The Beatitudes of the Kingdom- Part 1 of 2

“You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12 CSB

I’m not sure if we’ve actually covered the Beatitudes specifically on their own but let’s go ahead and do it again even if we have! There’s so much that can be gained from these… Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines Beatitudes as “a state of utmost bliss.” What does that mean? We’re going to be tackling that as we go. We see a set of Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:12-26. The differences are notable and more than likely these were a part of two separate teaching sessions from Jesus. We’re going to take a 2 part series and look at these separately and dig into what they mean for our lives today. However, take the time, read them and digest them. This isn’t just religious talk that Jesus is saying. These have implications for your life today if you follow Him.

So, when Jesus started His earthly ministry, He comes on to the scene saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15 CSB)!” So what’s the good news (Gospel in other terms)? The time is fulfilled (Old testament) and that the Kingdom of God has come. That’s good news! At that point, Jewish people had been waiting on their Messiah for about 500 years of relative silence. Finally, He’s here! The King has come finally. What’s that mean in regards to the Beatitudes? “A state of utmost bliss” would imply that the long-awaited time has come, the King is here, the new reign starts. Where there is a Kingdom and a King, the King has standards, or laws if you will. The Beatitudes introduce us to Kingdom standards under God’s rule. 

What are the Beatitudes? 

The Beatitudes are a shift from our earthly mindset to a Kingdom mindset. It’s a reversal of what we find as valuable here on earth to shifting what we should and will hold valuable in the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, what the Beatitudes are not is a moral checklist of do’s and don’t’s. Don’t think that if I do x, y, and z then I’m a good Christian and I satisfied the law. That’s not how these are to be read. These are heart issues, not law issues (Click ‘here‘ for passage on the rich young ruler and in that he had followed the law yet his heart did not want Jesus). 

What does your heart tell you about these? 

Read the Beatitudes, what does your heart say about these? Are you poor in spirit, as in, hunger and thirst for God to fill you? Are you truly humble, as in, not a fake humble, but rather see a Sovereign God that you completely don’t deserve to bow to? Are you pure in heart, as in, you pursue God in the act of actively killing sin in your life? Do you see that, in the midst of persecution and affliction, you should rejoice because you’re counted among the prophets that stood for truth in the Old Testament? What does your heart truly say about you when you are honestly looking at yourself in that lense?

The point is not to give you a moral checklist of laws to satisfy. No, this is a heart issue. We need God to remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh and we need Him to write His laws on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-37 and Ezekiel 36:16-38). Run to God for grace and mercy. Grace is a miracle and calling dead people to life (Ephesians 2:1-9). Call to God to change you by His miraculous grace.

 

-Austin

Bibliography

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beatitude