessed" are things that the world does not hold up in value. Let's see...
- Poor in spirit
- Those who mourn
- Gentleness
- Those who hunger and thirst after what is right in God's sight
- Merciful
- Pure in heart
- Peacemakers
- Persecuted for righteousness
- Those who receive insults, persecution, and false accusations because of Jesus
Do these things sound like attributes of people that the world admires? Let's look at these attributes individually:
Poor in spirit - who do you think Jesus is referring to as those that are "poor in spirit"? We need to know for they will partake in the kingdom of heaven. If I haven't wanted to be poor in spirit before, I should want to when I read that reward. The word Jesus uses for "poor" is not just poor, it is "destitute, reduced to beggary, helpless, powerless to accomplish an end"...do you get the picture? Totally void of anything...and these people, who are "poor in spirit" are the first group that Jesus says are blessed! WHY? I believe that that is the spot we have to recognize ourselves in so that when Jesus reaches out to us we will take His hand and we are open to His further teaching. We have to be humbled to the position of realizing that we have NOTHING within us to help ourselves, that we are absolutely destitute of personal ability and power to bring about our salvation. That without HIM, we are hopeless. Until we are broken, until we come to an understanding of how absolutely poor we are, we will not allow Jesus to rule in our lives...and THAT is the Kingdom of Heaven: Jesus as our Supreme King and eternal Authority.
Those who mourn - oh we all want to join that group, don't we? Jesus is not using worldly marketing skills in this presentation! For anyone who has gone through a season of intense mourning, you know that it is not a place that you would choose or want to revisit. But in reality, we will all mourn on this earth. We will all mourn the loss of something, of someone. What is Jesus' promise to this group? They will be comforted. But the word Jesus uses for comfort isn't exactly what we would think of. When I think of comfort, I think of someone "making it better" by telling me nice things, holding my hand, and letting me know I am loved. The word Jesus uses here, parakaleo, includes that thought, but more. It is a calling to, a beseeching, of someone. That in the midst of mourning, Jesus is telling them that He will be calling us to come to Him. Isn't that a beautiful thought? I have often felt that God uses our saddest times to speak the loudest to us...this seems to be what Jesus is saying. So even though Jesus is turning eyes toward eternity, where we will never mourn, I believe He is also saying that He is our comfort right now, if we will hear and respond to His voice as He summons us out of our dark nights.
The gentle - we might as well look right now at the meaning of the word, praus, before going any further, because we probably all have different ideas in our minds as to the attribute of gentleness. Praus (the Greek word used here that is translated as gentle, or meek in some translations) is defined as "mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness." But in Strong's Bible Dictionary, it amplifies that definition by adding, "Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice." If we are to blessed for being gentle, then we are to be people who rely on God to defend us. We will not be rabble-rousers (I love that descriptive name!) or people looking for a fight. We will allow God to use what we sometimes do not understand in this world to accomplish His good and eternal plan. And what is the reward? These people will "inherit the earth" ---- do you think this means that those who do not fight for the right to rule will eventually be given that very responsibility?
I do believe that when God tells us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, that He will return the earth to it's perfect state and there will be things to be done on this new earth. Could it be that the gentle, the meek, they will be the kind of people who will be leaders in this new earth...doesn't that make sense? When everything is perfect, isn't that really the kind of leader you would want? Or could it be that all who are given new, eternal life, have learned, in this life, to accept God as supreme, without any dispute or resistance in our hearts? To have become truly "gentle" in our disposition of spirit?
What are your thoughts? One thing I know, everything that Jesus describes in these verses that we are studying, He is asking us to look at with totally different eyes than we were given at birth...He asks us to look through reborn eyes...eyes that see His Kingdom!
I'm stopping for now....this is a lot to review in one sitting! I would love to hear your comments, your thoughts! For these are just my contemplations on God's Holy Word. Let His Spirit dwell in your hearts as you read His Word, and then talk about it with someone!
The gentle - we might as well look right now at the meaning of the word, praus, before going any further, because we probably all have different ideas in our minds as to the attribute of gentleness. Praus (the Greek word used here that is translated as gentle, or meek in some translations) is defined as "mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness." But in Strong's Bible Dictionary, it amplifies that definition by adding, "Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice." If we are to blessed for being gentle, then we are to be people who rely on God to defend us. We will not be rabble-rousers (I love that descriptive name!) or people looking for a fight. We will allow God to use what we sometimes do not understand in this world to accomplish His good and eternal plan. And what is the reward? These people will "inherit the earth" ---- do you think this means that those who do not fight for the right to rule will eventually be given that very responsibility?
I do believe that when God tells us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, that He will return the earth to it's perfect state and there will be things to be done on this new earth. Could it be that the gentle, the meek, they will be the kind of people who will be leaders in this new earth...doesn't that make sense? When everything is perfect, isn't that really the kind of leader you would want? Or could it be that all who are given new, eternal life, have learned, in this life, to accept God as supreme, without any dispute or resistance in our hearts? To have become truly "gentle" in our disposition of spirit?
What are your thoughts? One thing I know, everything that Jesus describes in these verses that we are studying, He is asking us to look at with totally different eyes than we were given at birth...He asks us to look through reborn eyes...eyes that see His Kingdom!
I'm stopping for now....this is a lot to review in one sitting! I would love to hear your comments, your thoughts! For these are just my contemplations on God's Holy Word. Let His Spirit dwell in your hearts as you read His Word, and then talk about it with someone!
