“Blessed are the poor in spirit. ” Matthew 5:3
The Lord begins His Sermon on the Mount in the way a preacher should begin asermon – by reading or quoting the word of God. The Lord does not start off with an interesting story or poem. He starts with the word of God. Remember at the end of the Sermon on the Mount people were amazed that Christ spoke as one having authority. (“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” Matthew 7:28-29) This occurs because throughout His sermon He would often say, “You have heard of old, but I say to you”. He did not quote other scribes as the authority for his teaching, He is the original authority – the One who wrote it.
Christ’s authority is seen in the giving of the beatitudes. The Lord gives nine statements of kingdom living just as Moses gave the ten commandments of God. Just like the commandments, the beatitudes are given without explanation. Each begins with the word “Blessed”. Blessed is translated “happy” and that is one of the meanings of this word. Unfortunately this does convey the depth of its meaning. In scripture blessed is the opposite of being cursed. The Lord uses this word to describe a true believer who receives God’s favor and lives in His kingdom. As the nine beatitudes are stated the listeners will soon realize they cannot live this way – it is impossible to meet these criteria. This only happens when one receives or obeys God’s word by faith. Thus the term blessed is the opposite of man’s sinfulness. This is important because prior to Matthew 5 we are told that “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The people may have thought “repent from what? We are keeping God’s law.”The Lord’s introduction to the Sermon on the Mount lists nine truths that give us a picture or definition of what our hearts must be before a person can be accepted by a holy God – a standard no man can achieve without God’s power.
The word “blessed” has links back to Matthew 4 also. There the Lord called His first disciples. Peter, Andrew, James and John. To these men and the ones who would follow, He gave His command, “Follow me”. The word follow has the same meaning as the Lord’s command at the rapture – “Come hither”. Matthew’s placement of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount immediately after the calling of his disciples in chapter 4 reflects the way we must come to God, the way we receive His blessing and the way we follow Him in discipleship – it’s a heart thing.
Finally this passage takes us back to the Matthew 4 which states that the Lord’s ministry fulfills the words of Isaiah “The people who
sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.” The Jewish people are walking in the darkness of a religion that has rejected God’s grace for man’s best works. They are acting like Cain in Genesis 3 and their best works do not satisfy God’s righteousness. So the Lord begins His
sermon with 9 beatitudes that shines God’s light so we can see the true and only way to approach a holy God.
What can we learn? The word of God turns people’s lives upside down. It provides His wisdom. Through it we see ourselves and God for who we truly are. Unless we accept His truth we can never be blessed by God. The curse of sin will abide on us. (Read Deuteronomy 11:26-26.) The words the Lord uses to start the sermon on the Mount are
startling, they are revolutionary, and they stunned His hearers for they realized God was not looking at their outward actions but at their hearts. Christ’s words will stun us as well if we allow the truth of God’s word to penetrate our hearts. It’s a heart thing.