Introduction
We're
going to begin a series on one of Jesus' most famous teachings. It is found in
Matthew 5-7, and it begins in 5:1-2 (read). Traditionally, it has been known as
the "sermon on the mount" because he gave it from a hill overlooking
the Sea of Galilee in order to speak to a large group of people.
Most
people today connect Jesus with the sermon on the mount, but few are familiar
with its contents: "Isn’t that where he says 'Blessed are the cheese-makers?"
"That's where my favorite verse is--'Judge not, lest you be judged.'"
Matthew
tells us in 4:23 that Jesus spent the first part of his public ministry in Galilee
(northern Israel) doing two things: healing people of their diseases, and teaching
people about the "gospel (good news) of the kingdom." Chapters 5-7 is
a distilled example of what Jesus was teaching on this subject. Before we look
at the first section of this teaching, I want to make a couple of general observations.
Jesus
speaks with an authority that amazes his hearers (read 7:28-29). Jesus doesn't
speak as some wise wandering sage who passes on juicy tid-bits of wisdom that
he has picked up along the way. Neither does he speak as a prophet (like Isaiah)
who is relaying a message given to him by God. He speaks as God's unique King
(Messiah). He equates himself with God's righteousness (5:10-11). He claims the
authority to correct the religious leaders' interpretation of the Mosaic Law and
replace it with his own (5:21-48 - "I say to you" vs. "thus says
the Lord"). He claims to enjoy a uniquely personal relationship with God
the Father (6:9 - "Abba"). He claims to be the one who will judge all
humanity at the end of the age (7:21-23). He claims that people's eternal destiny
will be decided by how they respond to his words (7:26). It is very polarizing
in this sense.
He explains how to get into God's kingdom right now (not
in the next life), and he describes what life in God's kingdom looks like. On
both counts, he speaks as a kind of spiritual revolutionary because his message
runs directly contrary to the religious and ethical and philosophical teaching
of his day. In a sense, Jesus was forming a counter-culture that would challenge
the status quo, and this teaching was his manifesto. It doesn't take long to see
that is just as revolutionary today.
Jesus begins by making
a series of eight statements that have the same structure ("Blessed are the . . . for
theirs is/they shall . . ."). "Blessed" doesn't
refer to something you say when someone sneezes, or some memorized prayer you
rush through before Thanksgiving meal. Makarios means "happy"
or "fulfilled."
So Jesus begins by affirming humankind's age-old yearning for true happiness and
fulfillment, by announcing that the God of the Bible wants to give this to all
of us--and then revealing the attitudinal keys that unlock the door to it. They
surprised his audience, and they may surprise you . . .
Poor
in spirit
Read 5:3. If you want true happiness, according to Jesus, the
first step is getting into God's kingdom. And the key that unlocks the door to
God's kingdom (here's the first surprise) is being "poor in spirit."
Penes
described the working person who was self-subsisting, with no frills. But the
word here (ptochos) means absolute and abject poverty. It comes from the
root verb ptossein, which means to crouch or cower. To be ptochos
is to be so poor that you are beaten to your knees.
To be "poor in
spirit," then, is to know and acknowledge to God your abject spiritual need.
It is not to admit that you are ontologically insignificant or personally without
value. But it is to admit to him that because of your sins you owe a debt to
him you can never repay, that you have no moral claim on his acceptance, that
the only thing you deserve from God is his judgment. Conversely, to be "rich
in spirit" means to be self-righteous, to approach God relying on your own
spiritual accomplishments and goodness, to be confident that he owes you his acceptance.
Jesus
told a famous parable to illustrate this attitude and its opposite (read Lk. 18:9-13).
This blew everyone's doors off! The ones who think they're good enough get sent
away, while the ones who admit they're disqualified get justified. You can almost
hear the religious people gnashing their teeth, and the cheers of the riff-raff
who had given up hope.
How are you approaching God--like the Pharisee, or
like the tax gatherer? By relying on your own morality and good works, or by
relying on his mercy alone? If you come to him like the Pharisee (spiritually
rich), he will reject you. But if you come to him like the tax gatherer (spiritually
poor), he will accept you and exalt you.
This is first because it is foundational.
It is what gets you into God's kingdom, and it is what allows God's Spirit to
begin to form the following attitudes in you, which lead to greater true happiness.
Mourn
Read
5:4a: "Blessed are those who mourn"--happy are those who are sad? Is
this some sort of spiritual masochism (the thrill of agony, the victory of defeat)?
Is Jesus advocating some kind of morose spirituality where people walk around
with long faces and never laugh? No! He was full of humor.
