“Seeing the crowds,
he (Jesus) went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to
him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they
shall be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they
shall be called sons of God.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when men revile you and
persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted
the prophets who were before you.”
(Matthew 5:1-12)
To Whom It May
Concern…
Repeated again and again in the discourse given on the
hillside above the Sea of Galilee, we find a very special word. That word,
interpreted as “Blessed…” comes through to us nine times. In importance then,
we might begin this session by examining this very special word. Its occurrence
here in Matthew signals a shift from the previous descriptive words of the where
and when of the speaking… to the normative, unchanging dictate of our
Lord in each refrain. However, within the reading of this wondrous text, we also
find ourselves caught up in the secondary, regulative commissioning of
disciples that have heard the foundational Word. Therefore, let’s make a closer
examination of this very special reading, in that it contains these three
categories of exegetical text.
The historical setting
upon the mountainside is attested both here and elsewhere. Some nuances exist,
however, between beloved Matthew’s use of this text and to its writing
companion in Luke. We note to some extent, how each author and community heard
the message from a common source. Each received the forerunner source (as
assumed in the document “Q”), and then spiritually tailored the Word to each
writer’s individual location and time. In the same way that, even today, the
Word spoken come to us from various pulpits and lecterns.
Here we brush away
comparative reading skills, however, and concentrate our effort on a particular
word. Within the text, the word “Blessed” echoes repeatedly. The word stems
from the Greek as, “Makarioi”. We may
ask of scripture, “What sort of word is this?” Do we declare the word as a
noun, verb or adjective, or all three?
The root word is “makarizo,
which is a Greek verb used when the
subject of the sentence declares the object as being made “beautiful, favored,
or happy” For this reason this section is often called the “Beatitudes”, or
“beauty described”. Therefore the subject, who in this case is our speaking
Lord, declared the hearing disciples as having the qualities… all of the
qualities… all nine of them… belonging to the beautiful. During the telling we thus
realize that the Beloved Son’s very speaking of the verb created the entity of
the “Beautiful”. Those who received the Word become so named… “Blessed (Ones)”.
The verb becomes a noun.
In a normative sense
then, in all time and places our Lord Jesus described even the sinful hearers and
doers of the Word as “Blessed.” For no reason other than anyone having heard
and accepted these words by God in any place, and any time within the
hearing of the Word, are “Blessed”. Therefore, given this divine and eternal activity, we
today who also read or hear the Word are counted as followers of Jesus, and
are "Blessed".
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Prayer, Meditation & Spiritual Trial: Luther's Account of Life in the Spirit By Gordon L. Isaac |
Blessed Comforts?
As we go through these Beatitudes then, we hear Jesus
comforting those disciples who are found as poor, mourning, and meek; and also are sinners seeking
rightness, mercy, and purity in motive. However, Jesus warned that they shall be
persecuted for doing right things. Thus Jesus comforted them and pronounced them as chosen
citizens of the eternal kingdom of heaven. He stated clearly that God
is indeed present. He taught them that God would always be with them. They only
needed, and now need to hold tightly to what they are given. Astounding grace was therefore proclaimed to Christians.
An
eternal fact thus emerges
then to us that during any sermon occurrence on a hillside, mountain, open seashore,
ocean, plains or
desert, wherein our Lord God teaches his followers through
scripture, in the holy Word we learn that even the sinful are accepted.
God is with us! We are
secure.
In keeping with his initial
message of our belonging to God through Christ Jesus, Matthew later related that Jesus as the Son
of God paid the penalty for our transgressions and worldly wanderings. Jesus offered
himself up to death on the cross to receive the penalty for our disobedience. Pointedly
then, Matthew described our Lord’s giving us his own Body and Blood. Therefore, you
see that, in, with, and under that miraculous bread and wine that we received at the
divine table in the kingdom, all things are renewed and our future as saints is
once again revealed!
 |
The Insanity of Obedience: Walking with Jesus in Tough Places By Nik Ripken with Barry Stricker |
What Now?
We might ask our Lord, “What is it that we as disciples and saints,
are now called to do?” I offer that we who are baptized into Christ are most
certainly urged by this reading to stand up and be counted. We are to act like
those disciples who received the Word of God from Jesus on the mountainside. As Matthew
related. Jesus instructed them precisely with the last words of this teaching…
“Blessed are you when
men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you
falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,
for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you. “
Note the sequence laid out! First, though often taunted and
shunned… rejoice and be glad! Even when evil world entities gathered around us since we are prophets in both church and state, seem to shake us to our very foundations… rejoice and
be glad! So it is, and will be.., but we are the Blessed. Even so, rejoice!
Know secondly that
beyond our continued living in the governance of the world, each person who
hears the Word and accepts the gift of salvation has already been declared as
having an eternal, never diminishing reward. This is such that no sinful human entity, limitation or earthly resource can match
its stellar quality or quantity.
Finally, we need to know
surely that we are already appointed. We have been certainly called as prophets. As such,
each person being called as a prophet of God has been chosen to leave the
mountainside as witness. Therefore, know that you as a Christian are chosen to go out into society
and do as the prophet Isaiah…
“…bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor…” (Isaiah
61:1)
Now having read the Word, learn of him! Study scripture. Attend
a church that teaches both scriptural Law and Gospel rightly interpreted. Learn
the historic creeds of the Church. And indeed accept the
mantle of prophet. Do not worry about the world and its persecutions… for just
look around clearly! Both the world and its rulers are already doing evil things
to you as a disciple. Simply do it! To guide your steps, please know that
normative for all-time … “Blessed are you, when you walk in the way of the
Lord.”
For those who wish to do so, click on the screen below to view our online worship for last week. We
offer this to you for the sake of those who are home bound, or temporarily
cannot attend a worship celebration at their home church community. In no way should this
be taken as a replacement for regular Christian worship in a traditional faith
community... for there you rightly worship God, are supported and offer the
love of God to others.
To view our video, click on the screen arrow below. Once the video begins, you can click on the bottom right of the video screen to obtain the YouTube call out. Click on that call out if you wish to enable larger, or full screen ability.
To view our video, click on the screen arrow below. Once the video begins, you can click on the bottom right of the video screen to obtain the YouTube call out. Click on that call out if you wish to enable larger, or full screen ability.
May The Love Of God Be With You!
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