Lesson 5 - Matt. 5:1-12 - SERMON ON THE MOUNT; THE BEATITUDES
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Matt. 4:1-11, we covered the three temptations of Jesus by Satan in the 'wilderness' after Jesus had fasted for 40 days and nights and was very hungry. In the first temptation, Satan asked Jesus to turn stones into bread to satisfy His urgent need for food. Jesus resisted the temptation by saying that "Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Deut. 8:3). This demonstrated that Jesus was fully human and subject to every human desire. In the second temptation, Satan asked Jesus to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the Temple and allow God's angel to rescue Him. Jesus resisted this temptation by saying that you should never "put the Lord your God to the test" (Deut. 6:16), showing that no one, not even Christ has the right to put God to the test. In the final temptation, Satan promised to give Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world" if He would "fall down and worship" him, to which Jesus replied, Go, Satan! For it is written "You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only" (Deut. 6:13), demonstrating that only the one true God is the correct object of any person's worship. In all three instances, Jesus used Scripture to defeat Satan's power. The lesson we learned was that to defeat Satan, we must arm ourselves with God strategies for believers, the most important of which is spending time alone with God in purposeful prayer and the consistent study of His Word.
This week, in Matt. 5:1-12, we will study the portion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount known as the Beatitudes. In Matthew, Jesus begins His earthly ministry with the Sermon on the Mount (Chs. 5-7) and closes it with the Great Commission (Ch. 28). The chief emphasis of Matthew's entire Gospel is on Jesus' teachings. In this sermon, Jesus outlines the principles by which the 'kingdom of God' is ruled, starting with the Beatitudes. Bible scholars generally define the term 'Beatitude' as a condition of blessedness. With the Beatitudes, Jesus essentially stands our world on its head: The world seeks personal pride, but Jesus blesses poverty of spirit; the world seeks pleasure, but Jesus blesses those who mourn; the world seeks prosperity and material gain, but Jesus blesses those who are gentle; and the world seeks good food and drink, but Jesus blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And in his earthly life, Jesus will model what He calls for in the Beatitudes: He is a servant (Mark 10:45), He is gentle (Matt. 11:29), He is mournful (Matt. 11:20-24), and He is merciful (Mark 10:46-52).
Read Matt. 5:1-2 - HE SAT DOWN, OPENED HIS MOUTH AND BEGAN TO TEACH
1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,
v. 1a: "When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain;" - By this time many people had heard Jesus preach and large crowds were beginning to follow Him everywhere He went. He went "up on the mountain" to seek peace and quiet (see Matt. 4:12-18).
v. 1b: "and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him." - Rabbis customarily sat down to teach, gathering their students around them. The "disciples" actually comprised a much larger group than just the twelve whom Jesus called. In this sense, a disciple could be any follower of Jesus who sought to learn from Him. Some would stop following Him and some were not even genuine believers.
v. 2: "He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying," - The expression "opened His mouth," is a NT idiom that indicates that a very important message is about to be spoken.
Read Matt. 5:3 - BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - The "poor in spirit" (note small 's') are those who admit their natural unworthiness to stand in God's presence and depend completely upon Him for His mercy and grace. They don't trust in their own goodness or material prosperity for God's acceptance (Ps. 37:14; Prov. 16:19). Many Jews regarded material wealth as a sign of God's approval; however, those who are truly poor in spirit don't see these things as a sign of righteousness and are willing to confess their total unworthiness.
Read 5:4 - BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN
4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. - "those who mourn" do so because they realize their spiritual poverty. The OT clearly reveals that the cause of spiritual poverty is sin (Ezra 10:6; Ps. 51:4; Ps. 119:136; and Ezek 9:4). Furthermore, because the "kingdom of heaven is at hand," true repentance causes tears of sorrow rather than triumphant (proud) rejoicing. The godly Jewish remnant who responded to John's call wept because of Israel's national humiliation as well as their personal sin. But this will end when Jesus-the king-establishes His kingdom (Matt. 3:1-3).
Read Matt. 5:5 - BLESSED ARE THE GENTLE
5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth." - In the context of this verse, a "gentle" person is not only kindly in his or her dealings with other people, but is also very down-to-earth person who is self-controlled, free of arrogance, and any hatred of others. As a personal character trait, gentleness is the natural and proper expression of humility towards others. You might think of it as the opposite of a superiority complex.
Read Matt. 5:6 - BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST
6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." - Matthew always applies the term "righteousness" in the sense of having personal devotion towards God and His will. He never used it to credit/impute personal righteousness or justification. So, the righteousness that the blessed "hunger and thirst for" is not salvation but a sincere desire for personal holiness and godly devotion. When Christian believers honestly grieve over the spiritual condition of our nation and people, they demonstrate this hunger and thirst. At the same time, we can be confident that Christ will bring about righteousness when He establishes His kingdom.
Read Matt. 5:7 - BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL
7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." - A genuinely "merciful" person forgives the guilty and has compassion for those in need and those who suffer. A merciful person not only admits to others that he or she is a sinner, but feels compassion for others because they are sinful, as opposed to being judgmental. While this doesn't mean you can earn salvation by being merciful, the blessing received by the merciful means that they will receive mercy from God, and God will deal mercifully with others who have shown mercy towards their fellow human beings.
