Sermon on the Mount 1, Beatitudes 1 (Matthew 5: 1-4)

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

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Matthew 5 – 7 is called the Sermon on the Mount. There are a total of 111 verses in these three chapters. Apart from Matthew 5:1 and 7:28-29, which were authored by Matthew, all the other 108 verses were spoken by the Lord Jesus himself. There is a Bible called the Red Letter Bible; in it, everything spoken by the Lord Jesus is in red. Thus, in the Red Letter Bible, these three chapters can be called red letter scripture, and these are precious bible passages. During the first Sunday of every month, we will reflect on messages from the Sermon on the Mount. If we can memorize this Scripture passage, how helpful that would be to us all our lives.

Before we move on to studying the passage, we must first understand that the theological world holds three different views of the Sermon on the Mount:

1. The Beatitudes are for the future. This view holds that because the standard of the Beatitudes is too high, it is not meant for present day believers. They believe that the Beatitudes are meant to be observed only after the Lord has returned and established the millennium kingdom. So the Beatitudes are for the future, not for the present.

2. The Beatitudes is for some particular group of people in the church. This view believes that there are special groups of people in the church, such as pastors, missionaries, elders and deacons. They believe that the spiritual lives of these people are more mature, they can obey the teachings of the Beatitudes while the ordinary believers cannot.

3. The Beatitudes is for every believer. This is also our view. The Beatitudes is not for the millennium reign, it is for every believer in this present age. The church doesn’t have a special level of people, we are all equal. You and the pastors, missionaries, elders, deacons are all the same. We are brothers and sisters. The Beatitudes’ standard is truly very high, but this is the standard we must seek to attain. Without high standards, we will not aim towards greater progress.

5:1-2 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

When Jesus sat down, his disciples came to him and Jesus began to teach them. During Jesus’ time, a person who can teach receives much honor and respect. Students show respect for their teacher by letting him sit while they, the students or listeners, remain standing. We are in the period of grace now. We rather that one man stand than for hundreds to do so. That is why the preacher today stands while you are seated. I am not saying that you should stand up or that you do not respect me, but I want all of us to understand that we must have a humble and teachable heart. When the Lord’s servant speaks and presents the Word of God to us, our hearts must stand at attention, we must listen to the Lord’s teachings with a yearning heart and an attitude of reverence. When Jesus sat down, he set forth the attitude and identity of a teacher, and his disciples came to him, stood before him with a reverent attitude, saying: `Your servants are here, Teacher, please speak.’ The Lord Jesus began to teach them then.

5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. According to the world’s standards, blessed are the rich, not the poor. But the eight blessings in the Sermon on the Mount is not the world’s blessings, these are spiritual blessings.

Some Bible versions translate blessed as happy. Happiness is of course a blessing. But if one only pursues happiness, it is but a shallow form of blessedness. What is true blessedness? According to Dr. D. A. Carson “To be affirmed and accepted by God is to be truly blessed.” I feel that this statement is very meaningful. Can we be more blessed than when we are affirmed and accepted by the King of kings and Lord of lords? Let us use this viewpoint to explain the Beatitudes.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. This is the first of the eight blessings. It is also the foundation of all the other blessings. If we do not feel that we are poor in our spirit, how can we mourn? Without mourning, how can we be meek? Without meekness how can we thirst for righteousness? The eight blessings refer to eight levels of the spiritual life.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is the first stage. The meaning of this statement is: God begins when man finds himself at the end of his rope. There is a Bible called The Message, its author is Eugene Peterson; he said: “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.” Why is one blessed when he is at the end of his rope? It is at this time that God begins to work. The best example is the tax collector’s prayer, he didn’t even dare look up, he prayed: Have mercy on me, O God, for I am a sinner. He was truly at the end of his rope. How can a cup be filled when it has not been emptied of its content first? If a person does not humble himself, how can he accept teaching? If a person does not feel he has needs, how will he accept help from others? If a person does not admit he is sick, why would he go to a doctor? If a person does not feel that he has sinned, he wouldn’t ask for a savior. The Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 rules which those who wish to join must accept. The first rule is – the participant must admit he is helpless to help himself; for if not, he will not be successful at recovering.

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, the tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners flocked to Him, while the Scribes, Pharisees and the priests were not willing to come to Him. Why? Because the religious people did not feel they were poor in spirit, they felt they were blessed. They judged the others, forgetting that they themselves were poor. They were not willing to come to Jesus. Contrarily, the tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners knew they were poor in spirit, so they came to Jesus.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Poor means one has nothing, it refers to extreme poverty. There are many kinds of poverty. Many people say: `I have no money’ but they can afford to buy new cars, new cell phones, new computers. True poverty is to have nothing. When a person admits that he is spiritually poor, then such a man is blessed, because only then will he wholeheartedly rely on God. Then, the kingdom of heaven will be his.

Poverty is the means by which we receive help. If we are not experiencing poverty, we would be unwilling to receive help. Today as you come to church, if you see a man dressed pitifully asking you for money, and you give him fifty pesos, he would receive the money and say thank you. But if after the service, you give me fifty pesos and say: Pastor, this is for you, go and eat lunch. Not only will I not thank you, I will feel insulted and think ‘you think that as a pastor I don’t even have fifty pesos to eat!’ ; because I do not feel that I am poor, I forfeited the joy of receiving your blessing.

