Beatitudes Part 1
A Guide to Kingdom Living
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:3-5 CSB
From Matthew chapter five to chapter seven, Matthew wrote down what is considered the Sermon on the Mount. Three chapters of what could be the best sermon ever preached (and that’s not just because it was taught by Jesus Himself).
While on a Galiliean mountain, giving the best sermon there has ever been, Jesus gives these people a peek into God’s mind. He tells us exactly how to be blessed by God. This part of the sermon is called the beatitudes, and I definitely recommend memorizing it.
The Greek word used here for “blessed” is Makarioi which means “happy, blessed, to be envied.”
There is nothing that could make us happier, nothing that is more of a blessing, nothing worth being envied for than spending eternity with God in His Kingdom. Jesus knows that, we know that, the rest of the world will learn that.
The thing we don’t know is how to get there. At the time, these people had no idea that Jesus would later die for them so they could access this relationship with God. And now, people have convoluted what Christianity is to such an extreme, it’s hard to tell what’s true and not without looking to the Word.
Luckily, Jesus is very clear on how to be a follower of Him. He gave us explicit instructions on how to live for the Kingdom. A Guide to Kingdom Living, if you will.
Let’s go ahead and start at the beginning.
Blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Matthew 5:3 CSB
Although we are a pretty strict-ish CSB blog, I absolutely love NLT’s version of this verse. It takes out all of the guesswork.
“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:3 NLT.
The word used here for poor is the Greek word ptóchos which translates to beggarly. But, while we all have an idea of what poor means, Jesus isn’t speaking about material poverty here. He specifically says “poor in spirit.”
I am not the finance person in my relationship. I am horrible with money, and I would be in so much debt if it wasn’t for my husband. Being poor materially is something that scares me. To not have a house to come home to, to not have food to eat when I’m hungry. There’s nothing scarier in my book.
Luckily, to be poor in spirit before God is not scary. It should be second nature to us, because we know the Truth. We deserve nothing but judgment and hate from God. We sin against Him, seek out our own selfish gain, and are prone to wander far from Him. We don’t deserve anything, least of all a loving relationship with Him.
But acknowledging these facts, allows us to be in the presence of Him. That’s what this verse means. Once we truly realize our need for Him, He welcomes us.
Jesus is telling us that the people who are too proud in their own works, will never realize their true need for God, and will therefore miss the entire point of Jesus dying for us. Without that faith joined perfectly with true repentance, we will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
There is only one way to God, and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no room for us to deceive ourselves into believing we can do it on our own. Our own strength and abilities are insufficient.
We are to realize our need for Him, to beg for Him like a poor man begs for help out of poverty. This poverty of spirit isn’t something that can be solved by coins in a cup or a meal from a stranger, but instead only by God who was willing to give the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Once we know this irrevocable truth in our hearts, we are promised a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 CSB
Just as we have to acknowledge our need for God, we also have to acknowledge how awful our sinfulness is. The person we were before we accepted Christ as our Savior is a despicable person. The person we are now is equally as awful, but we are washed clean by Jesus’ sacrifice. As genuine disciples, we are seeking opportunities to be like Christ, turning from our sin.
We have to mourn, which in this case means deeply, soulfully, regretting the sin that keeps us from God. Without regretting the sin so completely, we will never be able to repent from the sins the way God wants us to.
In John’s first letter, he talks about fellowship with God (Chapter 1 verses 5-10). God is light, there is no darkness in Him. When we justify our sins, we allow darkness into ourselves, which keeps us from God.
Once we hate that part of ourselves, to the point that we can finally turn from the sinful natures that we are drawn to, Jesus promises us that we will be comforted.
Comforted!
When we finally grieve our sinful nature, and turn fully to God, He will comfort us. John continues on in this chapter to say “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 CSB).
Just like being poor in spirit, once we realize we have nothing to offer God, and just accept that He’s allowing us into His family anyway, we can be comforted to know that it’s genuine.
I accepted Christ my senior year of high school. I had spent years searching for happiness in every possible way, and to this day I hate myself for it. If I could go back in time, I’d wring my own neck and smack some sense into myself (probably with a Bible). But, I find peace knowing that I will be comforted by my Lord, because He knows what all I’ve done and still found me fit to die for.
Varying Viewpoint!
This is where DeeDee gets to throw in her two cents because we both read this scripture and came to different conclusions on what this meant. Neither of us are wrong, because both cover mourning. But, since we aren’t able to ask Jesus what He meant right this moment, we’ve decided to share both viewpoints. Take it away DeeDee!
Why thank ya, Mel!! “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Mourning is deep sorrow. On a surface level, I think this can refer to when we are physically mourning the loss of a loved one who has died. Jesus comforts us in moments of deep sorrow. However, it goes deeper. Jesus provides comfort when we mourn the effects of sin in this world. We know sin is the cause of all things “bad” and the separation between us and God. There are times I feel deep sorrow for all the pain and heartache that sin has caused, and Jesus provides comfort in these times. Sin causes illnesses, but also anxiety and a feeling of inexplicable loneliness, even when surrounded by people. Sin is the reason I fear those I love rejecting me or leaving me. Sin is the source of pride, rebellion, lust, self-sufficiency, greed, etc. One of the biggest effects of sin is the rift it causes between Christ and I. I want so badly to be perfect like He is, to have a heart like His, and to do His will. But no matter how badly I try, I can’t. It can be so tempting to fall into pits of despair when you start dwelling on the effects of sin. BUT JESUS. Jesus comforts His own. Jesus says “I see you feeling deep sorrow due to the effects of sin in this world. I see you. I love you. One day you will not have to experience any of the effects of sin ever again. Rest in that comfort, sweet child.” – DeeDee out
Blessed are the humble
Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 CSB
In the ESV they say “meek” instead of “humble.” Either way, the Greek word is praeis which means mild or gentle. We are blessed by God if we are mild/gentle, meek/humble.
We live in a world where everyone has to fight for themselves to get what they want, not caring how it affects other people. Needless to say, humble/meek isn’t exactly what the world expects from us. Not only do we get to be set apart from the world by being humble, we get to find our strength in God instead of in ourselves.
Just like the first two beatitudes, we are focusing on God more than ourselves, realizing just how unable we are in all accounts. We are made to glorify God, not ourselves, and God promises to bless those who remember that.
This verse promises that those who pursue humility will reign with God for eternity. While humility/humble/meek mean similar things, our pastor uses a definition that I love: Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.
We aren’t called to be a doormat, we are called to love others, which is something Jesus may have said. (I’m just kidding, He definitely said it. Matthew 22:37-40). And it’s simple.
My marriage works not because we both give 50%, but because we both give 100%. We both work to put the other’s needs first, trusting that the other will take care of us. Jesus wants us as His followers to love like this. To love others in a way that the world is incapable of.
These attitudes aren’t impossible, in fact, Jesus modeled them for us time and time again. There’s a reason Jesus tells us to pursue these things. An unknown author says for us to write scripture in our heart so that we may remember it and not sin against God, (Psalm 119:11). If we were to write these in our heart and pursue these three things every day, we would be seeking our relationship with God the way He wants us to.
I want to challenge you to memorize these three verses. Write it down on a couple of index cards and tape them up where you’ll see them a lot. Write this scripture on your heart, and pray for the opportunity to seek God the way Jesus has told us to!