The beatitude describe people who have saving faith and will inherit a place in the kingdom of God. Upon conversion, we don’t start perfectly, courageously and consistently displaying all these qualities of poor in spirit, meek, mourning and so forth. Rather as we grow in faith, we grow in these qualities.
23 Matthew 5:10-16 The Persecuted
People marked by the being poor in spirit, mourning over sin, hungering for righteousness, pursuing peace and mercy, etc. will draw the hostility of the world, but they will be rewarded with eternal life in the kingdom of God. We, his disciples, are not to shrink from following Jesus for fear that the world might hate us. We are to follow him, even though that invites mocking, scoffing and persecution.
22 Matthew 5:9 The peacemakers
Like the merciful, those commit the costly act of refusing to answer injury for injury and seeking a peaceful reconciliation instead will find their inheritance as children of God in the kingdom of heaven. When we realize how deeply we ourselves are indebted to God’s grace and dependent on His mercy, we also realize we’re in no position to condemn the sins of others.
21 Matthew 5:8 The pure in heart
The pure in heart are not those who are morally perfect. Rather their hearts have been cleansed of rebellion and rejection of God. The pure in heart live like the gospel is true, though not perfectly. One day they will stand before God and be accepted.
20 Matthew 5:7 The merciful
Only those will to commit the costly act of being merciful will receive mercy in the kingdom of God, because showing mercy is an implication of having saving faith.
19 Matthew 5:6 Hunger & thirst for righteousness
When you’re physically hungry, the desire to eat is so overwhelming you can hardly think about anything else. Jesus is counting on that experience in this beatitude. The truly fortunate ones long for that which is missing in this life which only the kingdom of God can fulfill: holiness.
18 Matthew 5:5 The meek
While Matthew 5:5 is probably the most famous beatitude, not many people understand what it means. Jesus does not explain what he means by “meek”, but he is quoting Psalm 37 which gives us a very big clue.
17 Matthew 5:4 Those who mourn
Mourning is the appropriate emotional response to being poor in spirit. When you realize that life is not what it should be and you are not the kind of person you should be, the appropriate response is to weep over it.
16 Matthew 5:1-3 Poor in Spirit
Unlike those who are self-satisfied and see themselves as spiritually rich, the poor in spirit know that they are morally bankrupt and nothing in this world can give them what they truly need. This knowledge is a core conviction of saving faith.
15 Matthew 5:1-12 What is a beatitude?
Before we look at the beatitudes, we need to understand what it means to be blessed, the nature of a beatitudes (Jesus wasn’t the first to employ them) and how Jesus expects us to understand them.
14 Matthew 5-7 Sermon on the Mount Introduction
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most important passages in Scripture, as it is a profound and unique body of teaching from the Messiah himself. Yet throughout church history, believers have found it difficult to agree on what this sermon means and how it is to be applied to our lives. In this introduction, I’ll contrast the different approaches to the Sermon on the Mount and explain which approach I take.
13 Matthew 4:12-25 Jesus’ Early Ministry
As Matthew closes this first section of his gospel, he highlights the Galilean nature of Jesus’ early ministry. Matthew summarizes Jesus’ early ministry as marked by healing and teaching.
12 Matthew 4:8-11 3rd Temptation: Bow Down
Satan offers Jesus a shortcut to gaining the blessings God has promised him. But idolatry is looking to someone or something other than God to grant us Life. For each of the temptations, we’ll answer 3 questions: Why is the choice wrong? Why is the choice attractive? How does Jesus respond? Review At Jesus’ baptism, […]
11 Matthew 4:5-7 2nd Temptation: Jump from the pinnacle
While the temptation to jump to from the top of a high mountain may not appear very enticing at first glance, it’s a temptation we all face today. When life gets hard or overwhelming, like Jesus, we’re very tempted to believe God has ceased to take care of us and we need to take a “leap of faith” to get back in His good graces.
10 Matthew 4:1-4 1st Temptation: Stones to bread
In the temptations, Satan wants to disqualify Jesus as the Messiah while God wants to demonstrate that Jesus is worthy to be the Messiah. We’ll look how how Jesus responds when he’s tempted to believe God is no longer taking care of him. For each of the temptations we’ll answer 3 questions: Why is the […]
