The "Blessings" of the Kingdom

The Cultural Idea of the Blessed Life

Well, the world constantly tells us what the blessed life looks like. Every advertisement, every influencer, every success story is quietly preaching the exact same sermon: if your life is going well, you are flourishing and you're blessed. They feed us an endless stream of images showing us what the blessed life is supposed to look like, and when we join with them, we tell ourselves and those around us the story that we're blessed. One of the biggest things we're told is that if we're not feeling like life works the way that we desire, we should create our own version of the blessed life. When you don't feel blessed, you're told to reinvent your life, create your own truth, define your happiness, curate your identity, and build your own version of the good life.

This temptation, which is all around us, is poignantly expressed by the musician John Guerra. He wrote a bit of a protest song called "American Gospel," and I'm going to read us a few of the lyrics because I think it speaks to the very thing that we're talking about:

"Blessed are the powerful, blessed are the rich, blessed are the merciless and the hypocrites. They will inherit the empire's passing; it's the American gospel. Blessed are the superstars, blessed are the famous, blessed are the ones who make their faces ageless. They will inherit the magazine covers of the American gospel. Blessed are the speech police fundamentalists, blessed are the rioters raising clenched fists. They will be filled with empathy for all except their enemies."

You see, the beauty of this song is it shows how people of all stripes are impacted by their desire for a blessed life. It might be easy to point our fingers at those who are out there doing this, but there's no way that we can take in all the inputs that this world puts in front of us and not struggle in the very same ways ourselves. We're not alone in this, though, which is good to know. As we enter our text today, we'll see that the Jews from the first century had a similar problem. They had their own idea of what the blessed life was, and for them, it meant having a king who was going to come and kick out the Romans.

But Jesus, as He begins what we now know as the Sermon on the Mount, is going to reorient and give a redefinition of the blessed life. The irony, of course, is that He is the promised King that they were looking for, and He's going to show us a life that looks very different from the world that we live in. These opening verses expose what our hearts naturally chase, but invite us into a life that Jesus says is truly blessed. Today, we're going to look at what's referred to as the Beatitudes, where every verse starts with the word "blessed." Really, they paint a picture of what true human flourishing looks like. We'll see that it doesn't look like everything the world offers, but rather, what I want us to hear this morning is that because the promised King has come, true flourishing is found by living under His reign rather than in favorable circumstances.

Here's our outline for today:
1. The King announces His kingdom.
2. The King redefines blessing.
3. The King calls His citizens.

1. The King Announces His Kingdom

If you haven't noticed yet, we're starting a new sermon series today. We have finished Ecclesiastes and are now moving on to the Sermon on the Mount, so over the course of the next few months, we'll be working through these three chapters in Matthew. But before I dive in, I want to situate where this sermon takes place in the Gospel of Matthew, because it has tremendous bearing on what Jesus is trying to do. You see, Matthew is making a specific argument about Jesus in his Gospel. He wants to say that He is the promised Messiah, the King, and He is coming to establish a kingdom.

So let's look just quickly at Matthew 1 through 4, because if we don't understand that, we won't understand what the Sermon on the Mount says. Matthew actually starts with a long genealogy. Oftentimes, we modern people look at genealogies and our eyes just glass over. In fact, if we had a Christmas service and I said, "Hey, let me read Matthew 1," most of us would be like, "Can we not?" But to the first-century Jews, the genealogy was a very important thing because it actually says a ton about who they are.

Here's how Matthew opens his Gospel: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Messiah here literally means King. It's the Anointed One, the one who has been called to be the King of God's kingdom. But see also how he connects Jesus to two very important people in Israel's history: first to David, which is important because David is the king to whom God gave a promise that there will always be one of his sons to sit on the throne (and right now there wasn't one doing that); and also to Abraham, because he wants to situate Jesus definitively amongst the people of Israel. Matthew is not being subtle when he says that Jesus is the promised King that you have been waiting for.