The first time I went to the States, I did something wrong. That night, I invited two friends to dinner. I paid for the dinner. Knowing that I must give a tip, yet not knowing how much to give, I put three dollars on the plate. I felt that was already a lot, for that already exceeded the standards in the Philippines. But the manager said: I do not want those money, and at the same time showed a bad attitude. I knew that it meant I didn’t give enough but I was displeased too. I felt: I have already given you a tip, not only do you not want it but you show such a bad attitude. So I snatched up the coins and left not a cent of tip. And so she became angrier. Later on I find out that I was wrong. It turned out there was a standard rate for tipping. But what I wanted to point out here is why she rejected the tip – Not only did she reject my tip because it was below the standard rate, but she did not feel she needed my small tip, because she had plenty; as a result she forfeited my small tip. Do you feel poor in your heart? If you do not feel that you are poor in spirit, then you will not be able to receive God’s grace.

5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted

How can those who mourn be called blessed? We love to be happy. Who loves to cry? The entertainment industry earns hundreds of millions yearly. In this generation, as long as you know how to laugh, and can bring laughter to others, you can earn big money. When you put on the TV, there is always some comedy on prime time. The purpose is to make you laugh. In Hong Kong, ten years ago, a person who had a very ordinary face became a celebrity. One could easily find someone like him on the streets. He had no extraordinary features, but he had an extraordinary talent. He could make people laugh. Every one of his movies can make one laugh from start to finish. As a result he earned a lot of money and he is now a billionaire. Now, it seems truer to say that one who can make others laugh is more blessed. But the Lord said: Blessed are those who mourn. What does this mean?

Often, Christians tend to embrace some misconceptions, like, to laugh is unspiritual, that only those who have sorrowful faces are spiritual. When the pastors make people laugh at the pulpit, then they conclude that these pastors’ messages are empty. When the pastors’ speak, and the people do not grasp exactly what he is saying, then these are the messages that have content. But that is not what the Lord meant, the Lord said, “When we feel ashamed of our sins, when we grieve, then we are blessed.

Have you ever experienced losing someone in your family? A parent, a brother or sister, or a child? When they passed away, did you grieve? That is the meaning of the word `mourn’ in this passage. If you feel ashamed and grieved over sin just like when you grieve over a loved one’s passing away, then you are blessed. First, we must ask ourselves. Why do we mourn? 1. When our children are unable to pass the exams into good colleges and universities? 2. When our children aren’t able to find good girl/boy friends? 3. When you experience a big loss in business? 4. When you lose your new cell phone? 5. When your new car gets struck in an accident? 6. When your shares in stocks fall… what else?

Adam and Eve felt shame because of sin. They used leaves to cover themselves up. They were blessed. The Lord made them garments of skin because they felt ashamed. How about the world today? Recently, I read a report. It says that China’s economy had improved by leaps and bounds, thus, more and more Chinese have businesses. The report stated that during business meetings, people will ask: Do you have a mistress? It used to be a shameful thing, but now it is a thing to boast about. The answer will be “yes I have, not only one, in fact I have two, three, four, five, six mistresses.” They do not feel shame, instead they boast for the more mistresses they have, the richer it means they are. Because without money, how can they have two or three mistresses. They do not feel shame instead they feel this is a wonderful thing. Woe is truly unto to them. Why do you mourn? What you mourn about shows the things you value.

Many years ago, in the United States, in Seattle, a 20- year old girl was broken hearted because of a failed romance. She went to jump from a bridge at 7 in the morning. The police and the fire department rushed to the scene. For safety precautions, they blocked off the bridge and spend three hours trying to resolve the situation. It was rush hour, when the crowd grew, with people rushing to work and businessmen having contracts to sign, impatience grew. Finally someone said, `If you want to jump, then jump. If you don’t want to jump, then come down. Are you going to jump or not?’ The pressure from the crowd was great. In the end, someone said again: Jump, jump… and the crowd joined in. Thus, the girl jumped. Fortunately, she was rescued and did not die. But, the next day, the news headlined: `People of Seattle we were wrong. We did not act in love.’ But if you were there, in an age where there were no mobile phones, and you were in a hurry to make a big deal, what would you have said? Jump if you want to jump? Because earning money was more important than the life of a person? This is our value system.

Why do you mourn? Do you mourn because of your sins, your shame? Then you still have hope, and you will find comfort, because the Lord will help you. It’s not the end. He who mourns for his sins is blessed, because you will truly have comfort. The character in Chinese for comfort is made up of two characters. One is to be beside, the other is to speak. Comfort means someone beside us, being with us and speaking to us. I believe we all have such experiences, when we are grieving, if someone comes beside us, speaks to us, pat us on our backs, we will feel comfort. When we mourn for our sins, Jesus, the friend of sinners, will be our comforter.

Psalm 56:8 “Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll, put my tears in your wineskin– are they not in your record?” This passage in scripture is very comforting. The Lord not only remembers our tears, he keeps them in his wineskin, lists them on his scroll. The Lord does not take lightly our tears shed because of sins. A pastor was comforting a child who was gravely ill. The child said, “Pastor, thank you, but I am not afraid. For my father’s sake, I am willing to die early. My father never goes to church. But I think, that if I die, he will join my memorial service. When the pastor preaches a message for me, my father will be able to hear the gospel, maybe then he will have a chance to be saved.” Not only did the child’s words bring the pastor to tears, his father also broke down in tears. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.