Series: This Way to the Kingdom of Heaven
Read: Matthew 4:23-5:12
On my second trip to Israel, I decided to break away from my group when they were going down to the Dead Sea so that I could have a day to myself in the inner city of Jerusalem. It was a friday, so as the night drew closer, the city came alive as Jews began to flock to the western wall to begin their Sabbath rituals at sundown. I was ready for this and positioned myself on a rooftop overlooking the courtyard where the worshippers would be gathering.
As I was there, I was joined by a group of young Jewish men, students on a two year education visa. They spoke English, so it was easy to talk to them and it was exciting to watch them worshipping as they sang and danced to their traditional songs. Because I was at the western wall, I had purchased a kippah, also known as a yamaka, and was wearing it in respect to their tradition.
Curious, the boys asked me my name. As soon as I told them they seemed to relax and open up to more conversation with me. I was interviewing them about their faith traditions, and the more I asked, the more they got confused. It took a while, but one of them eventually asked me, “Aren’t you Jewish?”
I told them, “No. Why do you think that?”
“Because you’re wearing a kippah and your name is Jewish.”
I had never thought of it that way. Adam is certainly a Jewish and Christian name, but my last name, Miller, is common among Jews as well. It didn’t help convince them when I told them my middle name was Joel, after the minor prophet in the Old Testament.
Needless to say, we were both confused. They couldn’t understand why a Christian would have such a Jewish name, and I had never thought about how Jewish I looked and sounded.
I have traveled all over the world: Central and South America, Africa and East Asia. It was abundantly clear that I was an American there, but somehow, in Israel, I had to convince people that I wasn’t from there.
It is possible to look a certain way that people can identify us at a glance. That can certainly be true as Americans who travel abroad, but it should be even more obvious to the world that we are Christians. Maybe not by physical characteristics, there are believers from every tribe, tongue, and nation, but there should be something distinct about who we are that is distinguishable throughout the world.
That is what Jesus is describing as He is preaching on the Mount of Beatitudes. He is calling His disciples to evaluate their allegiances, prioritize their values, and live distinctively in this world.
The Gospel of the Kingdom
We have to begin by defining a few terms. The primary theme here is the Kingdom of Heaven. John the Baptist was calling people to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, and Jesus picked up that same message when He began His public ministry. Now, Jesus is preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.
First, the world Gospel means good news. This is the announcement of what God is doing to redeem the world to perfect order. We know this term loosely, but we have a difficult time defining it. We think of it fondly and nod our heads whenever someone uses it, but when we are asked to nail it down, we struggle.
Secondly, we have the term Kingdom. This only adds to the confusion. We think of this as referring to a realm, an established government. That’s what Jesus’ earliest followers thought as well. They wanted a revolution. But that isn’t what Jesus is referring to. When He said that the Kingdom of Heaven was near, it can be inferred that it is right around the corner. That it is coming soon. But Jesus is speaking specifically of something that is already here. God has always been on His throne. He is the Creator of the universe. Jesus, being God is the true King of kings and Lord of lords. His followers then, and many today, forget that God is in control because they cannot see it in a real world context. Jesus was not a high ranking leader in the religious system. He wasn’t a politician or even a member of an elite club. This wasn’t the way that the Kingdom of God was anticipated. The people were expecting another Moses or David, not Jesus.
When you think of the term ‘Kingdom,’ don’t think of a physical realm, think of allegiance and citizenship. Certainly there is a sense in which God will set up His Kingdom on earth, we read about that in the Book of Revelation, but that is in the future. However, we are supposed to live as though we are citizens of that Kingdom here and now.
You can see that way in which the Kingdom of Heaven is characterized. Jesus is healing the sick and afflicted. This is a sign that the New Heaven and Earth will have no more sorrow or pain. But, because Jesus is meeting people’s physical needs, His popularity spreads and people start flocking to Him to have their physical needs met. So Jesus withdrawals to the Mountains to get away from the crowds. People think that Jesus came to heal people and that it was a good thing that He was drawing so many people to His ministry, but, although Jesus didn’t turn away the sick and the afflicted, He is constantly seen trying to get away from them because He didn’t come to make this world a better place to live, but to invite people to live for a new Kingdom.
Jesus takes this opportunity to escape with His disciples and teach them a valuable lesson. He tells them what the Kingdom of Heaven is really like, and it is not what anyone expected.
The Blessed
This means that we have to define a few more terms. Okay, it’s more like a lot of terms, but that is what Jesus is doing as He begins His Sermon on the Mount.
