All the previous studies in this unit so far have been laying the groundwork for some of the most important teachings Jesus ever gave, namely, “the Sermon on the Mount.” The teachings are so rich that it’s best to take it in little bits. The first twelve verses are referred to as “the Beatitudes,” because “beatus” means “blessed or happy” in Latin. But why did Jesus select that particular location for this teaching?
Mattew 5:1-2 One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, 2 and he began to teach them.
Throughout the Bible, important messages were generally delivered from a height overlooking the audience. Jesus sat because that was the traditional position for teachers. In addition, Jesus knew several thousand people would hear his teaching and such an audience needed a place to sit. There’s also another simple reason: acoustics. Jesus needed to be in a location where people could hear him speak clearly. The photo on the left shows the actual hillside where Jesus gave this sermon. The photo on the right shows the church that has been built to commemorate the sermon.
Matthew 5:3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
John 14: 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Jesus is speaking of spiritual poverty and not simply financial poverty. As Matthew was recording this verse, he must have remembered his own situation. As a corrupt tax collector, Matthew was quite wealthy; however, spiritually he was a pauper. As long as anyone believes that they have everything they need spiritually, they will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven, for their self-assurance makes it impossible. There’s a story about a very rich man who died. Someone asked one of his friends how much the man had left, and the friend replied, “All of it.” The day we die, we leave everything in this world behind. If we have not committed our lives to Christ, recognizing our total spiritual poverty, we will have no place in the Kingdom of Heaven.
4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Here the language indicates an intense degree of mourning over one’s spiritual state. While we might be able to convince others and ourselves that we are really all right, inside, we know we fail, we falter, we lie to others and to ourselves, we are jealous-in fact, give us a few hours of any given day, and we will break many of the Ten Commandments one way or another. God knows we are sinners, for He knows our hearts better than we do. But God also is a God of forgiveness and a God of hope. When we mourn over our spiritual state, confessing our sins to God, He forgives us and cleanses us.
1 John 1:5-9 tells us, “5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
There is also a second meaning to “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” We cannot love anyone or anything without mourning when a loved one dies or when we must leave a beloved place. As I write these words, we are spending our last days in my home area before traveling back to our home in Ghana. We are visiting churches, family members, and friends for the last time. We are traveling through countryside I know like the back of my hand-country I have loved since childhood.
We feel conflicted, for we want to enjoy our friends and our location as much as possible, but a sense of finality hangs over our every move. We are grieving losses. In the midst of our struggles, it is comforting to know that God loves us, that God cares for us, that God will always be with us and will never forsake us. Grief is the price of love, for you cannot grieve for something or someone whom you have never loved. God knows our hearts, and God knows we need comfort.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 says, “3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.”
In the midst of grief, God can send all kinds of things to comfort us-friends, Scripture, and even events in nature such as rainbows. Earlier this summer, a friend was facing a difficult and dangerous surgery. The morning before she was to be operated, suddenly, a rainbow appeared over one of the Scripture plaques on her living room wall. The phenomenon was due to light passing through a glass cross hanging in a window. My friend realized this rainbow was God’s way of reassuring her that everything would be all right, and she faced surgery with a calm heart. The operation was completely successful, and my friend has since recovered remarkably well.
The last few weeks, I have been scanning papers of all kinds-old letters from beloved relatives now dead, encouraging notes from supporters and others. This process has proven both painful and encouraging. Just when I would find myself grieving over a lost friend, I would find some new long-forgotten treasure. Scanning is necessary, for we must travel by air and luggage weight is always a challenge. Truly, God has comforted me as I have scanned these documents and have then destroyed them.
Perhaps today you find yourself among those who mourn. You have lost a loved one, a job, a home, or something else dear to your heart. Remember that God is the One who can comfort most effectively. Why not tell Him of your grief and allow Him to assuage it?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, many of us feel spiritually poverty-stricken. But You are the One who can forgive and heal us. Many more are grieving various losses. Again, You are the One who can comfort us in special ways. Please forgive our sins, clean our hearts with Your love, and comfort our grief. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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