The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5: 1-12

We may have our ideas on who may be the greatest preacher of all time.
The Apostle Paul, Peter, Martin Luther, John Wesley, George Whitfield, CH Spurgeon, Tozer, Calvin, and many more.
However in this passage of scripture, we have the one who had all knowledge and could deliver His message with love and power.
Of course it is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Jesus delivers a sermon known as the Beatitudes. In this sermon He sums up what pure religion really is.
The Beatitudes is not a list of things that one must do but a statement that shows the character of a true believer.
As someone once said, this is not about the “Do- Attitudes”  but the “Be – Attitudes”.
It is a description of someone who is “in” Christ Jesus.

Matthew 5:1-12
Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you").

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The first thing that we notice is the repetitive use of the word “Blessed”.
This word in the original Greek is Makarios, which means “Happy is he”. It gives the idea that the person who is blessed or well off.
However, this does not mean that that person is well off in the worldly sense.
Someone that has a lot of material possessions or has plenty of money, or has a wonderful family, which is the way the most people would use that term.

Jesus is looking on their spiritual state, someone who may be poor in a worldly sense but rich in the things of the kingdom.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This is not referring to those that are poor in material goods or wealth. What it is referring to is the man or woman who has come to the realisation that spiritually, they are destitute and without God in the world. That their poverty is in the fact, that in themselves they have nothing in reference to the kingdom of God.
They recognise that they have no spiritual worth or virtue in and of themselves. They are spiritually bankrupt before a holy God, and are sinners, worthy only of His condemnation and wrath.
This is how we come to God, with a realisation that we cannot save ourselves, that we are unworthy before a Holy God and without His grace and mercy we would be lost.
When one comes to this truth, they truly are blessed.

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Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

This is not referring to the fact that there are those who have lost loved ones and mourn that loss.
The mourning here is the fact, that having recognised our sin we mourn over our sinfulness and the fact that it was this that separated us from a holy God.
It is showing sorrow for our sin and that by that sorrow and repentance, we are accepted in the beloved.
We are comforted by the fact that now we are repentant sinners but that we are sinners saved by grace.

Romans 8:1 There therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

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Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.

The word here for meek, is Praus, it means humble.
This is what follows the previous verse. When we acknowledge our sin and we are truly sorry for our sin, we are humbled by it. We cannot approach God with pride or arrogance. We humbly bow before His throne of grace.
Because of this and the truth that God has forgiven us, we are promised that we shall reign with Him.

2Ti 2:11  It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 

12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

We have accepted the fact that we have no righteousness of our own, that in us dwells no good thing.
That our righteousness is in Christ alone.
The man who is empty is hungry and thirsty and is desperate for sustenance.

To whom can we turn? Christ is our righteousness and when we turn to Him, He will lead us in the circles, circuits of righteousness.
Just like the good shepherd He is, He goes before us leading us always back to the cross.

Psalm 23 He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake.

Paths: ma‛gâl    ma‛gâlâh

a track (literally or figuratively); also a rampart (as circular): - going, path, trench, way.

He will not leave us empty but we shall be filled.
 

Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.

We have prayed “God be merciful to me, a sinner” and God has heard our cry.
How can we not be the same.
The Lord taught us how we should pray. “Father forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”

Matthew 6:15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

God has been compassionate to us, how can we not be compassionate to others, who are trapped in sin just as we were. We are no better than they, only that God has shown us mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

The born again have received a new heart in Jesus Christ, they have been declared righteous and when the Father looks on them, He sees the righteousness of Christ. Even when they fall and sin, God remains ready to forgive and restore.

Seeing God is certain for a believer, not because it is deserved but because God has cleansed the soul and made them pure in heart.

Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.

This has nothing to do with pacifism but has everything to do with the fact that through Christ, men have been brought into a relationship with God and have peace with God.

As Paul wrote, Rom. 5:1 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" .

And now, on behalf of Christ and the Gospel have been made "peacemakers", who seek to show others who are separated from God because of sin, how that barrier of sin can removed through Christ. They work toward "peace" between God and other sinners! 

 

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 

When one is born again of the Spirit of God, he becomes a new creation and a citizen of heaven. He no longer is a child of the devil but a child of God.

Therefore the world hates him.

John 15:19" If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you".

When one is in Christ, he begins to swim in the opposite direction to those in the world, consequently, it is inevitable that you get bruised.
If we suffer for our wrong doings, it is what we deserve but if we suffer for Christ, for righteousness sake, ours is the kingdom of heaven.

The passage finishes with a fact that will certainly happen.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you"
 

Jesus said “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you”.

If we stand up for Christ in this present evil world, we can expect persecution.
However we are told to rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.

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