GOSPELS 6 KINGDOM WORDS OF BLESSING

GOSPELS 6 KINGDOM WORDS OF BLESSING

When we spoke about the wisdom of the words of Jesus in Gospels 5 we saw Jesus being confronted with criticism and antagonism by religious people who were threatened by his undeniable aura of authority. Even his own disciples weren’t quite sure why Jesus was doing the things that he did until they heard Jesus answering his religious critics, so Jesus was teaching them as well as the others – and as well as us, in those moments of enlightenment because of his words of wisdom - revolutionary words of a New Covenant reality that would supersede the Old Covenant religious tradition. This new kind of faith and freedom would be lived by people one day because of his risen life within them.

But now we are going to read the next in line topic of revolutionary wisdom words from Jesus. These are words of the inner spiritual blessings of the Kingdom of God, and these words were spoken to the poor and needy, people who, because they had physical afflictions and infectious diseases or deformities could not enter the temple – the outcasts. And they greeted the words of Jesus with humble incredulous wonder and not harsh antagonism or criticism. These words seemed too good to be true or too impossible to ever experience. They are called The Beatitudes and are found in Matthew 5:1 and also in a shorter form in Luke 6:20. They are often whimsically titled the ‘Be - Attitudes.’ Because they teach us how to ‘be’ so that we might know what to ‘do’. These words have eternal wisdom relevant for any age and any culture to aspire to, but again only able to be fully realized in the New Covenant reality. Human nature cannot do this, we need to be partakers of the Divine nature (2Peter 1:4) which became our treasure when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. 

Matthew 5:1 Jesus saw the multitudes, so he went up into a mountain: and when he was settled, he gathered his disciples around him: And he taught them all, everybody, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Poor in spirit is an attitude. Being poor means to have no resources left – so that means having nothing at all or not having something particular at the time. ‘In spirit ‘means in our very being – it means our whole life – what we have and who we are. Money and material things and outward appearances may appear to make us well off in our being but if we are addicted to that we end up having nothing of value on the inside. The greater blessing is the spiritual blessing of having God as our fulfillment and provision (Ephesians 1:3). The unfulfilled rich young Ruler wanted to attain the Kingdom of God couldn’t receive that blessing. He wanted the inner blessing of the Kingdom but he valued the material blessing more.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

There is a blessing hidden in the grief of the loss of something dear to you for that is when you can receive the comfort of the One who is most dear to you - because of how dear you are to him. He never wants to lose you and he never will, so stay close and be blessed and comforted by that.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

You are blessed when you don’t use power over others to get want you want. People who use power over others think they get what they want but they end up with a thankless life full of nothing. The greatest inner blessing is having the power and love of God within you. And you end up with a grateful life that has everything you could want or needed – content.

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
The world wants you lining up to satisfy your appetites on what it has to offer, and those things leave you feeling empty. God wants you to be in alignment with what he has to offer - and having a hunger for that that fills you with an overflowing fulfillment and satisfaction with your life.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
If you make room for other people’s mistakes when they fall short of their good intentions, God will have an ocean of mercy for you that creates the most beautiful space for belonging within the boundless forgiveness and mercy and acceptance of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

When your heart’s desire is to see God being pleased with what you think and do for his sake, then he will let you see with your own eyes the wonderful things he is doing in in your world for your sake, and for the sake of those you love.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Children who work together and play together as peacemakers have a heart to see agreement and mutual thoughtfulness and kindness and being there for others in the family. These peacemakers will feel cherished and included in the same way by the Father Son and Holy Spirit who cherish one another and who are dedicated to being there for one another.

All these blessings make us ready to hear the next of the most impossible of all blessings – the one of persecution.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Be joyful and glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for that is how they persecuted the prophets which were before you.

The previous blessings provide you with a bullet-proof suit of armor that protects you emotionally and spiritually and even in the physical stress of being attacked by the aggressive or hidden malevolence of people who hate your devotion to God. They are like the Cains that killed the Abel. But you are an Abel that is Able – able to stand in faith and resilience and let the bullets bounce off. We can even laugh it off because that verse tells us to be joyful and glad. That is one of the most beautiful of the impossible possibilities of all of these boundless Beatitude Blessings. You can actually just be yourself – who you really are and not what the persecutors want you to be like with their fake identity virtues. They are simply resentful and covetous and jealous of your true virtue and behaviour. That is why Cain murdered Abel. 
1John 3:12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.

And that blessing gets you ready to live in the next exhortation of Jesus to hang in there and persevere confidently and be the true self of who you are and do the true things of what you do that he has creatively designed you for you in your spirit – and in your whole inner and outward being for all to see.

You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savour, it is useless and needs to be thrown out, and trodden underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a candle, and puts it under a bush, but on a candlestick; and it lights up the house for everyone. Let your light shine for people and let them see your goodness of who you are and what you do but only let your Father in heaven get the glory.
We need to know who we are in God and with God. We don’t need to know everything that the world knows or thinks it does, or to have to know the future that some internet prophet that you don’t know puts out there in the prophecy market. We need to know God and his ways, so that we know how to be and what to do in God and with God no matter what anybody else thinks you are and what you should be and do. Because you will be making everybody’s life in your world all the better off anyway by knowing God in a real way. And that is what God wants for you.