Many people followed Jesus because He was able to heal the sick. But Jesus’ mission while on earth was not so much to physically heal people, but he came to bring the message of truth to the world. Seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain and began to teach His disciples. He starts His teachings with the beatitudes or describing those who are blessed. Blessed can mean “happy” or “fortunate” or “doing well”. Jesus is describing a state of divine approval – a life that God looks upon with favor.
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The first blessing is upon the “poor in spirit”. When we consider someone who is poor, we typically think of someone who has few of this world’s possessions. Does that mean that the poor in spirit have very little spirit? I don’t think so. Instead, the poor in spirit are those who are humble, not proud. They recognize their need for God’s grace in their life as opposed to being self-sufficient of themselves. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Both John the Baptist and Jesus had already proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was at hand – it was coming very soon. The poor in spirit or the humble would be those who would be part of that coming kingdom.
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” There are multiple reasons to mourn. The most common reason to mourn is when you lose a loved one to death. But another reason to mourn is to be contrite in your knowledge that your sins separate you from the holy God. The apostle Paul teaches us that godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). In the coming kingdom, those who mourn for their sinfulness and repent will have their sins forgiven – they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.” The meek person is gentle and mild in his own cause. Meekness implies accepting what God allows to happen to you. Meekness is strength under God’s control—gentle toward people, trusting toward God, and free from the need to fight for your own status. Meekness is not weakness. By contrast, the spirit of the world is assertiveness, dominance, and self-promotion. The meek shall inherit the earth. To inherit the earth could mean that they will live long on this earth. Or, since there is promised new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13), the meek could inherit that new earth. Or it could be referring to the promised holy city that will be inherited (Revelation 21:2).
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” We understand what it means to hunger for food and thirst for drink; these are fundamental desires of a person. But to hunger and thirst for righteousness implies a strong desire to be righteous before our holy God. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and come to Jesus will now be justified and made righteous because Jesus died and took our sins upon Himself on the cross. Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” God requires us to be merciful and forgiving to others. Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” If we are merciful to others, God will give us mercy.
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” A pure heart has but one desire – to please our Father in heaven. In the coming holy city, we are told that “the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3). The pure in heart will inherit the holy city and they will see God.
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.” We should be interested in two areas of peace. The first is peace between individuals and groups. The works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:20-21 describe works that bring conflict. The fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 includes peace; the sons of God with the Spirit seek peace and have peace. The second area of peace is peace between man and God. We can only have peace with God through Jesus Christ. The sons of God proclaim the gospel so that others may have peace with God.
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” When we stand up for our faith in God, for our faith in Jesus Christ, and for truth and right, we will be persecuted. People will revile us and falsely say all kinds of evil against us. When the apostles were beaten and commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus, they left “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” (Acts 5:41). We can rejoice when we are persecuted because we believe we have the kingdom of heaven and our reward is great in heaven.
Let me summarize the characteristics that Jesus taught that are blessed by God as found in Matthew 5:3-12. The first is humility; God requires that we humbly come to Him to receive His grace. Next is mourning for our sinfulness – having godly sorry for our sins that leads to salvation. Then there is the hunger and thirst for righteousness. As we receive God’s mercy, we give mercy to others. We have a pure heart that seeks to please God in all things. We are peacemakers with others and proclaim the gospel of peace with God. And finally, when we are persecuted for righteousness, we rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus. I encourage you to seek these characteristics in your life so that you may be blessed by God.