In chapter 2, Jesus is visited by the Magi, wise men from the east. They go to King Herod because they've heard that there is a new king born, and they want to say, "Hey, tell us about this new king." Herod's response ultimately is to kill all of the children where that child was born, which is to say that Herod really believed it was possible that a new king had come. In chapter 3, John the Baptist is called the one whom Isaiah 40 prophesies—the one who is going to make way for the Lord. Isaiah 40 through the end of the book is all about how God is going to restore the kingdom of Israel, so John's presence is another not-so-subtle way of connecting Jesus to the long-standing promises of a coming King.

In chapter 4, Jesus begins preaching for the first time that the kingdom of heaven has come near. His healing, His preaching, and His work are all pointers to the presence of this new King who has come and the kingdom that He is making. Matthew closes chapter 4 by telling us that Jesus gathers disciples to Himself—followers you could almost call citizens in the making. He also tells us that there were crowds following around. These aren't disciples; they're people interested in the wonders He's done, but willing to give Him an ear because of that.

Not only is Matthew showing us first that Jesus is the King, but he's also making an argument about the kingdom that Jesus is bringing with Him. Matthew shows that the life of Jesus is mirroring the experience of Israel. Back in chapter 2, verse 13, Matthew tells us that Jesus goes down into Egypt, which is a mirror of the story of Israel spending many years as slaves in Egypt before coming out. Chapter 3 is all about Jesus' baptism, which many commentators see as a mirror of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Jesus says He needs to get baptized because that's part of Him fulfilling what He is called to do. In chapter 4, right after His baptism, He immediately goes into the wilderness, which is exactly where Israel went right after they crossed the Red Sea. They spent 40 years, but Jesus spends 40 days, and there He is tempted by Satan. You see, Matthew wants his readers to see the connection of Jesus to the wilderness generation who was tempted, but the difference between Jesus and that generation is that they failed the test and Jesus did not.

As Jesus relives the story of Israel, Matthew shows us that Jesus is the faithful Israelite who creates a faithful people. As Jesus gathers His disciples, these are the first new members of the King's new kingdom, and we shouldn't be surprised that He chose twelve. With this in mind, we can now dive into the Sermon on the Mount. It starts by saying that Jesus saw the crowds, went up on a mountainside, and sat down. Given what we've said about the kingdom and the location of the sermon, Matthew intentionally wants us to hear an echo of Israel at Mount Sinai, because there God spoke to His people. As Jesus gathers the people here, God speaks again. At Sinai, God is gathering together His covenant people, and here Jesus is describing what life in this new kingdom, in this new covenant, will look like. He's not giving a new law, but He is going to reorient the law around Himself, and because of that, everything changes.

One last note before we move on: Matthew specifically says that the disciples came to Him in verses 1 and 2. This is probably more than the twelve that we think of; this is probably the group of people who are around Jesus all the time and whom He is regularly teaching. While we know that the crowds are there too, verse 2 tells us it's His disciples that Jesus is looking to teach first. In this passage, one of His goals is to show us how life in the kingdom will look different than the rest of the world.

2. The King Redefines Blessing

In the back of Jesus' mind as He begins the sermon, I actually think that He's thinking of Psalm 1. For those of you who don't know Psalm 1, it goes like this: "Blessed is the one who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers or scoffers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Whatever he does prospers." To those sitting at the mountain, this is what they think of when they think of a blessed life and human flourishing. As we hear the opening of this sermon, Jesus is going to be laying out the way of flourishing in the new covenant. While it will sound somewhat different, it's actually very much the same. Those who are able to live the way that Jesus is talking will not walk in the way of sinners or scoffers, but in doing so, their delight will be in their King.

Let's hear how Jesus does this. He starts in Matthew 5, verse 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." What does it mean to be poor in spirit? One commentator puts it this way: to be poor in spirit is not to lack courage, but to acknowledge spiritual bankruptcy; it confesses one's unworthiness before God and your utter dependence on Him. So to be poor in spirit is to realize that of ourselves we bring nothing to the table—we're broken. We try to create a world or a kingdom that works, but in the end, that's just going to create a mockery. We all do this at some point; we defend ourselves when we're accused rather than owning our faults, or we double down on our own righteousness. But that's not who the poor in spirit are. The beauty of being poor in spirit is that we can admit to all of our faults, our foibles, and our sins. Once we do that, rather than trying to build a kingdom that works for ourselves in our own way, we receive entrance into a better kingdom—the kingdom of heaven. As Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." That's a present-tense reality: it's not perfect yet, but it exists and it will come in its fullness when Jesus returns.

