Sunday 3rd November 2024. All Saints’ Sunday.

Pastor Pete Myers explains Matthew 5:1-12.

What does it mean to be blessed?

What does it mean to be blessed?

What does it mean to be blessed?

There are so many claims about blessing that have hurt so many of us over the years.

There’s the raw and crass prosperity gospel: If you have true faith, then you will be healthy and wealthy. Many people are ensnared by that lie.

But, many of us are not and are instead confused and hurt by more subtle versions: If you have true faith, then your marriage will be happy with no problems. If you have true faith, then your children will turn out a certain way. If you have true faith, then you be emotionally healed—you’ll be happy and have inner peace.

And there are infinite other different versions of these same false gospels. False gospels that promise some sort of “blessing” that we desperately—and understandably—want now.

And it’s not just supposedly Christian preachers who make these claims. One religion offers inner peace. Another religion promises an ordered life. This secular group guarantee psychological wellness. That secular technique offers the secret of success.

Blessing is something all human beings want. And so unsurprisingly there’s no shortage of people trying to sell us their technique to get it.

But, as we come to our Gospel passage today, Jesus will challenge us to wrestle with this question: What does it mean to be blessed?

These statements by Jesus, called the beatitudes, are very famous and they’ve been repeated—and mocked—many times. They begin Jesus’ most recognized speech the “Sermon the Mount”

But if you look at them closely, four things emerge that Jesus is saying about blessing:

1) Blessing is a fruit of faith
2) Blessing is about the next world, not this world
3) The blessed trust God is judge
4) The blessed trust God is good to us

Blessing is a fruit of faith

The first of those: Blessing is a fruit of faith

Please look again at vv. 1-2:

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

Now the translation printed on our sheets doesn’t have that slightly odd phrase “and he opened his mouth”. Because… it is slightly odd! But it’s there in the original. And it’s there to emphasise the significance of Jesus’ Word.

Faith is the right response to Jesus’ Word. And here we have Jesus, himself, preaching to us. And Jesus, himself, thinks his words are very important. He will end his sermon in chapter 7 verse 24 by saying this:

 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Jesus’ words are really important: how do we receive them wisely? Jesus starts his sermon by answering that question in v. 3:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And immediately, Jesus challenges the view of blessing that is still popular and pervasive today:

  • Blessed are the poor in spirit, not the healthy and healed.
  • Blessed are the poor in spirit, not the financially prosperous.
  • Blessed are the poor in spirit, not those successful in life.
  • Blessed are the poor in spirit, not those who have peace and joy.
  • Blessed are the poor in spirit, not those living in protection and safety.
  • Blessed are the poor in spirit, not those with perfect families.
  • Blessed are the poor in spirit, not those with a sense of divine guidance and purpose.

So many of these things are promised by preachers today, but these are not what Jesus is promising, so to receive Jesus’ words as promising something they are not is not to receive them wisely.

But, also look at what Jesus is actually saying:
He is not saying: Blessed are the financially poor.
He is saying: Blessed are the spiritually poor.

For thousands of years, some people received Jesus’ words by escaping from the world, giving up all possessions, sacrificing businesses and careers becoming monks and nuns… But that is not what Jesus is calling people to do. So to receive Jesus’ words as commanding something they are not is not to receive them wisely.

No, instead, Jesus is calling us to be poor in spirit; to have humility before God.

I am not spiritually poor when I have nothing. No, rather, I am spiritually poor when I trust nothing or find comfort in nothing other than the promise of the kingdom of heaven.

That is faith… to receive Jesus’ Word in trust. That is what it means to receive his Word as a wise man. And that is what it means to be blessed. Because Blessing is a fruit of faith

Blessing is about the next world, not this world

And that leads us onto Jesus’ second point in the beatitudes: Blessing is about the next world, not this world. Look again at vv. 3 and 5:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

You see the common idea there: those who are blessed have the kingdom of heaven and will inherit the earth.

People continue to make false promises to us about blessings in this life. And they make those false promises to us because we want to hear them.

But Jesus is an honest preacher… …as soon as he opens his mouth, there are no wrong impressions and no false promises.

Jesus does not promise glory now. In fact, it’s the opposite, just look at v. 4,

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Mourning means to be sad, to be stressed and to suffer. Jesus does not say: you’ll be happy, easygoing and successful.

Now, many of us have been sold that lie: that if we truly had faith and understood the gospel, then we would be emotionally successful, we wouldn’t be depressed, or sad, or struggle.

