The Beatitudes
Class 6
March 28
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 peacemakers:
a. Translations:
i. The Message: "You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
ii. New Living Translation: God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
iii. Wycliff: Blessed be peaceable men, for they shall be called God's children. [Blessed the peaceable, for they shall be called the sons of God.]
iv. NIV: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
b. Matthew writes in Greek but the concept he writes about is probably Jewish.
i. The Greek word is ereine – the Hebrew word is Shalom
1. Shalom never implies simply the absence of conflict. Shalom is a positive word.
2. Shalom is not just talking about the absence of war. It is wishing all of the best for someone. It is wishing fullness, wholeness, and blessing.
3. Shalom refers to a state of well-being, an all-rightness, an okay-ness.
4. Shalom describes the way things should be: an intact family, husbands and wives who love each other, children and parents who love each other, getting one’s needs for food met, the need for shelter met, and peace with others, as well as a spiritual relationship to God through Christ.
ii. Bringing shalom to a person is to desire and act on their behalf, to help move them in a direction of fullness, of wholeness, of God’s best and to move them closer in a relationship with God and with one another.
c. Rick Warren – “Why should I be a peacemaker?”
i. One reason is because unresolved conflict blocks my fellowship with God.
ii. Secondly, unresolved conflict prevents answered prayer.
iii. Third, unresolved conflict hinders my happiness.
d. Somebody once asked Rabin why he was so willing to pursue peace, and he said, “Well, you don’t make peace with your friends. You make peace with your enemies.”
i. By definition, the necessity of waging peace means that conflict has already occurred – people will be hurt.
e. And what do we receive? “for they will be called sons of God”. (William Haley)
i. First note: it is not that they shall ‘become’ the sons of God; rather it is that they shall be ‘called’ the sons of God.
1. It is not something we get (ie., a reward); rather, it is what we are.
ii. The scholar, D.A. Carson says: “In Jewish thought the word son often bears the meaning, partaker of the character of.” – ie., “the son of” is used in place of an adjective:
1. What was Barnabas was called….? The “son of encouragement”.
2. James and John, weren’t called loud, they were called the “sons of thunder”
3. Judas was called the “son of perdition”.
iii. Jesus is actually talking about our character, who we become, who we are like.
f. Jesus is the epitome of peacemaking – of “shalom making”.
i. He removes conflict from our lives
ii. He restores “well-being”
iii. He is the “Son of God”
iv. By grace, He enables us to live our lives like and as “sons of God”.
v. Jesus moves us closer to wholeness, closer to God and closer to one another.
g. What can we do?
i. “Make the first move.” (Rick Warren)
ii. Plan a peace conference!
iii. Try to bring Shalom to broken families, communities and nations.
iv. Seek Christ’s Shalom in our own life.
3. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake
a. Translations:
i. The Message: “You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
ii. New Living: “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the
iii. Contemporary English: God blesses those people who are treated badly for doing right. They belong to the kingdom of heaven.
iv. New Life: Those who have it very hard for doing right are happy, because the holy nation of heaven is theirs.
b. It is interesting that this Beatitude follows immediately the one that Blesses the Peacemakers.
i. Not all attempts at reconciliation will succeed.
ii. Luther numbered suffering among the marks of a true church.
c. How perverse is it to human ears to think that those who do right will be punished?!
i. Jesus said, “People loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” The darkness hates the light.
ii. Jesus said the world hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil.
iii. When we tell the truth, when we speak as Christians and live out those Beatitudes, the world will not want to hear us and will treat us like it did Jesus.
1. We are also in a spiritual war.
a. People get hurt.
b. Sometimes, people get killed.
c. There is a great deal of suffering and of sacrifice. We need to understand
d. Paul says we are to put on the full armor of God. Only soldiers need armor. The adversary, the devil, prowls around seeking whom he may devour. So we need to understand the reality of persecution and the reasons for it.
(Rev Rick White)
iv. Howell – pp 84 – Jesus did not say IF, we are persecuted, he said WHEN.
v. A reliable estimate from the State Department (Steve McFarland, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom)estimates that over 200 million Christians suffered severe persecution in 2000, dwarfing any number in the history of the church.
1.
d. Howell – pp 88 – Bonhoeffer’s “Cost of Discipleship”.
e. Howell – pp 93 – The Sisters of Charity’s call to love and serve others.
4. Almighty and most gracious Father, who has put into the hearts of men a great longing for peace, but has also given man the power to choose evil, grant us the will to make our choices in accordance with thy will, binding the world together in reconciliation, service, and love for you, giving to each of us the “peace which passeth all understanding”. For those saints, O Lord, who are persecuted for righteousness sake, grant them salvation and the strength to endure what they must suffer, so that their suffering may be a testimony to your saving grace, and through their perseverance they may find eternal life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Ghost, art one God, world without end. Amen.