Read Matt. 5:8 - BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART
8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. - The "pure in heart" are people who are single-minded in their devotion (dedication) to God and are morally pure inwardly-people who are as godly on the inside as they are on outside. We need to remember that inner moral purity is a very important subject in both Matthew's gospel and throughout the OT (Deut. 10:15; 1 Sam. 15:22, Ps. 51:6; and Jer. 4:4). In the same way, freedom from any kind of personal hypocrisy (i.e., double-mindedness, James 1:8) is an important idea here, so Jesus is implying both.
Read Matt. 5:9 - BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. - The "peacemakers" are those who duplicate the work of Christ. Jesus, as Messiah, through His life and His ministry made peace between God and man and between man and man (Isa. 52:7). Jesus promises a blessing, not on those who simply avoid confrontations, but to those who actively work at making peace. True disciples of Jesus make peace as we proclaim the gospel that brings people into a peaceful relationship with God and with one another. Therefore, people who selflessly seek to make peace in this way are conducting themselves as true "sons of God."
Read Matt. 5:10 - BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN PERSECUTED
10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." - Persecution is as much a mark of true discipleship as peacemaking. Since the world will not give up its prejudices and self-centered living easily, it naturally brings opposition to the disciples of Jesus Christ. Righteous people, those whose conduct is right in God's eyes, become targets of the unrighteous (Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. 3:12; and 1 Peter 4:13-14). Jesus, the perfectly righteous One, suffered more than any other righteous person has suffered in history, and the OT predicted this would happen (Isa 52:13-53:12).
Read Matt. 5:11 - BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN PEOPLE INSULT YOU BECAUSE OF ME
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. - this verse broadens persecution to include insults and slander (spoken falsehoods with intent t harm). Also, notice that Jesus identifies Himself as righteous with the phrase, "because of Me." The OT prophets experienced persecution because they followed God faithfully, and now, Jesus tells His disciples that they will endure similar persecution because they follow Him. We should notice that those hearing Jesus could not help but conclude that by saying these things, Jesus was putting Himself on par with God. It would likewise tell them that they themselves could expect to become objects of persecution. We, the church, faces growing opposition today, and it could very well turn into genuine persecution. The bottom line is that as long as the church continues to oppose evil, it cannot expect to remain immune from persecution. Jesus promises we will be blessed for it. Significantly, this is Jesus' first claim to be Messiah in Matthew's gospel.
Read Matt. 5:12 - REJOICE AND BE GLAD
12 "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - This persecution should cause the disciples to rejoice rather than despair. James later clarified it this way: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).
APPLICATION-Are You Spiritually Impoverished (Matt. 5:3)?
1. Spiritual poverty is necessary for spiritual growth and being used by God. It is the spiritually poor whom God uses the most; those who experience this are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The Christian life in many ways is the opposite of the natural life. When a child is born, he is totally dependent upon the parents; however, he quickly begins the process of becoming independent. Where before parents brushed the child's teeth and hair, the child eventually learns how to do this on his own. Progressively, the child grows up and becomes totally independent from his parents. The Christian life is the opposite: When people are born again, they leave their life of independence for a life of spiritual poverty-recognizing their desperate state and need for God's salvation-and crying out for God. But as we mature in Christ, we begin to recognize our spiritual poverty on a deeper level. We start to see how much we need Him for every aspect of life. We need Him to make it through another day at work. We need His grace for our relationship issues. We need His grace to discern our future. Believers who repeatedly push themselves to mature in Christ will continually learn their dependence upon Him.
3. If we are poor in spirit, we will be grateful and less likely to complain. Complainers believe they deserve better-they deserve better food, better housing, better resources, better church services. Their complaints are rooted in pride and an incorrect view of what they truly deserve. However, those who truly recognize their grave condition before the Lord, are thankful even for little things. They thank God for the continual grace and mercy they receive, as they understand that they deserve nothing more than God's wrath. Those who truly know their spiritual poverty are grateful people. They start to learn how to give thanks in all situations for this is God's will for their lives (1 Thess. 5:18).
3. If we are poor in spirit, we will pray more often. Just as physical beggars continually beg for money and food, spiritual beggars continually plead with the Lord for spiritual resources such as grace, strength, peace, and opportunities to serve and bless others. As Paul remarked in 1 Thess. 5:17, they begin to learn something about praying without ceasing.
4. We grow in spiritual poverty by knowing God more. When we focus on ourselves or others, it creates pride, even if it manifests itself in insecurity. However, when we focus on God through his Word, prayer, fellowship, and serving, we see our own sin. When Isaiah had a vision of God in His temple, it led to confessing his sin and that of his people (Isa. 6:5). When Peter recognized Christ, he said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man" (Luke 5:8). The more we know God, the more we will see our spiritual poverty and therefore our need for God's mercy and grace. Are you pursuing a deeper knowledge of God?
