Finding God's Blessings (Matthew 5:7-12)
December 1, 2019
Last time we saw how Jesus began describing the characteristics of those who will be blessed in the kingdom of heaven. He has gone through all of Galilee proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease. Now he is up on a mountain near the sea, giving the greatest sermon ever recorded. What is it about? Jesus describes how we can be ready for the kingdom of heaven.
Who Will Find Blessings? (Part 1)
Last week we began to look at eight characteristics of the man or woman who will receive all of the blessings that were promised in the Old Testament. This section is called the beatitudes. Some translations substituted the word “happy” for the word “blessed,” but that completely takes away the Old Testament idea that Matthew has in mind. Throughout his gospel, he has been relying on a knowledge of the Old Testament. That is not going to change because this is a book for Jews to see the Messiah. Jesus reveals the type of person who will receive the kingdom of heaven, be comforted over their sins and their suffering, inherit the earth, and find satisfaction. These are all blessings talked about in the Old Testament that Jesus says will come true. Who will receive these blessings? What type of person will they be?
Jesus shocks us with his description of the person who will find God’s promised blessings. He says that God is looking to bless those who have nothing, those who are mourning over the debt of their sins, those who do not take what is theirs by force, and those who are not hungering and thirsting for the blessing. They must be hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Their deepest desire must be to find acceptance and peace with God, standing righteous in God’s presence for eternity.
Who Will Find Blessings? (Part 2)
All of those characteristics had to do with how a person views him or her self. They must have lowliness and humility inside themselves, and they must desire to be righteous. The second half of these characteristics is more about how a person thinks about the world.
Matthew 5:7--10 (ESV) --- 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The Merciful
The first thing we see listed is mercy. What is mercy? Many people see mercy as forgiveness, but it is deeper than that. Mercy includes granting someone forgiveness, but it also includes offering to help someone who is in need. It is feeling empathy for those who are suffering and desiring to give them what they need to find help. In this sense, we can be merciful toward the one who wants our forgiveness by granting them forgiveness. We can also be merciful to someone who needs financial help by providing them financial support. When we see a need and a person who is legitimately suffering, we feel empathetic. Their pain becomes our pain, and we have a strong desire to do something that will bear some of their burdens.
Most of us feel so burdened already that we don’t want anyone else’s burden. Plus, we have experienced the cruelty of the world. No one helps to lift our burdens, why should we help someone else? Maybe the cruelty of the world has made us cruel. We can quickly become mean and hurtful toward others. But even if we aren’t mean and hurtful, it is so easy to stop caring about those around us. Many people around us do not care. Why can’t we be like them? They can even hurt people and not ask for forgiveness. Why can’t we ignore those around us in need? This is a major problem with the isolation in our culture. We think we can avoid interaction and be okay. We point to mercy as forgiveness because that is the extent of the burden we are willing to bear. We have all made mistakes and needed someone else to forgive us, but some need more help than forgiveness.
Think about what it means to bear someone’s burden. If I am struggling to carry a one hundred pound suitcase, the merciful person would not say, “I can’t afford to help you. I have to get back to work.” If we were struggling in our marriage, the merciful person would not say, “Suck it up! Marriage is hard for all of us,” nor would they say, “Being married is easy! I can’t believe you can’t figure this out!” They would try to help the one in need in whatever way they could by bearing some of the burdens for them and helping them find a way to lighten their load. This could apply to so many things. The merciful person doesn’t avoid the burden of other people. They allow other people to burden them. They give themselves to help those who are suffering like the Good Samaritan. This is the kind of person who will find the kingdom. They appreciate the burden of others, and they are looking for an opportunity to help others. If we decide to turn our hearts cold, we will not find help for our most significant burden.
Jesus offers us the mercy of God. He provides those who open their hearts to the needs of their fellow man, forgiveness and help in all of life’s sufferings. The parable of the man with 10,000 talents in Matthew 18 expresses this. God gives us great mercy in forgiving us of our most pressing burden. We need a relationship with God more than we need our marriages fixed, our jobs improved, our struggles with pain overcome, or our broken relationships mended. But if we focus our minds on the burdens of others, he will provide help in all of these areas. His mercy abounds.
