God spoke words of comfort and hope to me over 20 years ago through the Beatitudes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In them He revealed a rich and beautiful path for moving from my brokenness (“poverty of spirit” Matt. 5:3) and reliance on things of the flesh to the joy of an abundant state of experiencing and loving life in the Spirit (comforted, meek, righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, at peace in peacemaking, persevering, and obtaining the “great reward” that is received through steadfast obedience that reflects that of the prophets…. willing and able to be used by God to bring a timely Word from God to His people to accomplish His will according to His plan, which is to bring His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.) I see the themes of the Beatitudes everywhere in God’s Word throughout the Old and New Testament…… Jesus doesn’t just speak about the Word of God, He IS the Word of God. He embodies and reveals the way of redemption and sanctification to us.
Each Beatitude refers back to Jesus’ own purpose for coming and each of those who heard and saw Jesus then (and we who have eyes and ears to see and hear now!) were and are blessed!
His words to the disciples about the listening crowds echo
Matthew 5:5. “Blessed are the meek (the humble, the teachable) for they shall inherit the earth.”
Psalm 37:11 “But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.”
He is exemplifying the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy with which He began His ministry at the synogogue in Nazareth…..
Isaiah 61:1. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
(Matt. 5:3- welcomed into the healing love of kingdom belonging and becoming citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven and children of God) To proclaim liberty to the captives
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Matt. 5:9 peacemaking with God, self, others) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;(Matt. 5:7 mercy for the merciful)
To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, (Matt. 5:4 comfort)
To give them beauty for ashes, (Matt. 5:7 mercy and redemption for guilt and shame)
The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; (Matt. 5:8 meekness and purity of heart for grief and sadness)
That they may be called trees of righteousness, (Matt. 5:6 nourished and watered to complete satiety like an oak of righteousness by the River of Life’s Living Water and Bread of the Word that praises God!)
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (That will bear fruit and be a harvest of righteousness for all the world, revealing His Christ in
us)
Psalm 63:2, 5 “You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
(Matt. 5:6)
In the rest of the Sermon on the mount, He gives specific examples of what that abundant life looks like in the doing of daily life. All praise and Glory to our Lord and Savior, King Jesus, whoe Kingdom is in the world but not of the world. It ushers in eternal life for all who enter through the Gate, Jesus Christ Himself. Hear. See. Be blessed!
………………..