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“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.- Matthew 5:7

                We live in a world of imbalance.  Material wealth is distributed unevenly, but people have non-material qualities in differing degrees, too.  Some are more intelligent or have more or less artistic skill or scientific aptitude or business acumen.  Yet some skills or abilities can be increased or developed beyond natural aptitude.  This is true, too, for our emotions, our capacity to feel, especially to feel for others.

But what makes people merciful?  What makes us care about others in need?  Some people may be born with more merciful hearts, and some may have been taught well.  But mercy is most powerful when it comes from the heart, and we are most inclined to feel mercy for others when we know that we ourselves depend on mercy each day.

As we consider the progression of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 we see that the poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of heaven because, only if we admit our sin and depravity can we receive God’s offer of salvation.  When a grasp of the gravity of our sin causes us to mourn, we are comforted by the assurance of forgiveness in Christ.  This makes us meek, for we can no longer enforce our will over someone else once we ourselves are humbled at the realization our standing before God.  And aware of what we do not have and what we are not, we hunger and thirst for what we would be; we long to be like God and so crave His righteousness.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. - Matthew 5:6

We are not righteous by nature.  We are sinful, broken and rebellious.  We acknowledge that and admit that we have no goodness in us that should recommend us to the Lord.  We might even grieve over our sin, those behaviors and attitudes that displease and alienate us from God.  And if we are honest with ourselves, this humbles us and takes away from us any basis for pride or elevating ourselves over others; it makes us meek.

We have thus addressed the first three Beatitudes:

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

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

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

But then we come to the fourth: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.  This is the experience of the true Christian.  As we enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we realize what we lack, we mourn it and we are made meek.  But we don’t stop there.  As citizens of God’s Kingdom, we come to desire what He desires.  It is not enough for us to admit what we lack; we want it!  We see God’s righteousness, in His Word, in His son, and we praise Him for it.  What we once avoided we now see as beautiful and we yearn for it.  And that desire is so intense, and so fundamental that it is like our hunger for food and thirst for water.  It feels so essential to our new spiritual lives that we would waste away and die without it.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. - Matthew 5:5

Our society does not value meekness. We honor the ambitious; we reward the “self-starters.” Meekness is considered by many to be synonymous with weakness. In business and in relationships, people are encouraged to be more bold. Those who are not are pitied. For how else are we to get what we want, and our culture is all about getting what we want.

But the Kingdom of Heaven has completely different priorities. As we have seen in the Beatitudes, the Kingdom belongs to the poor in spirit, those who are aware that their sin leaves them morally and spiritually bankrupt, and in no position to negotiate a deal for salvation with God. We must cast ourselves on Him and plead His mercy; and He does respond in mercy. As Jesus says in John 6:37, “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

The second beatitude says “Blessed are those who mourn.” It is not that mourning is inherently beneficial, but grief over our sin is the only right response to having transgressed against a God Who has loved us so well. As we are initially forgiven and brought into the kingdom of heaven, our former way of life and the remaining effects of sin will cause us to mourn. But those who mourn will be comforted, as God continually gives grace and forgiveness.

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:1-3

      When the time for Jesus to begin His earthly ministry, he was baptized by John.  John protested, “But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 4:14-15).”

      Jesus then went into the wilderness, where He fasted for 40 days, was tempted by the devil (4:1-11), and emerged victorious. 

     Having prepared Himself this way ceremonially and spiritually, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (4:17).”  The Kingdom of Heaven was always central to Jesus’ preaching.

He next called His disciples (4:18-22) and taught them, too, about the Kingdom.  His first extended teaching in Matthew 5-7 is called the Sermon on the Mount.  It is not a plea for repentance to the undecided, but is instruction about what Kingdom living looks like to those who have been called by Jesus to be His disciples.  The crowds were present (v. 1), and Jesus is always speaking to those who will listen, but as He sat on the Mount to teach, His intended audience was the disciples He had just called.  His teaching still applies to the church today.  If we would follow Jesus, we need to be aware that we are submitting to the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.  And the Sermon on the Mount tells us what Kingdom living looks like.