Matthew 5:3-12
God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 God blesses those who are humble,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied.
7 God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
9 God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
As people of faith, Christ-followers we are the blessed, however the world, our own flesh, and the devil have convinced us otherwise….rather than being blessed we feel cursed, embattled, beat up, we feel a failure, we feel God cares for others but not us…we know we are supposed to be blessed and we feel as if we are some times, however Jesus gave us this list to show us, we are always to be blessed!
Many of us are so familiar with the passage that we at times simply run over it but there is such a blessing here for us in every stage and instance of life….today I want you to walk out of here blessed knowing the Lord has already proclaimed a blessing over whatever situation you may be facing!
Let’s look at this one verse at a time and see if you see your situation in these verses
Matthew 5:3
God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs
Many believers feel they are poor because of lack, they aren’t given favor at work, in the community, politically. They feel poor because they were raised poorly rather than given a step up in life by family they have more of a fight to overcome because of them….there are many reason we can believe we are poor but ladies and gentlemen let me tell you today you are among the wealthiest people on earth.
When you recognize your need for God then you have all that you need! Jesus’ words here are to remind us as long as we have Jesus we have everything we need, he will supply all you need the challenge as believers is for us….the poor are blessed because they have the greater ability to trust God and his heart is always near the poor because they rely on Him
Matthew 5:4
God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
This has two meanings those who are mourning some great tragedy/loss in their lives or those that are mourning the condition of the people, the country, the world. There is hope here…Jesus is saying don’t worry about the conditions of your people or nation, seek me and I will bring the comfort, I will show you what I am doing or about to do and you will know that I have this for you….if you are mourning personally He would say to you, you are here because my plan is yet to be fulfilled in you, I will give you new vision, new hope but once again we must choose to trust Him
Matthew 5:5
God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.
Jesus blessing is to those who choose to keep Him first, the humble, not demanding their own way, those who have learned to prefer others, loving their neighbor as themselves….His promise here about inheriting the whole earth is this, the land of promise…so my question to those who are choosing to walk humbly, what promises of the Lord do you need to stand on that God will fulfill for you because you are choosing to walk humbly…it doesn’t matter how long ago he made the promise to you, or how long you have been believing…stay humble and no matter how impossible God will bless you with fulfilling His promise to you!
Matthew 5:6
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.
Jesus’ inference here is that there are those who spend their time seeking the Lord for righteousness, justice because of the lack of justice they have felt or have seen. He is saying if you are one who is seeking him because there has been an injustice done to you or you are battling the unrighteousness of others, don’t you dare give up, someway somehow he will defend, protect and honor his children and allow righteousness/justice to prevail in your situation even if it is simply to bless you more!
Matthew 5:7
God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
This is a promise for all of those who feel they have been taken advantage of, jerked around by others. You have been kind, forgiving, you have shown mercy, love, tried to heal relationships, tried to be the best Jesus you could be….keep your eyes on Jesus, keep trusting Him and he will be the one to return your blessing to you for your faithfulness to Him
Matthew 5:8
God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
Jesus’ desire was always to present the love of God with a pure heart. His greatest battle was not with the outcast from God but those who considered themselves closest to Him, the religious. Religious structure is meant to draw people to the love of God not place them under the bondage of regulation. The pure in heart are those who love God free of the bondage of false religion but have true relationship, religion will never get you to relationship, true religion only draws you closer to Him rather than pushing you away or making you feel guilty or unworthy. With the purity of a real relationship with Jesus you will gain what many longed for and were never able to attain, you will see God and know who he really is and your religious observance will only draw you closer to Him so you can remember His love for you
Matthew 5:9
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
Jesus is the prince of peace…we are promised a peace that goes beyond our understanding when we trust Him. When it doesn’t make sense to have peace, we will have it so the world can see what they are missing. When we need it, the prince of peace will freely give it as part of the fruit of the Spirit is peace, if you are filled with the Spirit you can choose to live in peace. It is never about circumstances, it is not about politics, it is always about Jesus and if you choose Him…people will see the Lord in you and proclaim you a child of God…you won’t need to tell others, they will proclaim it to you!
All of these attributes are in contrast to the way the world and the religious people act. The world doesn’t recognize their need to rely on God so they miss the blessing, they only curse difficulty because they don’t know in their loss, God can bring blessing. The world is bound in their own religion whether secularism, atheism, communism, sexism whatever their religion their only trust is in their own strength rather than God’s strength so they have no hope. These and the other attributes are why this next verse happens
Matthew 5:10
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
You may be on the job, at home, in your school, university and are suffering persecution because you don’t have fear, you have peace, you aren’t angry about everything you know God as your source of joy, you aren’t fearful that things are out of control because you know God is in control always and this drives the world crazy. This sets you apart to shine this brings hope to a world without hope, you are not only destined for the Kingdom but you are living the Kingdom now of righteousness, peace and joy.
Jesus wraps it up this way….
Matthew 5:11
“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
Jesus is not saying go out and make mocking or persecution happen, but know that the children of the devil are out there and as you are scattering the darkness when you recognize you are no longer under the control of the world’s system, these powers will do everything in their power to try and stop you, but Jesus also said in Matthew 16 that when you know and believe Jesus Christ is Lord…He will build His kingdom through you and the gates of hell will not prevail! So recognize you are threat to the kingdom of darkness….He goes on from here in the next verses to say you are salt…you are light…you change the culture simply by being you and living as he just out lined
- You recognize you need him not depending on your own will but know His working through is more powerful than anything you could do. (You know you are skilled but you know God is speaking to you to stop trusting in you and your skills and watch what He will do for you and through you)
- Don’t get stuck looking at the world through the world’s lens…know that God’s plan will be fulfilled through you(everything going on in the world putting you on edge, let God remind you of His dream for you and then believe it)
- Stay humble and every promise to you will be fulfilled and every promise in His word is available to you ( not seeing the promises of God, choose to believe God wants to pour them out on you and allow Him to begin to do so)
- Don’t look for vengeance or even justice for unrighteousness against you, look for Him to defend you, protect you and be your justice (if you have been wounded, rejected, ripped off, choose to forgive and allow the Lord to defend you)
- Don’t feel hurt because you have loved/blessed and it was not reciprocated God will return every blessing because He is faithful! (if you have given out and given out and have gotten little in return…forgive and allow the Lord to pour blessings)
- Allow religion to be only something that draws you closer in relationship never allow it to get in the way of your relationship. Jesus didn’t die on the cross to start a religion but instead to open the door to relationship with the Father through the Holy Spirit! (if you have been caught or wounded by religion and want the freedom of real relationship)
- Don’t allow the chaos of life to control you choose instead to allow the fruit of the Spirit especially peace destroy the chaos and fear…you will cause people to see Jesus in you because of your peace. (if chaos has been hitting you hard and you want peace)
You are the blessed….now you know it….now it is time to choose to believe it and live it!