Pure In Heart
What is Jesus looking for when he says that a person who is “pure in heart” will be blessed? When we think of purity, we often think of pure water, which goes through a filtration process. It has the impurities removed, and then it is sealed so that it can maintain its purity until we drink it. Is he just talking about someone who has changed their behavior and changed their mind to be purer than it used to be? This is not the extent Jesus gives. Many people think of Christianity as becoming pure in behavior and pure in mind. We have to know the right things in our minds and act the right way. But notice what Jesus says needs to be purified before we can find the blessings of the kingdom, our hearts. This includes the inner desires of our hearts.
When the Old Testament talks about having a pure heart, it is often referring to loving God more than anything else and removing the idols from our hearts. The first commandment is to put no other gods before God because God wants to be the center of our lives. He wants to purify our hearts and our spirits from the impurity of idol worship (Ezekiel 36).
What are the inner desires of our heart? What are we seeking after? Are there desires inside of us that are evil? Are there jealous, envious, prideful, or malicious desires inside of us? Maybe our desires aren’t anything harmful like that. Many of us desire to sit on our couches and veg out in front of the TV. Some of us desire to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, so that is all we think about. Maybe we want our spouses to satisfy our desires, or we want new toys, new cars, new golf clubs, new appliances, or new experiences. There may be some here who just want children who love them or parents to call them and be reconciled to them. Our desires are all over the map. None of these things are wrong in and of themselves. But have these desires become our idols? Have they become the center of our life? If we aren’t careful, we can put our trust in these things for our security and fulfillment. They will fail us. Our marriages will fail us and leave us feeling restless.
What do we need to do? The type of people who will receive the kingdom blessings see their idolatry, and they desire to get out of it. Their desire is to put God first. They are struggling like the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those hungry for righteousness, and the merciful. They want to be pure and devoted to God, above all else.
Look at what Jesus says the blessing will be, “They shall see God.” Is this not an overwhelming thought? For the one whose central desire in life is to worship and serve God only, this is the ultimate blessing. We will get to see God. If that does not make us excited or provoke any response, God is not the center of our life. The world has corrupted our hearts, and we need a total transformation. We can know the Bible intellectually, we can feel touched by the message, and we can even make some changes in our lives, but if our heart desires to enjoy this world and the things in this world centrally, our heart is not pure. Our hearts must desire to worship God with our life. We need God to come into our hearts and purify our desires so that we seek him.
Peacemakers
He also says that the peacemakers will be blessed. What do we think of when we think of peace? Usually, we think of war being ended or taking away our anxieties. What kind of peacemaking is Jesus talking about here? Is he talking about overcoming internal anxieties or some external battle between people? Notice the blessing is that they shall be called sons and daughters of God. Think about that for a moment. How is Jesus, the son, a peacemaker? How is God, the Father, a peacemaker? What kind of peace did they bring? Was it internal or external? Jesus helps us have peace in many areas, but Jesus’ mission was not to solve every earthly problem. He came to create peace between God and man. He reconciled us to God when there was a war between us.
Does man need peace with God? Most of our society see themselves as already being at peace with God. If anything, God is rebelling against us. They claim that God is unjust to give commands that are so restrictive. If we look at throughout the Old Testament, God seems to be extraordinarily strict. He lashes out and destroys his people (Nadab and Abihu, Uzzah) when they make a mistake and fail to do what he says. In the New Testament, Jesus doesn’t make things much better. He speaks of hell more than anyone, and he makes unreasonable demands. We don’t like God when he asks us to love him more than anything else. So we do what we want to do and ignore what he wants. It’s easy to be thankful for him but not be willing to do everything he says. When we need him, we expect him to deliver. We want the blessings he offers without submitting to his reign.
We don’t see that this makes us enemies, living in rebellion. We have shown our rebellion against God by killing him on a cross. We weren’t created to do what we want. God created us to glorify him. We have all rebelled against God’s purpose for us, but God has chosen to make peace between us through Jesus, his Son. He also expects us to work in a priestly sense by bringing others to this reconciliation. When Jesus says that the peacemakers will be blessed, we could also see him referring to those who are evangelizing and facilitating evangelism. They are bringing about peace in the most crucial sense. To be a son and daughter of God is to be like Jesus in our mission to the world.