First, what does ‘Blessed’ mean? Many have suggested that this means ‘happiness’ or something like that. While there is a sense that being blessed will make us happy, it is not the primary meaning. In fact, the very nature of focusing on our own satisfaction is contrary to the beatitudes. To be blessed means to have God’s favor. He is pleased with us and we are rewarded by His grace.
God’s way of blessing us is upside down to our nature and desires. It looks more like hell than heaven. It is entirely contrary to our nature, but it is the way in which the Kingdom of God is established, in our hearts, among our loved ones, and in our world.
The list of the beatitudes are not a rubric for how to measure the spirituality of an individual. It is not the standard by which we are saved. It is, however, uniquely characteristic of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Since we are to desire to be like Him, this is a great way to evaluate our process of sanctification.
The Beatitudes
Poor in spirit describes the lowliness of Jesus. He humbled Himself as He entered into His own creation. He took on the form of a servant and disavowed the treasures of this world. It does not mean poor. It simply means that the treasures of this world did not possess His heart.
I love how A.W. Tozer describes this in His book, “The Pursuit of God,” and the second chapter, “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing.” There, he describes the agony in which Abraham sought to obey God by sacrificing His own son. In the end, Abraham did not take the life of Isaac, but was able to love both God and Isaac rightly and in the proper priority.
Those who treasure the things of this world will never see the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are too short sighted. They cannot see the riches and rewards of anything out of their reach, and they will miss the greater treasure. Only those who prioritize things correctly will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
‘Those who mourn’ describes the way in which people have seen and recognized the brokenness of this world. There are a lot of ways that we can mourn incorrectly, but the proper way to mourn is as Christ mourns. He wept when Lazarus had died, and He wept over Israel because they were oppressed and missed the dawning of the Kingdom. Christian mourning takes note of the destructive power of sin in society, but in ourselves as well. We should ask ourselves, “When is the last time I mourned over my own sin?”
‘The meek’ describes power under control. Jesus was the creator of the universe. He had the power to strike people dead who opposed Him. Yet, you never see Jesus playing the social game of whispering in someone’s ear to manipulate them or to put down another person.
‘Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.’ One of the reasons we don’t long for the Kingdom of Heaven is because we don’t mourn the darkness in this world. We are too comfortable with this life that we don’t long for something better. We would have fallen to the temptation to turn the stones into bread because we don’t want the Word of God more. What is the first thing we reach for when we wake up in the morning? Food? Coffee? Our Phones? Social media? We won’t be satisfied with the world’s treasures.
‘The merciful…shall receive mercy.’ This is a greater theme in the Sermon on the Mount that is explained further, but we can look simply at the Lord’s Prayer to see that we ask God to forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. Jesus is teaching us that if we knew and understood the true meaning of repentance, what God has forgiven us, we would show mercy to those around us.
‘The pure in heart’ is very telling. There is no one who can make this claim. We all fall short of the glory of God and our hearts convict us. We cannot even meet our own expectations. How could we meet God’s expectations? Only Jesus is able to make this claim, and only Jesus could stand before God without being crushed. Yet, Jesus became crushed for us when He bore the penalty for our sins. While we were still sinners Christ died for us.
‘The peacemakers.’ Not only did Jesus pay the penalty for our sins, but He continues to advocate for us before God. He is our lawyer who reminds God that we have peace. We are not only forgiven of our sins, but we are given Christ’s righteousness. We are made joint heirs with Christ. We are children of God. This is the only way that we can truly come before God and stand in His presence.
The last two verses in the beatitudes teach us about persecution. And although there is a great deal that could be said about this, we must see that the way in which the Kingdom of God is established is through the blood of the martyrs. The war for the Kingdom of Heaven is not won by fighting, but by laying down our lives.
More importantly, Jesus faced the greatest persecution. When the Apostle Paul was writing the book of Philippians, he wrote about the way that Jesus humbled Himself by entering His own creation. He then goes on to say that he longs to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. But we cannot pick and choose what we want from Jesus. Paul says, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Paul knew that to truly be conformed to Christ, he must suffer as Christ suffered. He wrote this letter as He was in prison after being stoned, whipped, and beaten for his entire ministry. Yet, he counted it all joy for the sake of knowing Christ and being conformed into Jesus’ image.
Followers of Christ
Are we more like the crowds that follow Christ? Are we seeking Him to meet our physical needs? He will meet our needs, but we will miss out on the greater treasure. When we see Jesus on the final day, will He say that He knows us? Or depart from me?
Seek first the Kingdom of God and all of these things will be added to you. You will find the greater treasure does not mean losing anything, but gaining everything.
Will we surrender to the Kingdom of Heaven and be transformed into the image of Christ?
Adam Miller is the president and host of Songtime Radio and serves as the pastor of South Chatham Community Church. This article is a condensed version of one of his sermons.