The fourth Sunday of Eastertide: April 21, 2024

Holy Trinity Church – Tom Mount

 

Scripture reading: Matthew 5:1-16

Introduction

  • Matthew 4:17: 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent (turn around, come back to be face to face with God), for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
  • What does a person who has repented look like? The Sermon on the Mount describes a normal Christian. It starts with their heart, explained by the eight beatitudes. In each case, “blessed” doesn’t mean circumstantially happy but deeply joyful. The arrangement of the eight beatitudes is not haphazard but sequential. We will unpack their inner logic.

Exposition

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

  • “The norm of the kingdom of heaven is spiritual bankruptcy” (Lk 18:9-14; cf. Rev 3:17; 1 Cor 4:7). This first beatitude expresses our posture toward God. Jesus lived this way (Jn 5:19) and said we must too (Jn 15:5). This is a liberating invitation to be “God-dependent” (Mt 11:28-30).

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

  • Jesus is saying that those who mourn over the broken condition of themselves and our world are really better off because they’ve accepted the truth (Ps 51:17). We cannot get better until we embrace the whole truth about our whole selves and bring our brokenness to God for healing. This second beatitude expresses our posture toward ourselves. God nurtures this: “God comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.”

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

  • Meek is praus, tamed/trained (an equestrian term). Meekness is the name we give the beautiful choreography of two lives entwined; two wills working as one. And it is into that dance that the triune God has invited each of us (Ps 32:8-9). But it doesn’t come naturally for people accustomed to doing life on their own. A meek person gives up on pretense: they are not afraid let others see for who they are. This is liberating!

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

  • “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” We’re blessed when our hunger for God and his righteous work in us becomes an insatiable drive. Why? God satisfies that kind of hunger. The remaining beatitudes tell us—in part—how he does it.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

  • When you’ve come face to face with the reality of sin in your own heart and, despite this, experienced the unconditional mercy of God in Christ, it is natural to extend that same mercy to others who are struggling with sin (Mt 10:8; Mic 6:8). As we show mercy to others, we will continue to experience God’s mercy toward us.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

  • Moral rectitude is not the principal idea but a heart that is unalloyed with anything else. Kierkegaard: “Purity of heart is to will one thing” (Ps 27:4; Jam 4:8). Psalm 73 records Asaph’s journey toward pure heartedness. What’s the reward? They will see God! They experience his increasing intimacy in this life and see him face-to-face in the next.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

  • Shalom here is in view: human thriving. Having experienced God’s shalom, they want others to experience it and thereby show themselves to be God’s children. NB: True peace never comes at the expense of truth (peace-faking vs. peace-making).

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

  • The world is threatened by this kind of person and responds with hatred and persecution, just as they did with Jesus (Jn 15:18-20). To them we are the stench of death (2 Cor 2:15-16). Andrew Brunson: “It’s costly to follow Jesus, but it’s more costly not to follow him.”

13 You are the salt of the earth.

  • Salt preserves perishable products, and we are the means God has chosen to preserve what is true, good, beautiful and virtuous among people.

14 You are the light of the world.

  • Our culture is as dark as ever right now. So, the opportunity to shine the light of Christ (reason, truth, love, grace) has rarely been greater!