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Life Application Study Bible says the following about the Beatitudes:
There are at least four ways to understand the Beatitudes. (1) They are a code of ethics for the disciples and a standard of conduct for all believers. (2) They contrast kingdom values (what is eternal) with worldly values (what is temporary). (3) They contrast the superficial "faith" of the Pharisees with the real faith Christ wants. (4) They show how the Old Testament expectations will be fulfilled in the new kingdom. These beatitudes are not multiple choice--pick what you like and leave the rest. They must be taken as a whole. They describe what we should be like as Christ's followers. Also;
Each beatitude tells how to be blessed. "Blessed" means more than happiness. It implies the fortunate or enviable state of those who are in God's kingdom. The Beatitudes don't promise laughter, pleasure, or earthly prosperity. To Jesus, "blessed" means the experience of hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances. To find hope and joy, the deepest form of happiness, follow Jesus no matter what the cost.Additional Thoughts On Each Beatitude:
Blessed are the spiritually needy--- It all starts here. Nothing happens until we come to the realization that we are so bankrupt in our own spirituality that we must depend on an outside/external source—our Heavenly Father. John Wesley said, “It is a recognition of personal, moral, and spiritual unworthiness. Spiritually, morally, personally, socially, in every single realm that you can think of in the human life, that you’re showing you are in need of God.” Our good works won’t get us to heaven. We have nothing within ourselves that is worthy of presenting to God. We need God to bless us, to save us, to make us worthy of being in His presence.
Blessed are those who are sad--- Once we realize that we are morally and spiritually empty without the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and that we are sinners by nature, the natural emotional response is to mourn over our bankrupt souls. This doesn’t mean that we should be sad sacks, constantly depressed, morose, or brooding. We are not commanded to sink into a never-ending depression because of the fact that we have a sinful nature. When Jesus tells us to be sad, or mournful, He is simply referring to spiritual sorrow. We are to recognize our sinfulness for what it is and we are to refrain from rationalizing it. We are to humbly beg God to wash our sins away because we are powerless to defeat sin alone. Think about your own experiences. Do you know when you are the most vulnerable to sin? It’s when you are satisfied and forgetful of your own limitations. It’s when you say, “I’ve got it covered God. I can handle things myself.” When we forget we are poor in spirit we cease to mourn over our spiritual deficiencies and we become prime targets for Satan’s grasp. Mournfulness is a hard trait to master because it certainly goes against everything the world teaches. Self-esteem, self-gratification, do what it takes to feel good—that’s what the world teaches.
Blessed are those who are free of pride (meek)--- Here is a real misunderstood term in today’s world. Say the word “meek” and other words come immediately to mind; words like “cowardly” or “timid” or “wishy-washy” or “pacifist” or “weak”. This is an excellent example of how the Beatitudes completely contradict and turn around worldly values. The dictionary in my Bible defines "meek” as humbly and gently doing God’s will.
There is a lesson there for Christians. When Jesus says we need to be meek, He means that we should be gentle and humble in our words and actions, not brash or self-promoting. Jesus wants us to be strong and outspoken about our faith (read about Peter in Acts 4) but also wants us to adopt a servant attitude (read John 13:1-20) so that we will be willing to serve God in any way that brings Him glory. He wants us to see ourselves as God sees us—sinful and in need of salvation. How could we possibly be boastful or prideful if we recognize our own sinfulness? Jesus wants us to apply His Holy Word to our lives because we know we’ll die without it. He certainly doesn’t want us to beat people over the head with the Bible in a haughty, self-righteous manner. He does, however, want us to humbly share His Good News with others. Above all else, Jesus wants us to love and worship God so completely that we will humbly follow His will for our lives, wherever that may lead.
Do you want to read about meekness personified? Read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. God sent Jesus to be the Messiah, the Savior of all who call on His name, yet He was born in a barn with a manger for a crib. When Jesus reached adulthood, he was the poorest of the poor, at least in the earthly sense. Matthew 8:20 shows that Jesus was homeless. He had no money or earthly possessions of any sort. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, He rode a donkey. When Jesus was in the garden at Gesthemane, His soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Mark 14:34) because He of course knew what lay ahead of Him. Jesus knew that when He took the burden of our sins while on the cross, He would be temporarily separated from God and He was in agony. Yet He prayed, “Yet not what I will, but what you will” (verse 36). Jesus willingly carried His own cross to Golgotha and was mocked as He hung on the cross. He could have come down from the cross and exacted justice right on the spot, but He humbly allowed God’s salvation plan to be finished. Throughout His earthly life, Jesus humbly, gently, and meekly set aside His infinite power and majesty to follow through with God’s perfect plan to institute His New Covenant of salvation. Read what Paul had to say about Christ’s humility in his letter to the Philippians (chapter 2, verses 1-11):
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus; ‘Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ "
Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for what is right--- Do you see how the Beatitudes offer us a step-by-step progression? If we recognize that we are indeed poor in spirit, and we mourn over the depth of our sinfulness, and we meekly put our lives in God’s hands and follow His will because we are all too aware of our own impotence, we must take the next step and beg God to wash those sins away. We are commanded to hunger and thirst for the Holy Spirit to transform us (and others) just as a starving man would hunger and thirst for bread and water. We must yearn for God’s goodness and righteousness, both in ourselves and in the world. We have to know that this world is so very temporary and that God has a permanent home reserved for us in heaven where righteousness will reign forever. We must strive daily and hourly and minute-by-minute to live as God has commanded with our eyes on that eternal prize. If we yearn for worldly possessions, material wealth, or earthly, vulgar excitement, we become of the world and there is no room in our hearts for righteousness.
