The Sermon of Blessings: Part 1 (Matthew 5:1-6)
The first collection of Jesus teachings in Matthew usually called “The Sermon on the Mount.” It could also be called “The Sermon of the Kingdom,” or “The Sermon of Blessings.” Jesus sits down on a mountain with His disciples to teach them as the crowds look on. His subject is what it is like to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Not how to become a citizen, but what the people who are citizens are like, the qualities of the Kingdom’s citizens. The disciples, having been called by Jesus and having obeyed the call, already are citizens. Those in the crowd looking on are hearing an invitation to join them.
The whole sermon is introduced, but then also permeated with the blessings that begin it: eight statements that build upon themselves to describe who we are who have accepted the invitation of the good news, the call of God. The first four point to an utter need for a correct view of self. The fact that we depend totally on God because on our own we deserve curses rather than blessings.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Christianity is for everyone who recognizes that they are hopeless apart from God in their sin and rebellion. We can do nothing to merit God’s forgiveness. It is not the faith of the self-reliant.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Those who recognize their hopelessness and sinful separation from God are comforted, because it is only this recognition, and the grief it produces, that enables us to throw ourselves upon God’s mercy and grace.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Beyond humility, meekness is the quality of genuine self-recognition when we stand before the Creator of the universe. Anything we have to offer is rubbish. Without God, our state is hopeless. But, again, that recognition opens the door to everything God has to offer us in a restored relationship with Him. Everything is ours on His merits, in His mercy and grace.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Piper points out here, the important distinction between hungering for righteousness and not God. Plenty of religious people think they have found their way into the Kingdom through ritual or service, but the only real path is to stand before God right. This is something we cannot do, but again we do not stand in our own sufficiency.
The first half of the beatitudes, among many other things, can’t help but show us how far our Western idea of the “Cult of Self” is from the reality of the Gospel. It even threatens to infiltrate and distort the church’s understanding of what Jesus is teaching us.
The whole sermon is introduced, but then also permeated with the blessings that begin it: eight statements that build upon themselves to describe who we are who have accepted the invitation of the good news, the call of God. The first four point to an utter need for a correct view of self. The fact that we depend totally on God because on our own we deserve curses rather than blessings.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Christianity is for everyone who recognizes that they are hopeless apart from God in their sin and rebellion. We can do nothing to merit God’s forgiveness. It is not the faith of the self-reliant.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Those who recognize their hopelessness and sinful separation from God are comforted, because it is only this recognition, and the grief it produces, that enables us to throw ourselves upon God’s mercy and grace.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Beyond humility, meekness is the quality of genuine self-recognition when we stand before the Creator of the universe. Anything we have to offer is rubbish. Without God, our state is hopeless. But, again, that recognition opens the door to everything God has to offer us in a restored relationship with Him. Everything is ours on His merits, in His mercy and grace.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Piper points out here, the important distinction between hungering for righteousness and not God. Plenty of religious people think they have found their way into the Kingdom through ritual or service, but the only real path is to stand before God right. This is something we cannot do, but again we do not stand in our own sufficiency.
The first half of the beatitudes, among many other things, can’t help but show us how far our Western idea of the “Cult of Self” is from the reality of the Gospel. It even threatens to infiltrate and distort the church’s understanding of what Jesus is teaching us.
Comments
Post a Comment