Summary and Lessons of Beatitudes, Matthew 5

Tod Kennedy, November, 2004, through January, 2005

The first line of each beatitude gives the present qualification or desired attitude and activity. The second line gives the future blessing or reward that will be experienced in the future kingdom of heaven on earth. Jesus says that those who possess these characteristics are or shall be fortunate or happy or gain favor from God.

1.      Matthew 5.3. Poor in spirit

a.    Summary

1. To be poor in spirit is to be spiritually hungry for God’s word, for fellowship with God and believers, and for the ability and opportunities to participate in God’s kingdom.

2. All of these blessings will be theirs in full in the kingdom of heaven; but, at the present time, by faith in the Messiah and God’s word, they can hear and practice God’s word even though the ruling religious elite may criticize or ignore or persecute them.

b.     Lesson

1. Am I spiritually hungry for fellowship with God and believers, hungry for spiritual food, and hungry for Christian service?

2. Do I make opportunities and use opportunities to receive spiritual food, to fellowship with God and believers, and to serve God and the Church?

2.      Matthew 5:4. Mourn

a.    Summary

1. To mourn is to have sorrow of heart due to sin, death of loved ones, tests, persecution, pressures, oppression, and human viewpoint.

2. Jesus promises that in the coming kingdom God can and will comfort and encourage these repentant believers; therefore, they as repentant believers in Christ waiting for His Kingdom can, at the present time, put their attention on God’s provision and care instead of on the pressure and oppression and rejection they face.

 b.      Lesson

1. Do I ever have heart sorrow due to sin, death of loved ones, tests, persecution, pressures, oppression, and human viewpoint?

2. When I do sorrow, do I trust God and His word for my comfort? Do I sense His comfort and encouragement at these times?

3.      Matthew 5:5. Gentle

a.      Summary

1. A gentle or meek person is a person with an inner gracious, strong, and balanced temperament. He is a balanced person, a person under control, a person who understands authority and is therefore humble. A balanced character is one that does God’s will and pleases God.

2. The gentle person, not the bully or uncontrolled or proud, shall inherit rulership in Christ’s coming kingdom.

b.      Lesson

1. Am I a gentle person? That is, do I possess great inner strength? Do I submit to proper authority on the one hand and properly exercises authority on the other?  Am I balanced and self-controlled? Do I think graciously about people, and do I treat people graciously?

2. Even today, the gentle person—the strong and balanced person—is the one most qualified for leadership and responsibility and will do the best job.

4.      Matthew 5:6. Hunger and thirst for righteousness

a.     Summary

1. The coming kingdom will be a righteous kingdom under the righteous King and quite unlike the present world. These repentant and awaiting the kingdom believers can look forward to this.

2. The coming kingdom of heaven will satisfy all desire for righteous government and righteousness in society.

    b.      Lesson

1. Righteousness is thinking and doing what is right according to God’s righteous standard. God wants me, as a believer in Christ, to live righteously.

2. We know that heaven will be characterized by righteousness, but do I think and live righteously now? It takes knowledge of God’s standard (God’s word), faith, the power of the Holy Spirit, and faith based decisions to live righteously in this present world.

5.      Matthew 5:7. Merciful

a.      Summary

1. Jesus is saying that the repentant and awaiting the kingdom of heaven believer who shows mercy to others in times when there is no earthly reward or recognition for showing mercy, or when it is dangerous or costly to show mercy, will experience mercy from God and others during the coming kingdom on earth.

2. Though, at the present time the merciful are not often honored with mercy in return, they can continue to show mercy now and anticipate abundant mercy returned to them in the kingdom.

b.      Lesson

1. Showing mercy is needed today. Mercy demonstrates Christ’s loved and mercy. It opens up opportunities to tell others about God’s mercy. Showing mercy to others is especially important when there is no earthly reward or recognition for doing so, or when it is dangerous or costly.

2. Do I show mercy to people, and especially to believers? Do I sympathize with them in their suffering, encourage them with God’s word, and physically help them according to biblical guidelines?