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Life Application Study Bible has a wonderful chart in it showing how the book of Proverbs compares and contrasts the lifestyles of the righteous with the wicked. This makes a great tool as you seek to teach your children how to live a righteous life. Proverbs 10:24 shows that the righteous have a hopeful outlook on life, while the wicked are fearful. 12:10 says that the righteous are concerned about God’s creation. The righteous don’t desire the company of godless people (24:1,2), they care for the poor (29:7), they detest the dishonest (29:27), and they persevere against evil (24:15,16). It would be good to sit down with your children and read through Proverbs together (little bits at a time) so that they could be led to live righteous lives. Also read John 15:5-8. Jesus explains in this passage that the only way to live righteously is to continually seek closeness with God. We do that through prayer and through reading the Bible.
Blessed are those who show mercy--- Our God is a merciful and loving God. We know that, by God’s perfect standard, there is not one righteous man on this earth. We also know that the wages of sin are death. God must punish sin, but His great love for us means that we can be forgiven of our sins. Read the account of Moses leading the Israelites to the Promised Land to see God’s mercy in action. Read the book of Jonah (it’s short). The city of Nineveh was as evil and corrupt as any city in the world, but God called Jonah to witness to the people there. After a short detour by way of the stomach of a great fish, Jonah did go to Nineveh and all 120,000 of the Ninevites repented. God showed them mercy and spared their lives. Each and every one of us sins on a daily basis, falling short of what God expects of us, yet God continues to forgive us and to give us second chances (and third and fourth and…) and to show us a level of mercy we don’t deserve.
Because of the great mercy that God has shown us, God expects us to be merciful to others. We are to clothe the poor, feed the hungry, minister to the sick and dying, and proclaim the Gospel to a dying world. We are to work to relieve suffering wherever we find it. We are to show active, working compassion that makes a difference. This is what churches are talking about when they use the word “mission”. As Christians, our mission is to be Christ in this world, and we do that by being merciful.
Read Matthew 25:31-46 as Jesus talks about the Final Judgment. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
The message is clear—we serve Christ when we are mercifully serving others.
One of my favorite quotes comes from the great theologian Roberto Clemente (OK, maybe he wasn’t a great theologian, but he was one of the greatest right fielders ever to play the game of baseball!). Clemente was a wonderful humanitarian, and, in fact, lost his life in a plane crash while flying supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. The great Clemente used to say, “Anytime you have an opportunity to make things better and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on this earth.”
That is showing mercy.
Blessed are those whose hearts are pure--- Jesus really upset a lot of people when He began His ministry. Jesus told the people that it wasn’t enough for us to be blameless in our actions. Our hearts and thoughts had to be pure as well. That’s a pretty radical concept! For example, in Matthew 5:21,22 Jesus states that it’s not enough to avoid murder. We must also avoid murderous anger and hatred. Verses 27-30 say that we are to avoid adultery, but we are also commanded to avoid lustful, unfaithful thoughts. Verses 42-48 say that we have to love our enemies! Jesus says that we must be free from selfishness, greed, arrogance, and hate. We must be pure in heart.
Of course we can’t purify our hearts by ourselves. We must accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and then pray for the Holy Spirit to transform us. The Spirit can and will change our hearts and purify us if we open our hearts, minds and souls to Christ.
As I looked through my
Life Application Study Bible, reading everything God’s Word has to say about our heart, I began to notice a theme. When God says He wants us to have a pure heart, He isn’t just talking about sprucing up the old heart. God wants us to have a complete heart transplant. The Holy Spirit will give us a new heart that is responsive to God, if we are open to the transformation. Ezekiel 11:19-20 says “…I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” Psalm 51:10-12 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
There are many examples in the Bible of just exactly what this “heart transplant” looks like. Read the account of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. Zacchaeus was a very dishonest tax collector who clearly had cheated a great many people. When he heard about Jesus, though, something sparked inside him and he had to go see what Jesus was all about. Look how quickly the change came upon Zacchaeus. Jesus spoke to him, Zacchaeus spoke back, and he was instantly transformed.
