The Sermon on The Mount - The Beatitudes

The Sermon on the Mount is essentially King Jesus’s inaugural address, explaining what he expects of members of his kingdom. It is the first of five great discourses in Matthew (chapters 5-7; 10; 13; 18; 24-25) and contains three types of material: (1) beatitudes, i.e. declarations of blessedness (5: 1-12), (2) ethical admonitions (5: 13-20; 6:1 - 7:23) and (3) contrasts between Jesus’s ethical teaching and Jewish legalistic traditions (5: 21-48).

Matthew 5: 1-2 is the reason it is known as the Sermon on the Mount: "Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them..." The Sermon on the Mount is the most famous sermon Jesus ever gave, perhaps the most famous sermon ever given by anyone.

The Beatitudes are the eight declarations of blessedness spoken by Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 3-12), each beginning with "Blessed are...". They are compiled into two groups of four. The first four leading a person from an acknowledgement of their brokenness and a hunger to be filled with righteousness, to a fulfillment of that hunger. The second four describe the character of someone filled with the righteousness of Jesus and surrendered to his Lordship in their life.

The first part begins by anyone understanding their sinful nature and need for forgiveness. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The call to be poor in spirit is placed first for a reason, because it puts the following commands into perspective. They cannot be fulfilled by one’s own strength, but only by a beggar’s reliance on God’s power. No one mourns righteously until they are poor in spirit; no one is meek towards others until he has a humble view of himself. If you don’t sense your own need and poverty, you will never hunger and thirst after righteousness; and if you have too high a view of yourself, you will find it difficult to be merciful to others. Everyone can start here, everyone can be poor in spirit. “Not what I have, but what I have not, is the first point of contact, between my soul and God.” (Spurgeon)

Those who mourn will be comforted. There are three interpretations for mourning:

- (1) A very bitter, deep sorrow for the loss of a loved one or a deep abiding sorrow from an impairing affliction, resulting in a quality of character that can only be developed by suffering.

- (2) Mourning over the conditions of the world and having a feeling of helplessness to do anything about it. When Jesus mourned over Jerusalem, He was grieving over the sin of the world (Matthew 23:37-39).

- (3) Mourning over our own sinful state. Being poor in spirit creates a mourning over our own shortcomings and sins.

This mourning is the godly sorrow that produces repentance to salvation that Paul described in 2 Corinthians 7:10 - For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

We're comforted knowing that God will cleanse us of our unrighteousness and sins. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. It produces in us an earnestness and eagerness for God’s forgiveness. Repentance is the first step of forgiveness.

The meek will inherit the earth. It is impossible to translate this ancient Greek word praus (meek) with just one English word. It has the idea of the proper balance between anger and indifference, of a powerful personality properly controlled, and of humility. The main idea behind the word “meek” was strength under control, like a strong stallion that was trained to do the job instead of running wild. To be meek means to show willingness to submit and work under proper authority. This blessed one is meek:

They are meek before God, in that they submit to His will and conform to His Word.

They are meek before men, in that they are strong – yet also humble, gentle, patient, and longsuffering.

We can only be meek, willing to control our desire for our rights and privileges because we are confident God watches out for us, that He will protect our cause. The promise “they shall inherit the earth” proves that God will not allow His meek ones to end up on the short end of the deal.

The Beatitudes so far are building one upon the other - the desire of the one who has poverty of spirit (poor in spirit), mourning for sin (those who mourn), and a willingness to surrender to the mercy of God (meekness). The first three Beatitudes were the emptying process.

Now we come to seek for an answer to our helplessness - Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. There are two types of righteousness:

(1) Righteousness of the law, which at its best leads to self-righteousness, which results in judging others.

(2) Righteousness given by God through believing in Jesus Christ. This is the righteousness of Christ.

We're not to hunger and thirst after happiness, but after righteousness. Blessed is the man, not who is righteous, but who hungers and thirsts after righteousness. So, again, we see meekness and humility.

So, part one, the first four Beatitudes, start with a call to be poor in spirit, because it puts the following commands into perspective. They cannot be fulfilled by one’s own strength, but only by a beggar’s reliance on God’s power.

Part two of the Beatitudes, the second set of four, Jesus describes the character of us when we first understand our need for him and our thirst for righteousness is satisfied, starting with mercy - Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.

There is a certain reciprocal aspect at work here. Because we have received the mercy of God through repentance, we can be merciful. Those who have received forgiveness show forgiveness. Jesus supports this idea many other times. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15). And, in the Lord’s Prayer, …forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matthew 6: 9-13). So, as surrendered Christians, we pursue an attitude of mercy toward others because we have been shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The word "pure" here refers to a purity that is the result of a washing. There are other definitions that are more simply 'clean', 'undefiled', but the 'washing' suggests we become pure through the washing of Jesus. Christ was dealing with men’s spirits, with their inner and spiritual nature. He did this more or less in all the Beatitudes, and this one strikes the very center of the target as he says, not ‘Blessed are the pure in language, or the pure in action,’ much less ‘Blessed are the pure in ceremonies, or in raiment, or in food;’ but ‘Blessed are the pure in heart.'(Spurgeon) About seeing God, it is clear from other places in the Bible that it does not mean we will physically see God face to face. The Lord told Moses, "man shall not see me and live" (Exodus 33:20). John 1:18 adds, "No one has ever seen God." Instead, we will be able to "see" in the sense of understanding God better. Seeing God means being awestruck by his glory — by a direct experience of his holiness. After God confronted Job in the whirlwind, Job said, “I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 'saw' God with the eyes of faith and spiritual understanding. We “see” images and reflections of his glory. We hear echoes and reverberations of his voice.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. This does not describe those who live in peace, but those who actually bring about peace, overcoming evil with good. The first idea of making peace or keeping peace that comes to my mind is ‘between people’. In other words, if there are two or more people having a conflict, helping them come to terms and make peace. It can also mean helping an individual make peace within their self. Maybe they’re struggling with guilt or shame, or loneliness or fear, and helping them come to know the joy and peace through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). So, as ministers with Jesus, we can minister to them his peace and comfort.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So, if we’ve come to this point, having started with an acknowledgement of our spiritual poorness, hungered for righteousness and been satisfied, allowed the Holy Spirit to work in us to change our character to reflect mercy, a pure heart and peacemaking, then Jesus cautions us that we will be persecuted for it. The world hates it. Why is righteous living often offensive to unbelievers? Because it exposes their sinfulness. It’s like trying to bring someone else down to make yourself look better. Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God (John 3:19-21).

This concludes the Beatitudes. From here, for the next two chapters, Jesus goes on with the sermon. If we were to summarize the Sermon on the Mount in a single sentence, it would be something like this: How to live a life that is dedicated to and pleasing to God, free from hypocrisy, full of love and grace, full of wisdom and discernment. Matthew 7:28-29 concludes the Sermon on the Mount with the following statement: "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law." May we all continue to be amazed at His teaching and follow the principles that He taught in the Sermon on the Mount!