BEATITUDES are, of a
sense, the righteousness and justice of God working in the favour of the godly.
If anyone deserves the favour of God it’s the godly of the Beatitudes. And the
Sermon on the Mount — in Matthew, chapters 5-7 — is not only started by the
Beatitudes, the whole Sermon calls us back to the heart of the Beatitudes. This
is because any serious believer, in asking how
to obey the Sermon, will find the heart of the person of the Beatitudes as
their way to do just that.
Here are the
Beatitudes of Matthew chapter 5, verses 3-12:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you
when people insult you, persecute you and
falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
***
How rare is it that the person of the Beatitudes is known? Such
Kingdom reversals so rarely take place. So very rarely do people obey to such a
sufficient sense for surrender that they become one out the Beatitudes.
The Kingdom life is a reversal. The first are last, the last are
first. The master is slave of all. The one who seems most hard done by stands
to be most blessed. And the true one of God succumbs
to human calumny — theirs, in that moment, is the very definition of love.
***
The peculiar is the
differentiation of love — to love our enemies with such an unconquerable love
they are confounded by it (not that we want them confounded, but, that which it
is, confounded). We show those who love us no special favour, for we save such
efforts of effectual love for those who truly need it.
Those of the Beatitudes are the perfect of Matthew 5:48 — the summing up of the entire chapter.
They have exceeded and surpassed the legalist’s ‘love’ of the
religious leaders of Jesus’ day (Matthew 5:20).
Those of the Beatitudes represent the purest form of human love
turned holy.
They have submitted in an interminable sense to the grace which
overcomes, and hence overcomes their world through them.
Such a submission enrols them to love in all its glorified
perfection — which is, in sum, the love
of the cross.
The heart of Jesus’ teaching is the Sermon on the Mount, the
soul of which are the Beatitudes—the love unconquerable; the love of all loves;
the love of the cross.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. Can you love your enemy? Who
could your ‘enemy’ be? How is your love to transcend the ordinary love of the
world that loves those who love you?
2. What is so alluring about the
cross — the greatest sanctification of love, ever? Yet, also, why is the cross
so offensive to the world?
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
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