He moves on in verse 4 to tell us that blessed are those who mourn. Now, mourning here isn't just being sad; it's connected to our spiritual bankruptcy. You see, we mourn over our sin, we mourn over the negative impact that we've had on others and others have had on us, and we mourn because we live in a world full of sin and death. Notice that Jesus doesn't say blessed are those who are frustrated with sin or those who want to tell others about their sin; He tells us to mourn. His original hearers would hear this and think of the great shame that Israel carries because they were sent into exile, and even though they've returned, they still don't have a king. In fact, the very reason John the Baptist is doing his work, Matthew tells us, is to remind Israel of their need for repentance as they prepare for the arrival of the coming King. As they repent and mourn, they're reminded of Isaiah 40:1, where God tells Israel, "Comfort, comfort my people, for they have paid doubly for their sin." Because those who mourn—those who experience their sin, their brokenness, and the brokenness of this world—Jesus reminds, you will be comforted. Mourning is not the end of the story, but a comfort that comes from God, and it's the only comfort that truly lands.

As if this isn't enough, Jesus goes on in verse 5 and says, "Blessed are the meek." Meek is a hard word to define. We often define it as someone who's nice, or even someone who's a little bit servile or weak in how they navigate life. In fact, that's exactly what the ancient Greeks did—they saw meekness as a vice and didn't like it. But if that's the case, then we miss Jesus' point. Meekness is actually a contrast to aggressiveness, harshness, haughtiness, or defensiveness. Meekness doesn't deny strength; meekness instead takes tremendous strength, but puts it under control. Jesus was meek, and yet He had strong words for the Pharisees who had pushed the people down. Jesus was meek, and yet when He goes into the temple, He overturns the tables because of how they're existing in God's house. The meek person often looks like they're letting others win, but rather, they know how to use their power wisely. And what's the reward for meekness? They inherit the earth. What's so interesting about this is how the world flips that on its head. We're told that the strong are the winners and the meek are seen as weak, but Jesus reminds His people of the true calling that was always set before them. Going all the way back to Genesis 1, humanity was told that our purpose was to have dominion over creation—to rule and take what God made as little kings. So when Jesus says that we will inherit the earth, He's reminding us of the reality that was always intended for God's people. It isn't through war, strength, or retribution that we inherit the earth, but through meekness—a trust in letting God be God and us being His people.

In verse 6, Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." The language of hunger and thirst is a language of deep desire. We're not just wanting righteousness, but we hunger and thirst like it's the very thing that we need for life. Righteousness isn't just about becoming holy. In fact, many commentators have offered two versions of what this means, but I think they work well together. The first is that we seek to be filled by God—that we would have a deep connection with God and live lives where we honor Him. Secondly, and more importantly in who God is, it is a desire for God's justice on this earth, that God's kingdom would come. In a sense, God's righteousness isn't just His holiness, but it also includes how He keeps His promises. A simple reading through the Old Testament shows us that over and over again, God cares about justice and how the world should work. So as we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are seeking the reality of God's kingdom on earth. And what does Jesus say will happen? We'll be filled—that desire will be met. It starts in this world, and maybe fails a little bit in this world, but it comes to fruition in its fullness when Jesus returns.

We're told in verse 7, "Blessed are the merciful." Mercy is about forgiveness for the guilty, but also compassion for the needy. Mercy is at the heart of the reason that Jesus comes to this world in the first place. When we're called to be merciful, we're expressing a part of what we experience in God. Here's another place where we hear our culture push back, because we're told that the evils of those who are against us are usually so bad that they deserve what they get. Our culture increasingly teaches us that our enemies deserve every single thing that happens, and sometimes even says, "And you can take part to make it happen, because it's what they should get." It's fine for them to say that, but for the people of God, we're called to be merciful. Why? Because they will receive mercy, because we have received mercy. We're merciful because we understand all of the mercy that we have received when we were enemies of God, and yet God said, "I will come and grant you mercy." How much more so then should we, as we enter into this world, do the same for those around us?