Read about the two criminals who hung on crosses along side Jesus (Luke 23:32-43). Both of those criminals were guilty of the crimes they had been charged with, and they had probably been like that all of their lives. One criminal, however, looked into the face of Jesus as they were dying and received a new heart. His heart was cleansed, his sins were washed away, and Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
How do we receive this gift of a new heart from the Holy Spirit, and how do we lead our family there? We have really already answered that question. We receive our new, pure heart when we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, we believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we study God’s Word, and we pray continually that God will make us poor in spirit, mournful of our sins, meek, merciful, and righteous. The Holy Spirit will transform us over the course of our life, and He will transform our families if we allow Him to.
Blessed are those who make peace--- I was flipping through the news channels the other day and I heard one of the talking heads say that in over 4000 years of recorded world history, there have only been 300 without a major war. If that’s true (isn’t everything on the news true?) it’s a pretty sad commentary on man’s ability to live in peace and harmony. I looked in the dictionary in my Bible, and it defines “peace” as a state of calm, freedom from strife or discord, harmony in personal relationships. Not a whole lot of that going around over 4000 years is there? As I have talked to other Christians about this particular Beatitude, I have noticed a lot of disagreement about what we are commanded to do in order to be faithful to its teaching. I have heard everything from “war is a sin” to “Christians must be pacifists” to “Christian nations have an obligation to destroy ‘rogue’ nations to preserve peace”. Maybe we should look to the Bible to see what God says about being peacemakers.
Philippians 4:4-7 contains the very essence of what I believe Jesus was talking about. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Let’s break that passage down so that we can understand what God means when He says, “blessed are the peacemakers”.
First, the passage starts out with the word “Rejoice”, and the word is repeated. Paul wrote these words in about A.D. 61 in a letter to the Christians at Philippi. Paul actually wrote this letter as he sat locked up in a Roman prison, so it may seem odd that he could say “rejoice” and mean it. As you read this passage, and indeed, if you read the entire letter, you see that Paul was positively joyful. The lesson here for us is that no matter what may be happening in your life, good or bad, Jesus Christ is with you, and that is cause for celebration. Understand that there is a big difference between “happiness” and “joy”. Happiness is what the world says we should strive for, but it is so very temporary and superficial that frustration sets in when we can’t find it. Joy is very different. Joy comes from an intimate relationship with God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Joy is the deep, warm contentment we have in our soul because of God’s assurance of His love, and His promise to never leave us alone. Joy is the gift to our heart, mind and soul when we realize that God’s promise is true; namely that this world is temporary and that God has an eternal home waiting for us in heaven.
Second, the passage says that we are to be gentle. We have already talked about how important it is to be gentle and meek in the spiritual sense. Gentleness is essential as we seek God’s peace in our hearts, and as we seek to live in peace with others.
Third, the passage says to not be anxious, because the Lord is near. Think about what it would be like to not be worried about anything. Seems impossible, doesn’t it. It’s not. Psalm 7:1 says “O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me…” Verse 10 says “My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.” God is so close to us that He can be our shield and our refuge. He is where you are. Think of the joy and peace we would have in our hearts if we could stay mindful of this fact.
Fourth, Paul tells us how we go about taking refuge in God. We pray. We pray about anything and everything. We pray with thanksgiving because God loves us with a love that we don’t deserve. We thankfully and humbly present our requests to God, “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The note in my Life Application Study Bible by Zondervan says, “God’s peace is different from the world’s peace. True peace is not found in positive thinking, in absence of conflict, or in good feelings. It comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin.” This simple (maybe not so simple) truth is further emphasized in John 14:27. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” That is God’s peace.
How do we become peacemakers? We become peacemakers by loving God with our entire being. We become peacemakers by loving our neighbor as much as we love ourselves and by being God’s hands and feet in this world. We become peacemakers by being poor in spirit, by mourning over our sinfulness, by being meek, gentle and humble, by thirsting after righteousness, by being pure in heart through the Holy Spirit, and by being merciful towards others.
Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right--- John 15:18-27 says, "
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”If you faithfully follow Jesus in all that you do, the world will hate you. Period. The good news, though, is that Jesus says that if we follow Him, and love His Father with our entire beings, we will be blessed with an inner joy and peace that is impossible for non-believers to comprehend. This joy comes from the knowledge that Jesus has overcome death, He has cleansed us of our sins, and, no matter what happens to us in this life, our faith will be rewarded when we are made perfect in His Heavenly Kingdom. Read Hebrews 11 to see how our faith, even in the face of persecution, will be rewarded.