But, that is a false teaching about what the gospel promises. Joy and emotional success are not spiritual health. Jesus himself is described by the prophet Isaiah 53:3 in this way:

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

And depression and sadness are not spiritual sickness. Rather, they are an acknowledgement of the reality of this world. Hear just some of the words of Paul the Apostle:

Romans 8:18 the “sufferings of this present time”
Romans 8:19 “creation waits with eager longing”
Romans 8:21 creation has a “bondage to corruption”
Romans 8:22 “the whole creation has been groaning together”

Even creation itself is depressed.

Don’t ever buy into the lie that depression and psychological pain are a sign of spiritual weakness or immaturity. They are not.

Don’t take my word for that, hear the words of Christ:

Blessed are those who mourn

Christ doesn’t judge your depresses: he empathises with it. Because…Blessing is about the next world, not this world

The blessed trust God is judge

Now, when we hear Jesus’ words in the context of the false ideas he is rebuking, then they’re quite hard hitting.

But Jesus is doing more than just challenging false ideas that place my trust and confidence in the wrong places.

Because Jesus shows us that: The blessed trust God is judge. Look at vv. 5 and 7:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth… Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

These words “meek” and “merciful” are two sides of the same coin.

Another word for “meek” is “gentle”. For a long time, I struggled to understand what it meant. I’m quite expressive. I’ve got a naturally loud voice. Some people are naturally shy and quiet. Should everyone, including me, be more like them?

Well, that’s nothing to do with what being meek means. Instead, it’s about not pressing people’s mistakes home to them.

That person who doesn’t keep reminding you of your flaws, who doesn’t constantly criticize, who doesn’t belittle others and find fault.

And when you hear that definition, you can see how it’s connected to the idea of being merciful.

Why are the blessed like this? These are both fruits of faith, as all the beatitudes are.

If I trust that Jesus is a good God who will judge the world, then that will start to express itself in meekness: I’ll let go of people’s errors and won’t keep going on about them.

And that faith will start to express itself in mercy: I’ll forgive people for their mistakes, and not hold it against them.

But, that doesn’t mean I won’t care justice and rightness. If I trust that Jesus is a good God who will judge the world, then more and more I’ll want to see his character, his justice worked out in myself and others. That’s the point of v. 6:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

People who put their faith in Christ, who trust his words, who have confidence in the future he has promised, simultaneously stop trying to take justice in their own hands, but also more and more long to see justice worked out in the world.

Blessed people are gentle and forgiving. Blessed people are hungry to see God’s justice flourish. Because: The blessed trust God is judge

The blessed trust God is good to us

But even more than that: The blessed trust God is good to us. Look now at v. 8:

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

It’s so easy to just make up explanations of what Jesus is saying here. But scripture is very clear in many places how it is we have a pure heart.

John 15:3, Jesus says:

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

1 Peter 1:22-23, the Apostle writes:

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

What is meant by a “pure heart” is this: a heart that is watching and pondering what God says and replacing its own ideas with the Word of God.

That is responding to God’s Word in faith. Faith, receiving God’s Word in trust, is what it means to be pure before God.

And those who are pure will “see God,” which means “seeing God” rightly: as a Father who loves you, who is pleased with you.

Faith like that, confident that God is pleased with you, bears fruit as one who reconciles and makes peace, v. 8:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed people do this because they know that God is good and that God is good to them.

And knowing God is good to them, having confidence that God cares about them, and is pleased with them, they are willing to suffer in this life, even to suffer for him, vv. 10-12:

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus’ Word here is the universal testimony of the New Testament.

Matthew 16:24:

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Paul in Philippians 1:29:

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

Romans 8:16-17:

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Peter in 1 Peter 2:20:

if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

What does it mean to be blessed?

What does it mean to be blessed?

There are so many false teachings about this topic. False gospels that promise you things that Jesus does not promise:

  • Health and healing.
  • Financial prosperity.
  • Success and splendor.
  • Peace and joy.
  • Protection and safety.
  • Purpose and guidance.
  • Renewed marriages.
  • Refreshed families.
  • Restored relationships.

These things are not promised to us by Christ. And so many people are hurting, because they falsely blame a failure of faith, or a poor performance, for not having them.

Instead: Blessing is a fruit of faith. Blessing is about the next world, not this world.

And so this is what it means to be blessed: The blessed trust God is judge. The blessed trust God is good to us.

And here’s how you can have a pure heart, and see God as he really is, our Father who is good to us even in the midst of all the sufferings we face: Hear his Word, and believe it. Because,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.