6.      Matthew 5:8. Pure in heart

a.      Summary

1. To be pure in heart is to be spiritually clean from sin—both judicially and in daily experience. Jesus talked about this in John 13. 8-11. When one sins, he should confess that sin and continue to live “pure in heart.”

2. God is holy, to “see God” is to be close to him—figurative for close fellowship with him. Close fellowship with God is a reward for kingdom believers who have lived in fellowship with God and therefore are called “the pure in heart.”

    b.      Lesson

1. God wants us to be clean or “pure in heart” so that He can fellowship with us and we with Him. Personal sin interrupts our clean condition. Christ died for all sins, even those we commit as believers. God wants us to confess our sin when necessary because confession to God is a reminder that Christ died for all our sins, even those we commit now. Confession affirms our faith in God’s holiness, our sinfulness, and in Christ’s death for our sins.

2. Do I want to live as “pure or clean in heart”—in fellowship with God right now? Do I want to be in God’s family and a close friend of God (“see God”), or am I content to be in God’s family and never fellowship with Him? Clean believers live in fellowship with God right now, not just in the future in heaven. When I do sin, do I confess my sin to God and maintain my clean condition (“pure in heart”)?

7.      Matthew 5.9. Peacemaker

a.      Summary

1. God was and is in the business of making peace between himself and mankind. Making peace is called reconciliation. It was accomplished by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for our sins.

2. Jesus taught that peacemaking between individuals, not nations, is highly valued. A peacemaker, without being nosey or bossy, tries to prevent or stop the wrong conflict and helps to resolve a conflict into which he is drawn. These conflicts are often brought on by self-centered people, bitter people, argumentative people, unhappy people, know it all people, and people with power lust and recognition lust. The peacemakers will be honored in the kingdom of heaven by a special title “sons of God."

  b.      Lesson

1. Peace with God only comes through reconciliation to God, which one gains by personal faith in God’s son for eternal salvation. Once one possesses eternal salvation, he can have day to day peace with God. The question is, “have I gained the eternal life peace with God, and if so, do I enjoy the day to day peace with God?”

2. While I await the Lord’s coming for me, do I strive to prevent and solve—without being nosey or bossy—the conflicts that arise around me in my family, church, job, and other personal relationships? The only way that I can do this and honor the Lord is through living by faith, applying God’s word, living by the Holy Spirit and in fellowship with God.

8.      Matthew 5.10. Persecuted for righteousness.

a.      Summary

1. God’s righteousness is different from the world’s righteousness.

2. Jesus was teaching that believers in him and his kingdom of heaven are and will be a persecuted people because they will be following a different standard of righteousness—a standard clearly different from that of the religious Jews led by the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees.

b.      Lesson

1. Because we have a God’s standard of righteousness which is different than the world system’s standard, we can expect criticism, rejection, physical persecution, and even death because we hold to this different standard.

2. It is a fact of life—Paul warned of this in 2 Timothy 3:12—in this present world, that godly believers will be persecuted. Am I willing to follow God’s righteousness by the Holy Spirit’s power in the face of criticism, rejection, and persecution?

9.      Matthew 5:11-12. Persecuted because one identifies with Jesus Christ by faith

a.      Summary

1. Believers in Messiah Jesus who proclaim him and his word will be persecuted in the same way the prophets were persecuted. The world at large rejects him and rejects those who serve and proclaim him.

2. Jesus tells them to rejoice and exult because they are so identified with him and his message. And because of this, God will, in heaven, reward these faithful believers for their faithful identification and service while they were on earth.

b.      Lesson

1. Church age believers will also be persecuted because of identification with Jesus Christ and for their proclamation of him and his word. This is a badge of honor and cause for thanksgiving, rejoicing, and blessing. We should keep up our witness.

2. Paul says the future glory far outstrips the present suffering (Romans 8:17-18), and Peter says we are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on us (1 Peter 4:13-14). God will reward us. Do I believe this? Am I willing to be identified as a believer in Christ?