The Beatitudes
Class 5
March 21
Matthew 5:3-12
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
1. Review/questions –
2. Blessed are the Merciful…
a. A mother who sought pardon for her son from the Emperor Napoleon. The Emperor said it was the man’s second offense and justice demanded his death. “I don’t ask for justice,” said the mother, “I plead for mercy.” But the Emperor said, “He doesn’t deserve mercy.” “Sir,” she said, “it wouldn’t be mercy if he deserved it and mercy is what I am asking.”
b. Matthew 5:7 (Worldwide English (New Testament) 7`God makes happy those who are kind. He will be kind to them
i. How do we distinguish between (Richard Lenski):
1. Grace – always deals with the sin and guilt itself. It pardons, cleanses and reinstates. It pardons
2. Mercy – deals with the results of sin – what we see of pain, misery and distress. It extends relief.
3. Kindness – how does ‘kindness’ differ from either grace or mercy?
a. Mercy implies a ‘cost’ – it is unmerited. It is given to the guilty. It is to refrain from giving someone their due.
b. Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
c. Howell – pp 63: “we are a permissive people, but then we show no mercy”.
i. “Mercy requires a high standard”. – relate column on acceptance of teen pregnancy.
d. And what do we receive – mercy! We obtain exactly what we have given.
i. Matthew - For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
On what basis do we receive mercy from God?
1. We cannot earn it and we do not ‘buy’ it by giving mercy ourselves.
2. Rather, “we cannot receive mercy from God without repentance, and we cannot claim to have repented of our sins if we are unmerciful towards the sins of others” (Stott)
e. “I want to close by asking you to think of just one person. Try to think of perhaps a really peculiar person in your life, or someone who’s fallen or failed you, or someone who is hurting, or maybe an enemy, someone who’s so hurt you, lied about you, or been so offensive that you just don’t have any forgiveness in your heart towards that person. See that person as keeping you from experiencing the mercy of God.” (John Yates)
3. Blessed are the pure in heart
a. Translations
i. The Message: "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
ii. Young’s Literal: "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
b. Psalm 24:3-6 3Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.
i. The ‘Pure in Heart’ are:
1. Sincere – thoughts and motives are without deviousness or false motives.
2. Exhibits humility
3. Has “clean hands” – someone who deals honestly with others.
4. Howell – pp 69 – The Pure in heart have a ‘singular mind riveted on one thing’’ – God.
5. Yates – “Purity of heart doesn’t mean a person has gotten his life completely together, cleaned up, never fails God, and never fails his fellow man, that’s not what it means. Purity of heart doesn’t mean someone who’s somehow become immune to temptations. … No, a person who’s pure in heart is simply a person whose great overarching ruling passion in life is to belong to God, to love God, to know God, to obey God, to serve God, and trust God. That’s what matters more than anything else, single-minded devotion to God. A person pure in heart is a person who’s been freed from the need of other persons’ approval and who cares only for God’s approval.
c. What do we receive? – “We shall see God”.
i. Howell – pp 73 – it is “impurity of heart that blinds us to God.”
ii. Yates – “There is no physical pleasure, no satisfaction of any kind, no experience of love or wonder or peace, no beauty, no goodness, nothing in our experience or any other’s that could even hint at the wonder and bliss of seeing God. That’s why the saints called it the beatific vision. It’s better than the most glorious sunset. It’s better than the most beautiful symphony. It’s better than the best love between a man and a woman. It’s even better than holding your own flesh and blood in your arms, and hugging that little one close. Seeing God — nothing like it! Jesus says that one day you and I can actually receive this greatest of all possible blessings if we are pure in heart.”
iii. Exodus 33 – “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen (Exodus 33:20-23).
And so Moses prepared himself for this priviledged vision. He tells us:
..he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and [he] rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth...And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. (Exodus 34:4-8).
iv. We shall see God – in Jesus Christ.
1. We also see God through other people. Think about Mother Teresa – Howell pp 74.
4. Almighty and most gracious Father, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and more willing to give more than either we desire or deserve; pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things our conscience makes us afraid to remember, giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, and purifying our hearts through the burning glory of thy grace, through the merits of Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord. Amen.
