The Master Teacher- The Beatitudes

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. Luke 6:40

Many people in the world, who do not accept Jesus as their master, will accept Him as a great teacher, and for that reason Christians tend to almost shy away from the idea of examining His teachings, yet that is what we as disciples should be doing. With today’s fast access to knowledge we think we know everything, when actually what we have lost is the ability to learn, to listen, and to apply those lessons to our lives. How can Jesus be Lord of our lives if He is not teacher of our way as well? The teacher is judged by his students. A good teacher produces students who can perform the standards of the curriculum, especially one who set the standards at the beginning. As Christians we need to reflect those standards set by our great teacher.

 Jesus was indeed not just a great teacher, but the greatest teacher who ever lived. He taught masterfully by using his words and his example. As our focus on Jesus continues, having ended the encounters with Jesus, we will be examining Jesus as a teacher beginning with His famous Sermon on the Mountain found in Matthew 5. This week we will be looking at the Beatitudes. This set of verses begins Jesus’ message of the identifying characteristics of the students of Christ.

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.

In the tradition of the times it was the rabbi who sat and the students who stood. Jesus had come to a point on a mountain top, where around him was a field where he could be heard and seen by the crowd following him. When he sat it was calling the class to order. We can picture the murmuring ending, the silence taking hold, and the students preparing for the lesson to begin. They stood on the slope of the mountain, and Jesus began to teach them.

 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

As we start with the beatitudes we should see that there is the first part- the characteristic, followed by the second part -the reward, or you could say the seed and the fruit it will bear.  He begins by calling His followers blessed. We are blessed to be following Christ, no matter what the circumstance, because we have the promise of eternity-restored fellowship with our Creator. We will return to the original relationship with God, a relationship free of the encumbrance of sin.

Let us go through the characteristics and the rewards and then we will look back at the hallmarks as a completed picture to see the lesson in its entirety.

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

In the first beatitude the characteristic is the poor in spirit and the fruit that it bears is the kingdom of God. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means to be lowly of spirit, not haughty or proud in spirit. But what does this actually look like? You can probably find this person at your church. He or she is probably the person who cleans the toilets, or fills the food pantry, or prepares the Sunday School rooms without fanfare. They’re the silent workers who do the dirty jobs because they need to be done, and act as if it’s the most important job in the world, because it is! Where would we be without them. The King notices every single thing they do. They earn the crowns of great worth because they are so precious in His sight. They do those things without so much as a thank you from any of us, who hardly notice, but would indeed notice if they were not done. They don’t seek to be in the limelight, or to be in the pulpit. They just want to be a member in the body because they just want to love everyone and do the Jesus stuff. These are great in the Kingdom. They are the owners of heaven because they have invested whole heartedly.
Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Matt. 5:4

Those who mourn are conventionally thought of as those who are suffering through a loss of a loved one, and while this can be interpreted this way, since perhaps there were those who had just suffered a loss within the crowd, there is still a different and even deeper meaning for the disciple of Christ. When Jesus saw the rejection of so many to His message of salvation, it broke His heart. We all know that sharing Jesus with others is a risk we take. We can suffer rejection because of it, and when we do it causes us to mourn. There is no greater mourning to suffer than to be left with the spiritual loss of a loved one who has rejected Christ. You can only hope that perhaps in the final moments the person recognized their sin and, like the thief upon the cross, was able to cry out in repentance. Yet, for Christians, there is comfort in the assurance of being where we were designated to be. “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, 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.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4 To be comforted by being in the presence of God himself will make all the pain and rejection of this life pass away.

 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Matt.5:5

When we hear this verse we tend to think weak instead of meek, but the word meek means gentle, submitted to the will of one in authority willingly, docile in spirit. It is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of flexibility. Someone who is submitted in spirit and willing to take on whatever they are asked to do is extremely useful and has much more value than someone who is looking out for their own interest. It makes sense that as the disciple submits more and more the one in authority would entrust the one in service with more and more, until eventually there would be no reason not to give over the inheritance completely into his care. We see this happen in scripture with Joseph and Daniel. “ He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10 What a blessing it would it be to stand before the Lord and be told by Him, “I trusted you, and you maintained that trust. Well done.”

 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,  For they shall be filled. Matt. 5:6

To be really hungry for something is to be beyond desiring it, it’s to be beyond longing for it, it’s to be beyond craving it. It’s not a selection. To be hungry is to be in pain, in agony, so that it necessitates action to alleviate the pain. Thirst is even more excruciating than hunger, because hunger pangs come and go, but thirst is unquenchable. It builds on itself.  To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to be so compelled for all those around us to adopt the mind of Christ that we would not cease to stop telling them of the love and compassion God has for them. If we can have that passion for the things of God we will be filled with His Spirit, with His purpose for our lives. Every morning we will awake with the words, “Whatever you have for me today, Lord, I am yours.”  
”Blessed are the merciful,  For they shall obtain mercy.” Matt. 5:7

