NavNight Talk-- On the Beatitudes

Text: Matthew v.1-10

Define two phrases:

"Blessed"--In general, to be blessed is to be in a happy and good condition because of some circumstance over which one had no control. A man with a good job and a happy marriage is called blessed. When Jesus uses the word, the good condition he has in mind is deeper than a mere worldly happiness. To be blessed by God is to be blessed to the highest degree. We have eternal blessedness in mind here.

"kingdom of heaven"--A phrase used throughout Matthew to signify the church, or the people of God. It is an eschatalogical phrase which has the end in mind--the full flowering of the kingdom of heaven occurs only at the end of all things, but we possess it now by faith through Christ. It is to belong to him, to be a part of his body, to be a part of his people.

Finally, note that these describe correlation, not strict cause and effect. For example, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." To be shown mercy and to be merciful are correlated, but a strict cause and effect relationship is not implied; it is not because one is merciful that one is shown mercy.

1) Poor in Spirit

This is a poverty, or dangerous lack, with regard to spiritual things. A man poor in spirit has a deep spiritual need, as a man poor in money has a deep economic need. This spiritual poverty is the effect of sin. Sin deprives us of spiritual well-being and leaves us lacking.

Why is such a man blessed? Imagine two men with the identical deadly disease. Both men will shortly perish from this disease, unless it is identified and treated. In one man, there are no symptoms, but in the other, he suffers from constant aches, fevers, and terrible pains. This man, though he suffers and is poor in health, is blessed. The metaphor should be clear.

This is about self-assessment. To know your spiritual poverty is good.

2) Mourn

We mourn because of loss. Sin has brought into the world a three-part emnity (man vs creation, man vs man, man vs God) which has caused great devastation and loss. The present is filled with pain and the future is far worse. To see this truly is to mourn. One can be ignorant of these truths, and consider himself happy in this dying world.

Therefore, the man who sees his sin and its effects mourns. Because he mourns, he is blessed. His self-assessment continues in truth.

3) Meek

To be meek is to be modest, to submit to one's station in life, to not aspire beyond what is proper because of one's true condition. Meekness is illustrated in the story of the Pharisee and the taxpayer praying in the temple. The Pharisees proud prayer claims favor from God because of his holiness and exalted position in life. The taxpayer falls on his knees before God and begs for mercy. Which do you think receives favor from God?

Our meekness is where a true self-assessment brings us. We cannot ask anything of God.

4) Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Righteousness is the state and condition of being right or just before God. To have righteousness is to be restored to relationship with God, to be able to stand before him again as we once did in the garden. What makes him hungry for righteousness? His lack. We hunger for food because we lack food.

This touches on the desires caused by our self-assessment. Though meek, we eagerly hunger to be set right with God, to be restored to him.

Conclusion from 1-4:

Christ is describing the process by which we receive the Good News.

1-2 --Our condition through sin. We are poor in spirit and mourn at the things lost.
3-4 --Our posture before God. Our poverty of spirit makes us meek and our mourning causes us to hunger for restoration to him.

All this is summed up by the story in Mark 1 of the man with leprosy. It says that he comes to Jesus, kneels before him and says: "Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean." His leprosy reveals to him the terrible physical condition he is in, and he mourns at the wholeness and happiness in life that has been robbed of him by his disease. So he comes and kneels before Jesus, in meekness and humility. Yet he hungers to be restored; this is his hope and his request.

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5) the merciful

To be merciful is to overlook an offense. Mercy in men is always a result or an effect of ourselves having received mercy. Thus John, "we loved because he first loved us." Jesus emphasizes this in the story of the ungrateful servant.

A clear transition point comes once the man hungry and thirsty for righteousness is filled. Now we are dealing with effects of being filled. The first is a universal love for men expressed as mercy, overlooking all offenses and wrongs.

6) Pure in Heart

The heart in the Bible is the seat of the desires and emotions. It is stained and defiled by sin, setting its desires and emotions fatally awry. The reason a man can do no good thing is that the seat of all acting, the center of our desires, is unclean. Jesus says that a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Again, we have an effect of the gospel, the promised "new heart" which was promised to us in Ezekiel. The heart is pure, so the desires are purified. From this new heart flows the "good fruit" of righteous acting.

7) Peacemakers

To make peace is to remove the cause of emnity. It is to reconcile man with man or man with God. Christ has no temporary and worldly peace in mind here, but rather the true and lasting peace that comes when a man is reconciled to God through the gospel, and through that reconciliation, to all men. To participate in this reconciliation is to act as his hand, his feet in the world. It is to be a son of God.

8) Persecuted because of righteousness

The source of persecution is our righteousness; our claim of reconciliation with God and the righteous acts that flow from it. This the world hates and opposes.

Summary of the 5-8:

Christ is describing the effect of the Good News

5-6 --Our condition through the gospel
7-8 --Our posture to the world. Because we are merciful, we desire to make peace between God and man. Because we are pure in heart, we will be persecuted.

These four things (mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, persecution) have marked the church in every age.

Conclusions:

1. Christ is very concerned about the humility of his followers. There humble self-assessment alone can bring them to the gospel.

2. Christ is very concerned about the transformation caused by the gospel.

3. What is missing from his teaching here? The center of it, the transition from 4 to 5. In the middle comes the gospel, the death and resurrection of Christ. In his death our poverty of spirit is solved through the forgiveness of sin, and in his resurrection we have new life.