“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10
We come to the end of the eighth beatitude and find the same phrase
we found at the end of the first beatitude – “for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven”. This is the reason the people have come –is this the
Messiah that is going to bring the promised kingdom to Israel? The Lord answers their question directly by describing the entrance requirements into God’s kingdom. The most important question is not when the kingdom will arrive but rather the critical question is “will you be in the kingdom?”
For Theirs The Lord makes a point with the way He words this phrase. The Jews do not have a birthright into the kingdom. What they assume is theirs by birth, the Lord indicates is for those whose heart is right.
Is the The Lord makes an absolute statement. This is absolute assurance. Only those whose hearts are right before God will be the
ones who enter His kingdom – Jewish or not.
Kingdom Israel began to ask for a king after the time of the Judges. I Samuel 12:12-13 tells us the reason for their request. “The Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.” Samuel tells Israel that their desire for an earthly king is driven by fear of the enemies they see around them. God had chosen Israel as His people but they struggled with walking by faith and trusting in Him. Instead of faith they live by sight. Now they want a the king to protect them. Remember that God told Samuel when Israel demanded a king that they had not rejected Samuel, they had rejected Him. God gave Israel the desires of their hearts and the majority of their earthly kings led Israel to rebel against God which ultimately lead to the nation’s captivity. When that happened it looked like the Messiah’s kingdom might never occur but then Israel was restored to its land. At the time of Jesus Israel is in their land but they are still in captivity – now to Rome. They bristled under this authority over them. They demanded to be free and they wanted God to set up a kingdom so they could be the rulers. (We see the pride they exhibit.) The nation of Israel knew from Daniel that the time for the Messiah to appear was near. Additionally John the Baptist was in the wilderness proclaiming that “the kingdom of God is at hand”. (Matthew 3:2) Israel believes that when He comes He will acknowledge their devotion to God and establish them as the rulers in His kingdom. He will commend their good works for Him, not question the state of their hearts. The kingdom belongs to them. This is the reason God’s earthly kingdom was not set up at this time. Israel’s hearts were still far from God – they could not enter His kingdom.
What can we learn? The Lord comes to present to Israel the truth. They had to understand that it was not their nationality that ushered them into God’s kingdom but rather a heart that loved and trusted God. In the beatitudes the Lord describes the heart that is blessed to enter God kingdom – a heart broken in sprit and mourning over his sin, a heart meekly seeking for God to guide, a heart that hungered after righteousness and which when transformed by God showed mercy to others, lived in purity and pleased God even if the world persecuted him for it. Entrance into God’s kingdom is determined by the heart, not man-made works from pride.