In the Bible, the gospel (meaning, “good news”) of Matthew includes the “Sermon on the Mount”, a three-chapter message by Jesus located in chapters 5-7. Jesus begins this hillside teaching by giving a series of statements about how someone can be blessed, or well off. These statements are known as beatitudes: condition or statement of blessedness.
Matthew 5:3-12,
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
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 have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
In chapters 5-7, Jesus is expounding (meaning, systematically explaining) His statement given in 4:17, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus is calling people to repentance: to turn around in your thinking. They should do so because the kingdom of God is now! What does Jesus mean? How is the kingdom of God at hand? First, Jesus is calling the Jews to attend to their greatest need, which is their spiritual condition. Why was this needed if the Jews were “God’s people?” The Jews were God’s people in the sense that they had particular privileges that other nations did not have; scriptures, prophets, the Law, etc. Additionally, because the Jews were descendants of Abraham, they believed that by default they were heirs to the kingdom of heaven. This is not the case, and Jesus is calling them to understand that Jew or not, one must entrust himself to the Lord in order to be saved. The Jews assumed they were already in good standing with God by virtue of their bloodline and their attempts at law-keeping.
So, Jesus is calling them to repent, to think differently about their condition, and to see their need for a Savior. Further, Jesus says that the kingdom of God is at hand. A kingdom is anywhere a king reigns. Jesus is God in the flesh; the Creator and King of the universe in their presence and He’s calling people to Himself for forgiveness and eternal life. He’s actively building His kingdom right there in their midst.
To start to explain His message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”, Jesus begins with a series of pointed statements that each begin with the word blessed, which here means “well off”. Each beatitude must be understood correctly. Part of that is knowing that the blessing isn’t in the condition listed in the first part of the statement, but the blessing is in the reality of what that condition can produce, as listed in the second part of the statement; the part starting with “for they” or “for theirs”. As well, you’ll notice that on the surface, the beatitudes appear to be a paradox:
a statement that seems to contradict itself but may nonetheless be true. For example, why is one blessed if he mourns, or is persecuted? These seem like bad things. Let’s unpack these one at a time.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Poor in spirit is the opposite of proud in spirit. Jesus says that we need to repent, and understand our true spiritual condition, which is that we’re unrighteous and sinful. We can respond in one of two ways. One who is proud in spirit is someone who thinks highly of themselves, who doesn’t accept their spiritual reality. They are self-righteous and say things like, “I’m basically a good person”, or, “I’m not a sinner”, or, “Nobody is going to judge me.” Due to pride, they turn away from the warning Jesus shares. However, one who accepts his true spiritual condition and recognizes that he’s spiritually broken, this person is blessed or well off, because the kingdom of heaven is for such as this. Meaning, if one doesn’t grieve his sinful condition, there’s no chance they’ll move toward reconciling themselves with God, whereas one who accepts his spiritual condition is likely to address it. Which brings us to the second step in salvation and the second beatitude.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
- Once a person accepts his true spiritual condition, and is poor in spirit (verse 3, and step one), then the next appropriate response is to grieve that reality. When a person grieves their spiritual condition, he is well off, blessed, because the Lord will comfort them. As well, this type of person is also moving toward dealing with their spiritual condition, which takes us to step three and the third beatitude.
5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
- Being poor in spirit and grieving my spiritual condition, I should appropriately no longer see myself as better than someone else. I should have an appropriate humility and gentleness in how I respond when confronted by other sinful people. Whereas, this person used to be arrogant and proud, and maybe returned sin for sin, now he responds with gentleness: strength under control. This gentle person is blessed/well off, because this is the type of person that shall inherit the earth, meaning, that this type of person can join in the everlasting inheritance given only to those who turn to the Lord. This type of person is headed in that direction, which takes us to the fourth step toward salvation and the fourth beatitude.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
- Once someone accepts their true spiritual condition and is poor in spirit, appropriately grieving their sin, responding gently toward others, the next appropriate response is to want to correct their condition. One only seeks for food or drink when they are hungry and thirsty for something, and spiritually speaking, a person is blessed or well off when they now turn to the Lord for spiritual righteousness. What causes a person to come to Jesus for forgiveness unless they are starving to be forgiven? This type of person is blessed because they will be satisfied, meaning, the Lord will forgive their sin! So, the result of verses 3-6 is salvation. If you write in your Bible, you can pencil in “the point of salvation” in between verses six and seven. Starting in verse seven, Jesus speaks to type of person who is saved and has become a person of righteousness. You’ll see the difference in the type of person being addressed when you read verses 7-12.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
- Mercy means not getting a punishment that I deserve. When a person is a new believer in Jesus, then he has been delivered from the eternal hell that he deserves as a sinner. God is merciful! So, if one has received mercy from God, then God rightly expects that he be merciful to others. But if a Christian is not merciful to others, then he ought not to think that God will continue to be merciful to him when he himself sins. Those having received God’s grace, ought to be gracious. Those receiving God’s forgiveness, ought to be forgiving. And so on.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
- Only those who are forgiven can have a pure heart. Outside of forgiveness, our sinful hearts are deceitful and selfish, and very impure. So, here is a promise that the believer whose heart has been purified will see God in heaven and enjoy Him for all eternity! A believer whose heart has been made pure by Jesus is blessed indeed!
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
- Just as one has been forgiven, and received God’s mercy and grace, here, a Christian who has been peacefully reconciled with God ought in turn to become a peacemaker with others. One who is a child of God ought to act and behave in the same manner as their heavenly Father, being now of the same spiritual nature. A believer who makes peace with others is well off, as he is an heir to the kingdom and a child of God. “Shall be called” isn’t meant to be understood as in a future tense, like they aren’t yet children of God. Instead, it means that they are children of God and are right to be addressed as such.
10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- This verse speaks specifically to the Christian who will suffer for living out his faith in Jesus. Jesus is reminding him that though he suffers now, he’s well off because his hope is in his eternal life in heaven!
11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
- Building off of verse ten, Jesus gives a broader example of the type of persecution a Christian might face, and explains that this suffering isn’t new, but even His prophets were persecuted this way long ago. Christians are told that as they live distinctly from the world, that they will be mocked, insulted, lied about, and experience all sorts of evil…BECAUSE OF JESUS. It’s not personal, the world has always hated the Lord, and will continue to attack His followers.
Conclusion
Do you know Jesus? If you haven’t addressed your true spiritual condition, you need to know that God loves you and wants to reconcile with you. He is offering you freedom from sin and eternal life with Him. I pray that you would take these verses to heart.