But before we think of this as a noble and glorious task, look at what follows, “Blessed are those who are persecuted.” Peacemaking is not about making our lives peaceful. Notice how the last characteristic adds to our understanding of this one. The person who is poor in spirit, mourning their sins, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and making peace is also persecuted. Why? This kingdom is not about making friends and keeping people from being mad at us. Being a part of this kingdom is about making peace, and that can be a polarizing experience. Trying to convince people that they must submit to the rule of God to find peace with God is not going to lead to a comfortable life. The same people who are hostile against God will become hostile against us while telling us that they are not hostile at all. Being a peacemaker means we will have a mixture of people rejoicing over the good news and shooting the messenger. But it also means that God is working to make peace through us. We have this honor and privilege of being about our Father’s business and helping people experience the peace that we have.
Persecuted
Verse 10 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Notice how this blessing bookends the eight characteristics of those who are blessed in the kingdom. This characteristic reveals something that all of the previous characteristics have been pointing us to understand. The world will hate those who receive the blessings of the kingdom. These characteristics help us to see the challenge of entering the kingdom. God does not want to bless people who are the strongest, bravest, wisest, or most beautiful. So in a sense, it should be easy for us to be blessed because none of us fit any of those criteria. But God refuses people who are proud, self-centered, self-righteous, and hostile against his will. He wants people who are showing genuine love for his ways and his will with humility.
How many of us have been persecuted for trying to do our best at work? We try to put in a full eight hours of work, and all of our coworkers are upset because it makes them look bad. Or how many companies have called for us to sacrifice our lives in worship of our company? Telling people that we cannot neglect our responsibilities at home or our responsibilities as a Christian to build up the body of Christ may result in us losing our jobs. Are we surprised at this? Are we resistant to this idea? Should only some of us be this zealous? Should only some of those possessing the kingdom be poor in spirit? Should only some of us mourn over our sins? Paul said in the text we studied in Bible class this morning, “All those who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” We cannot let it surprise us, nor can we resist the fact that persecutions may come. I understand that we don’t want to be persecuted, but are we greater than our master?
John 15:20 (ESV) --- 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
There is no doubt that as we submit our lives to Christ and attempt to create peace between God and man, persecution will be inevitable. Jesus was not able to keep from being persecuted, and neither can we. But I want to tell you something that I have learned. It is not persecution to be mistreated when we are acting annoying, self-righteous, or fanatical. Jesus wasn’t mistreated for acting in a way that everyone observes as foolish. He was mistreated out of jealousy and malicious envy. He was mistreated because he gently made people realize how hostile they were, and they chose to be more rebellious. Their sins were often made evident without Jesus pointing their sins out to them directly.
I like something I read by Tim Keller, a Presbyterian preacher, “If you’re always persecuted, you’re probably an obnoxious person, but if you’re never being persecuted, you’re probably a coward.” I think those words could not be more accurate. The final words of Jesus restate this last point and add to it.
Matthew 5:11--12 (ESV) --- 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Jesus says that if we are persecuted because we are trying to serve him, we have a great reward waiting for us in heaven just as the prophets did. But he also describes the persecution as being talked about as though we are evil. Isn’t that ironic? We are trying to become truly righteous, and we suffer as though we are pure evil.
Summary
The beginning of Jesus’ sermon has described those who will be able to find the kingdom of heaven. Maybe these eight characteristics don’t describe you, as they don’t describe many people in our society. But we see that a willingness to submit to the will of God with our heart will bring about this change in our lives. We can become merciful to those who are in need, pure in heart with a devotion to God, peacemakers between God and man, and we can endure persecution for the sake of righteousness and the sake of Christ. With God’s help, we can view the world around us in a different way. Why? Because we know the rest of the story. We know that Jesus came down to earth to do all of these things for us to be blessed beyond what we deserve. He wouldn’t have come down here if we were a lost cause. Decide to follow Christ and let your life start over with a new view of yourself and a new view of the world that is humble and willing to serve.