In verse 8, Jesus says, "Blessed are the pure in heart." Pure in heart is another one of those phrases that could mean a ton of things. There are multiple different ways we could interpret it, but again, they're interconnected. One of those is that we are singularly focused and don't have a split set of desires. Jesus tells us in other places that we cannot serve both God and money—that's a split desire where our heart is not pure in that which we have focused on. In this case, that single desire is the kingdom and God's righteousness. The second flows from it, because those who are singularly focused on who God is and on His righteousness will live lives of purity. Now our heart is pure. As we orient our heart, we get what we desire most, and that is to see God. Now again, we can't do that in perfection or in its fullness—this isn't a call to ethics, but a reality of how we orient our heart and who we are towards the One who has lived all these things out.

Jesus goes on, as there are more blessings to be had. He says in verse 9, "Blessed are the peacemakers." What is peacemaking? Peacemaking is about reconciliation. Peacemaking is directly connected to Jesus' peacemaking, because when Jesus came, He came to reconcile God and humanity, to cross the gulf that we couldn't cross so that we could have this broken relationship with God reconciled again. Now, as the kingdom is coming to earth, Jesus is calling His people to also be peacemakers. Like many of the others, we do that in multiple ways. The first way is that we, as God's people, should be known for our desire for reconciliation. If reconciliation is possible, we should be at the front of the line because we have been reconciled. But even more than that is that we are called to bring reconciliation between God and men, too. This is why we tell others about the gospel—that we are the ones who can make peace between God and men through the work of the Spirit in other people's hearts. You know, this is mirrored in the fact that Israel was always called to be mediators between God and the nations, the Gentiles, and they were called His children. As Jesus comes, He is offering the same experience to His newly gathered people, that now we get to be those same mediators to a world that is at war with God. It is our privilege, through His calling and His power, to bring that reconciliation. In other words, the true peacemakers aren't the ones who win the Nobel Peace Prize, but they're the ones who bring reconciliation between God and others.

And lastly, in verses 10 through 12, Jesus calls those who are persecuted because of righteousness blessed. The reality is that if we live the life of blessedness that this passage talks about, we will look nothing like the world around us and they will hate us for it, because we're going to show them that their world doesn't work. For those for whom this is true, Jesus says again, "Ours is the kingdom of heaven." Jesus closes with the same benefit as He opens, because the kingdom is central to this passage. As Jesus starts this sermon, this really is a sense of "I am gathering people to Myself and calling them to a life that I would have for them, and this life is blessed."

3. The King Calls His Citizens

Now, as we hear this, these aren't just eight unrelated virtues. Sometimes we look at them that way, like maybe I need to work on this one or that one, but I think if that's what we're doing, we're going to miss the point entirely. Rather, they're to be seen together, because if we aren't cultivating all of them, we're going to miss all of them since they're so deeply interconnected.

So let's look at a few things that we need to understand as we see this. First, if taken together, there is no way that we can measure up. I am not in any way saying the goal of Jesus telling us this is to try harder to do these things, because you cannot. The beauty is that the One who tells us this, Jesus, is the One who has no need to try harder; Jesus is the One who has fulfilled all of these things on our behalf. In fact, Matthew would want us to see that on this side of the new creation, the only truly blessed One that we can see is the person of Christ.

That said, He is calling His people to a real change. We can't say, "Well, because Jesus has fulfilled all these things, I don't have to worry about this part of the sermon." Since nothing here looks like the world around us, it continually calls us to repent of our own attempts at creating a kingdom of our own where we can experience our own version of being blessed, and instead embrace the King and His kingdom that will transform how we live in this world.

You see, those who are poor in spirit, who know their sins, are the kind of people who mourn, who truly mourn. Those who mourn aren't weak, as we're often told, but rather they learn to control their strength and are meek. The meek are the kind of people who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The same is true of the second half being interconnected: the merciful ones are often pure in heart because they know that they're sinners and that they need mercy, and that makes us far more likely to make peace with others. It encourages us to help those who are enemies of God to make peace with Him, because we've experienced the blessing that it is to be in right relationship with God.