Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.
His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. Matthew 5:1-2
For the next nine days we’ll look at Jesus’ greatest training program—the
Beatitudes. It is important to remember that each of the eight Beatitudes has a
two-fold nature: a “knowing” and a “doing” response. We must not only
know them, we must also respond to what we learn from
them.
Eight times in the Beatitudes it says, “Blessed are….” To
understand the Beatitudes, we need to know the meaning of those words.
Blessed are refers to Jesus’ evaluation of the kind of person He
names in each Beatitude. Jesus was referring to His esteem for that kind of
person. His meaning is, “I esteem highly any person who….” He was urging us
to have that kind of attitude. His deeper meaning is, “All you who hear Me,
choose to become like these kinds of people.”
One noted author calls the Beatitudes, “God’s radical reconstruction of the
heart!” We must never consider that Jesus was promising happy conditions, as
though He meant, “The one who is poor in spirit will feel good and always be
joyful.”
The first four Beatitudes focus internally—that is, they speak to the heart
of the one who wants to obey God. They can be viewed as four stepping stones to
becoming an obedient servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are: humility,
mourning, meekness and hunger for righteousness.
The second four Beatitudes focus on the external behavior of the servant who
follows Jesus. They are: mercy, purity, peacemaking and persecution.
This teaching has particular relevance for Christians who live under Islam.
Restricted, deprived, regarded as second class citizens, laughed at, despised,
often living in fear, many times persecuted, the words of encouragement are
precious and give fresh hope of another place and time when things will be put
right.
While in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, there are greater freedoms
and life is not so difficult, there are restrictions nonetheless. In others like
Pakistan, Christians have suffered unjustly and are denied many basic rights. In
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Sudan, Nigeria and Morocco, the story is similar
though the extent of suffering may vary. To all, Jesus gives this important
message. We will look at each of the eight Beatitudes individually.
RESPONSE: I will study Jesus’ Beatitudes so that I live the way Jesus
lived.
PRAYER: Pray for Christians in Islamic countries that they will receive
great encouragement as they seek to know and live the Beatitudes in their
regions of restriction.
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