I think what
Jesus is getting at is the opposite of a superficial ("Don't worry--be
happy") outlook that refuses to look reality in the face because it would
overwhelm you. It's also the opposite of a cynical attitude that escapes
by making a joke out of everything. It is also the opposite of a macho
attitude that just toughs everything out. To "mourn" is to allow yourself
to be emotionally affected by the brokenness of this world (your own sin; the
effects of sin all around you)--and then to go to God with that pain and sorrow
and let him comfort you with his grace and his hope. Which do you want more--the
absence of pain or the presence of God's comfort?
Gentle/meek
Read
5:5. "Gentle" is sometimes translated "meek." It dredges up
images of a wimpy Jesus with his lambies--"Jesus meek and mild." But
the word here (praotes) has nothing to do with weakness. In ancient Greek
literature, it was used to describe powerful war stallions that were responsive
and submissive to their masters so that their power was properly directed by him.
It is strength harnessed to serve your master and his interests. It is a "controlled
desire to see someone else's interests advanced over your own" (Phil. 2:3-4).
Even
after you realize that Jesus is not glorifying weakness, though, it still runs
totally counter to our culture's formula for happiness. Happiness, we are told,
comes from gaining and wielding power. And power comes to the self-assertive,
to those who live for #1, to those who know how to get what they want through
intimidation, manipulation, etc. Jesus agrees that happiness involves acquiring
power and authority ("inherit the earth")--but he says we acquire that
from God by submitting ourselves to him and by serving others for his sake (Mk. 10:42-45).
As you do this, he grants you more authority and power to advance his priorities . . .
Hunger
& thirst for righteousness
Read 5:6. I see this as very similar to
5:5. The more you hunger and thirst for what the world says will satisfy you (money;
things; sensual pleasure; power; etc.), the emptier and less satisfied you will
become.
The only hunger that will ever be satisfied is for "righteousness"--being
in right relationship with God and accomplishing his will (6:33). This is because
this is what we were created and designed for; all the other things are poor substitutes/counterfeits.
Merciful
Read 5:7. Our society glorifies vengeance, which is a
perversion of social justice. It is a major motif for movies. "I don't get
mad; I get even." There is an exquisite pleasure in paying someone back for
wronging you. But vengeance takes its toll on your life. I know people who are
emotional and relational and spiritual wrecks because they insist on the right
to pay others back. Maybe nothing is as toxic to the human spirit as bitterness.
But
Jesus says that the way to true happiness is in laying down the right to pay them
back and instead seek their healing (Rom. 12:17-21). This doesn't mean that there
is no place for responsibly protecting yourself and/or others through legal means;
it refers to your heart attitude toward the offender.
NOTE: Jesus is not
saying that we merit God's mercy by being merciful toward others. It is only when
we first know how merciful God has been with us that we can do this (Eph. 4:32;
Matt. 18:32-33). Rather, he is saying that if we want to keep experiencing God's
mercy as a part of our walks, we must extend mercy to others.
Pure
in heart
Read 5:8. This does not mean that only the sinless get to go to
heaven. If that were the case, no one would go. It means to have "unmixed"
intentions, to deal with God and others with transparent, unhypocritical openness
about your own sins and problems.
The world says to keep your agenda hidden,
put on a front, don't let people know who you really are and what you really struggle
with. That's how you stay in control. Unfortunately, many Christians relate this
way with others and with God. But people who live this way wind up self-deceived
and unable to relate to anyone with genuine openness. When you relate openly with
God and others, he gives you more intimacy with him and more insight into his
ways (Ps. 51:6).
Peacemakers
Read 5:9. This has nothing to do with
passive appeasement ("peace-lovers"): avoiding conflict through compromise.
Biblical peacemaking is helping to restore genuine unity between two alienated
parties by addressing the root issues which separated them.
To be a peacemaker
means that I am willing to get involved with others in difficult ways to help
bring about true relational harmony: to bring up another person's alienation from
God; to apologize or confront when I am alienated from another person; to get
involved and clarify the issues that separate two people.
This is right
at the heart of what God does. He loves relational harmony, and he penetrates
to the root issues of alienation so that it can be resolved. When you do this
with him, you experience the satisfaction of changing people's views of God.
Persecuted
for righteousness/Jesus' sake
Read 5:10-12. This is sometimes the result
of being a peacemaker, because people don't always want peace. Sometimes the very
people that you try to help in this way lash out the most because it exposes sin
and pride that they don't want to deal with.
This means that you are unwilling
to compromise truth or loyalty to Jesus for the sake of people's approval.
When
this happens, it is actually possible for the Christian to experience God's peace
and encouragement which rises above anything that man can say or do to you. This
is what the prophets experienced when the nation rejected them for speaking the
truth.
Conclusion
What is the Holy Spirit putting his finger on
through this teaching? Ask him to show you a step of faith that will cooperate
with the formation of this . . .
Footnote
" Makarios . . . describes that joy which has its secret within itself,
that joy which is serene and untouchable, and self-contained, that joy which is
completely independent of all the chances and changes of life." William
Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press,
1958), p.84.