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Matthew 5:1-12

22 Jul

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:1-12

Dear God, who is “them”? “He began to teach them.” Was he teaching the crowd or his disciples? Or both? It’s interesting that he sat down. That’s one of the things that makes me wonder who he was addressing. If it was a crowd I would think that he was standing up. I would also think he would have taken a lower spot elevation wise so his voice would project into them and not over them.

For just a moment, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before and think of this as just being for a group of 75 or less. Maybe more than the 12, but less than the crowds.

With that said, these Beatitudes are interesting because he might be teaching the disciples that they should appreciate these people. “If you see someone who is poor or even poor in spirit then you better love and respect them because your father loves and cares for them.”

The first two, poor in spirit and those who mourn, are changeable conditions. Love on those people. But the rest are attitudes of the heart. Meek, hunger for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers. And then we double around and come back to a possible temporary condition of life, persecuted. “If you’re doing these things and persecuted for it then you’re doing the right thing.”

Father, give me a heart to spend time with and live on those who are poor in spirit and mourn. Give me a heart that pursues you in mercy, hungering for righteousness, meek, and striving to make peace. Glorify your name through me. And if I am really living into this well and someone persecutes me for it, may my persecution be a pathway for them or someone else to follow you.

I offer this prayer to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit.

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 22, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

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The Beatitudes – Jesus

25 Jun

3 “God blesses those who are poor in spirit and realize their need for him,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 God blesses those who are humble,
    for they will inherit the whole earth.
6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be satisfied.
7 God blesses those who are merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
    for they will see God.
9 God blesses those who work for peace,
    for they will be called the children of God.
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

Matthew 5:3-12

Dear God, I was listening to this week’s Voxology podcast this morning and they were talking about the new Louisiana law that will put the 10 Commandments into every classroom in Louisiana. While not advocating that any Christian religious symbol or language be mandated in a classroom, they suggested that maybe a better alternative would be the Beatitudes as taught by Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. That sounded like an intriguing idea, so I thought I would take a look at those verses from Matthew 5 this morning and think about what it might be like for children to at least passively see them regularly.

Honestly, God, it’s pretty amazing and powerful stuff! For children to see that it’s okay to be poor in spirit. To mourn. to be meek. to hunger and thirst for righteousness. To be merciful. To be pure in heart. To be a peacemaker. To even be persecuted (bullied) because of righteousness. What great character traits for everyone to have and to be reinforced.

There is a room in one of our local schools that casually puts the words love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control in big letters on the walls (note, they don’t have peace for some reason). I recognized them as the fruits of the Spirit as described by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23. I’m sure the children don’t. And there is nothing offensive about them so the words are allowed to stay. I am much more interested in this sort of affirmation of your character and what it means to follow you as opposed to listing 10 Commandments from Exodus that, according the Jesus, all of us have broken each one–even if we only hated and didn’t actually kill.

I read an article the other day that talked about how abortions are actually up overall in the U.S. since the Dobbs ruling the overturned Roe v Wade. I think one of our problems is that when we (the moral majority?) feel like we are losing the influence and persuasion battle, we reach for power to enforce our will. What a foolish thing!

Father, help me to lead today with love and patience. Help me to not be afraid to encourage and persuade. Help me to remember to pray for others about whom I care. Help me to willingly take a back seat and even suffer for them. Help me to dive into service of others. That is how you would have me impact the world. Not through power, but through love. I love you, Lord. Help me pass that love of you to others.

I offer this prayer to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2024 in Matthew

 

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The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12)

17 Sep

3 “God blesses those who are poor [in spirit] and realize their need for him,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 God blesses those who are humble,
    for they will inherit the whole earth.
6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice [righteousness],
    for they will be satisfied.
7 God blesses those who are merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
    for they will see God.
9 God blesses those who work for peace,
    for they will be called the children of God.
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

Matthew 5:3-12

Dear God, I’ve been doing this series on the parables Jesus told because a lot of them describe you and your character. They are your autobiography. But I was just at a meeting with other couples from our church group, and one of the women made this beautiful description of how the beatitudes from the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5 take everything we would strive for and turns them on their head. For example, she talked about someone she loves who is mourning the loss of her mother. My friend was thinking that she really should be over this by now. But then she said someone mentioned this concept of the beatitudes to her and she thought, “Yeah. It doesn’t say, ‘Blessed are those who grieve quickly and efficiently.'” She went on to describe other things and I was completely taken aback by it. So I decided to spend a little time with these things this afternoon and see if you have anything for me.

Here is the list of the things Jesus said you are wanting to help me with:

  • Being poor in spirit
  • Mourning
  • Hungering for justice/righteousness
  • Mercy
  • Pure heart
  • Working for peace
  • Experiencing persecution for doing what is right
  • Suffering for your sake

So what is the opposite of these things? If I am the opposite of these things, does it bring out your indifference towards me? If I am the opposite, can you not help me because I don’t have an opening in my heart for you? Here is a list of things that I think will put a barrier between you and me.

  • Having a spirit of completion in myself. I have it all together. I’ve got this.
  • Making myself numb to mourning because I don’t have time for something that will bring me down, and I don’t want to expose myself to pain.
  • Being arrogant about who I am and what the world and those around me owe me. I am never wrong. I’ve never found a need to ask you or anyone else for forgiveness.
  • Hiding injustice and unrighteousness for the times when it suits my agenda. If there is an injustice that will benefit me, then I will look the other way.
  • Withholding mercy because I have been wronged and that wrong must be punished.
  • Keeping parts of my heart away from you and just for me. Just to satisfy my selfishness.
  • Working to create disturbance between people so that I can have power in those relationships and manipulate them for my purposes.
  • Bowing to the path of least resistance, even if it compromises your values living through me in order to avoid persecution.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I do NOT want to be that second person. I don’t want to be any of those things, but I know my heart will sink into that very quickly if I allow it. I’ve done it before. I’ve done it today. But now, as I sit here, there is a song in my heart from Psalm 103: “Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Bless His holy name, all the earth. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. You are worthy, you are worthy.” So bless my heart, soul, mind, and body. Help me to be the type of person you are anxious to bless, comfort, strengthen, and hold close. Help me to absorb you so that the fruits of your Spirit might grow in my heart.

I pray all of this through the amazing mercy given to me through your son, my God, Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 17, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 

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