There is often confusion on the gifts of grace and mercy. One thing should be made very clear, they are both gifts. Grace is getting favor you do not deserve, but mercy is when you do not get what you do deserve, that is, not getting a punishment or punitive measure that should be given. Mercy is nothing less than total forgiveness. It is the ability to look the other way without someone having to apologize to you. In order to have this characteristic the disciple has to be completely void of pride and selfishness. Admitting we don’t possess this quality is not hard, but to pursue it is a noble quest. Jesus said, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37  But what about those times when someone does sin against you, when they do those things to you for which even other Christians say you were wronged? What does the Bible say then? “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” Luke 17: 3-4 It has been said that forgiveness is as much for the forgiver as for the forgiven, and that is certainly true. Releasing offenses is freedom and in doing so you obtain such mercy in return. For as you forgive, so you are forgiven. If you’re not holding the offense there are no offenses to be held. Then our arms are open for what things God puts into them.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” Matt. 5:8

Purity in any substance means without the presence of any other substance. In this case it means holy in heart. One set apart for God, who has chosen to forsake the world, in order to pursue Christ. We cannot compromise in endeavoring to make the Kingdom our priority. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you.” Luke12:31

It is difficult to be completely sold out for God in a world in which we are pressed upon by so many obstacles and hindrances to our faith and our time with the Lord. Sometimes the ‘noise’ of this fast pace world gets to be so much that we can’t even think a thought without another thought jumping in the way. Meditation is practically impossible, yet, we are told in scripture to meditate on the attributes of God. How can we do that with all the noise around us? We have to shut it out. We have to force ourselves into the quietness of spirit and only then can we work on pulling out the dross of the worldliness within us so that we can find the purity of heart and search out God.
 “Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.” Matt.5:9

Peace is not maintained by pillow fights. Peacemakers in our society are usually required to carry weapons. As I was writing this blog (which takes days sometimes) I was driving through my son’s neighborhood. Let me rephrase that, I was not driving while writing, I was driving while mind writing, not physically writing. I came to a point just a block from where my son lives and the police had several blocks cordoned off, there were officers in full tactical gear, with automatic weapons, behind cruisers, diverting traffic. Oh! My mother’s heart began to race, until I turned on my son’s street and all was peaceful. I went up to my son’s door, which was unlocked, and walked right in. He was on the phone, a business call, completely unaware of the terrifying situation going on just a block away where chaos reigned. Obviously the peacekeepers were doing their job well containing the problem within the area. This is the vision of peacemakers I think the Bible has in mind. It is a warrior who has secured the area and made the peace out of what was or could have been a battle. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Eph.6:12

The idea of being called sons of God is also worth consideration since the angels, who are also known as the hosts of God, are known to battle in the heavenly realms, are also known as the sons of God scripturally. (Ex. Genesis 6 & Job 1&2) These soldiers of the Lord battle for us in the spiritual realm and are strengthened by our prayers and dedication to the Word of God. Remaining steadfast and vigilant in our duties of prayer and meditation times is a way to keep the peace of God, as well as bringing peace to those around us, because that which we fill ourselves with is what pours out of us.
 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:10

Have you ever done the right thing and suffered for it? It has happened before. Maybe you told the truth when in a situation it would have been easier to lie. You might have felt like, “blessed are the liars because everyone likes them.”  I know there have been times when a little twist or omission would have made things go so much smoother, but I was called upon to tell the truth. I’ve had to tell people if you don’t want the truth to go out then don’t let me know the situation at all. Keep me out of it completely; so they did. Ignorance can be bliss. I’ve suffered isolation and rejection because of it. I’ve had the reputation of having a big mouth because I’ve spoken the truth. The truth can hurt, but we’re not called upon to stop the hurt, only to bind up the wounds of the broken hearted. A broken heart is not necessarily a bad thing. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 In order to get that heart of stone out of our chests, the Lord is going to have to crush it. Only then can He replace it with the soft malleable muscle that will pump life giving blood into the outer reaches of our body. Doing the right thing is costly in today’s world. You can lose everything because of it, but standing up for what is right is still the right thing to do, no matter what the cost, this is what the kingdom of God is all about. Isn’t that what Jesus showed us when He took on the cross? He did it to reach all people and establish His Kingdom.

 “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.” Matt. 5:11-12  

            We arrive at the litmus test of discipleship for a follower of Christ. To what extreme are you willing to take in what you are learning. I was a teacher for years, and I can tell you that no matter how well I taught the lesson the outcome of the lesson was determined not by my ability, but by the student’s level of application. If a student really took it in and used what I taught they had mastery of the subject, but if they only sat and did the basic requirements the students had only a rudimentary grasp of the curriculum and while they might pass my class, chances were, they would quickly lose most of what I had taught them. The material was not going to stand up to the test of time. What if the time line were eternity, and the test is where you spend it?

            Jesus didn’t say here in these verses ‘if they revile and persecute you for my name sake”; He said “when they revile and persecute you”. It’s not optional; it’s a guarantee. People are going to reject you because of your faith. Why are Christians so angry and upset when this happens? It was told it would happen. Yes, we should support one another, and give each other encouragement. We have always been under attack, and we will continue to be under attack until our righteous King comes to ransom His bride.

            Often when I feel persecuted I think on the Lord, and how on that day, when He returns, He will come not as the Lamb that was slain, but as the Lion to slay. I desire to have what David knew of the Lord, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.” Ps. 27:4 Understanding that we are in good company in being persecuted for our faith, we are also in for the same reward as those who have faithfully served the Lord.

            After examining all of the beatitudes we can see that what shows through all of them is a spirit of humility. It is about being in the image of God. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:5  We, the disciples of Jesus, should be striving to be like our Teacher.