The Path to Blessing (Matthew 5:1-2)

I am pleased to say that I have survived the sometimes-frightening process of helping my three children learn to drive. One of the biggest challenges for teens (and for us adults too!) is keeping your eyes on the road. Youcan spend too much time looking in the rearview mirror, thinking about who is behind you, what you have left behind, or mistakes you have made. You can be distracted by things happening right around you scenery passing, bad drivers zooming by, and conversations taking place in the vehicle or over your phone. But none of that will matter if you do not arrive safely at the right destination.

Staying focused on your destination is also essential for spiritual life. Some people spend too much time looking back. They long for the good old days, or they fixate on sins that they have committed or that others have committed against them. Some are absorbed in what is happening around us here and now personal plans, conflicts, trials, temptations, current events, culture, or politics. But none of that will matter if you and others do not arrive safely at the right destination.

The Beatitudes of Jesus call us to approach life with a destination in mind. The word “beatitude” comes from the Latin word beatus which means blessing, and the blessing that Jesus describes is down the road in the future. It is the destination that we should all be seeking, and if you do, it will change how you relate to the past and the present. So, I have titled this series, “Messiah’s Blessing.” But before we examine his words, it will help us to consider their context in his ministry and in the Gospel of Matthew.

When we compare Matthew with the other three Gospels, we find that he does not follow a strict chronological order. He arranges his account around five main discourses:

1. The Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5-7)

2. The Commissioning of the Twelve (ch. 10)

3. The Parables (ch. 13)

4. Lessons on Sin and Forgiveness (ch. 18)

5. The Olivet Discourse (chs. 24-25)

The Beatitudes are found at the beginning of that first discourse, the Sermon on the Mount. Now Luke places the sermon around the midpoint of Jesus’ three-year-long ministry, but Matthew moves it forward to lead off his account of Jesus’ ministry.

“Messiah’s Dawn” is the title I used for my series on the first part of Matthew’s Gospel, chapters 1-4. There he shows Jesus to be the king who will fulfill Old Testament prophecy. He records his genealogy, birth, baptism, temptation in the wilderness, and the calling of his first disciples. But Matthew highlights ways that Jesus’ background contradicts the Jewish people’s assumptions about who the Messiah is and how he will come.

We will see that in the Beatitudes Jesusmakes the same point about the experience of following him. It is probably not what you expect. Get ready because he challenges our assumptions about what life here and now should be like. He shows us the path to blessing, but how do we prepare for the journey?

As Matthew introduces the Beatitudes, in the first two verses of chapter 5, he mentions the people who are present. I think that the distinctions between them suggest three steps for starting down the path to blessing.

Acknowledge Your Need

Need is a slippery word. When you have a lot, you speak of wants as needs. I find myself doing it all the time. The refrigerator is full, but I say that we need food because we are out of the things I want. We need ice cream! It happens with health concerns too. I have a minor pain or a cold, and I say that I need healing. But lots of people live with much more serious problems.

Our wants and true needs are not completely separate. They are connected like a curving funnel. The slope around the top is shallow. We cross over it all the time without much trouble. But it doesn’t take much to slide farther down, and the slope gets steeper and harder to escape in your moments of deepest need.

When Jesus proclaims the Beatitudes, he is surrounded by people who acknowledge their need. Matthew describes them in Matthew 4:24-25 by saying,

So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

These are not minor aches and pains. These needy people are desperate for relief from their afflictions. The traditional location of the Mount of Beatitudes is on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Some of the regions mentioned here are as far as a hundred miles away. So, these people with their debilitating conditions traveled that distance on foot, hoping that the stories about this miracle worker might be true.

Their presence has an effect on Jesus. It sparks something in him. Matthew 5:1 begins by saying, “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain…”

What does he see when he looks at them? Is he exhausted from helping them? Perhaps, but Luke 6:12 tells us that he spends the whole night praying. Matthew 9:36 tells us that on another occasion he feels compassion for the crowds because they are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. He probably has similar thoughts here. According to Luke, he chooses the twelve apostles before he begins the sermon, but Matthew does not mention that.

Matthew highlights the connection between the crowds and the sermon. Jesus saw their immediate needs and relieved them, but he wants people to look farther down the funnel to the root cause of their needs. He lays out the path to blessing because that is what they are missing. They live in a world that is cursed with scarcity, sickness, death, impurity, conflict, and injustice.

How did life get this way? When God created the earth, it was completely under his blessing. Genesis 1 and 2 tells us that he blessed the creatures, the first humans, and even set aside the seventh day to rest and appreciate how good everything was. There was plenty of food. There was no sickness. There was no separation between God and man. But that all changed when Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord.

After their sin, God’s blessing is limited to specific individuals. In Genesis 7, he floods the world, but Genesis 9:26 tells us that he blessed Noah. But several generations pass before the Lord comes to Abraham. In Genesis 12:3, he blesses him and says that he will make him into a great nation so that in him all the families of the earth will ultimately be blessed. God’s plan is to restore the universal blessing that was lost, and Matthew links to this plan at the outset of his Gospel by showing that Jesus is descended from Abraham. He is the one who will fulfill God’s promise.

So, when Jesus speaks of being blessed in the Beatitudes, he is not talking about bits and pieces of blessing sprinkled here and there in this cursed world. Every good thing is a gift from God, and we should certainly be thankful. But Jesus points us forward to the ultimate solution to all our problems, the time when the curse is reversed and the funnel is flattened.

The Beatitudes will not make any sense unless you acknowledge that as all your wants and needs are sucking you down that slope, you must look for the arrival of the Messiah’s blessing. Acknowledge your true need.

Come to Jesus

Mountains in Michigan are not very impressive. It is certainly not as flat as other spots in the Midwest where you can’t see past the first row of corn by midsummer. But at less than 2,000 feet above sea level, the tallest peaks in my home state fall far short of the world’s highest mountains.

Mount Eremos, the traditional location of the Sermon on the Mount, is even more humble. Mount Sinai where Moses received the Law ascends to 7,500 feet above sea level. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem reaches a little over 2,400 feet. But Mount Eremos only rises around 650 feet above the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee, however, is almost 700 feet below sea level, so the summit of Eremos doesn’t even reach sea level! What a fitting place for Jesus to show that the world’s values are upside down!

Nevertheless, from the plain down below, it still requires effort to climb the hill. Luke 6:17 tells us that Jesus comes down from the summit where he has spent the night in prayer to a level place. Perhaps this location is somewhere in the middle because Matthew speaks of the disciples coming to Jesus. In Matthew 5:1, he says, “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.”

We can identify three distinct groups from this verse. First, there are undoubtedly many people in the region who have heard about Jesus but are not willing to come out to this hillside. They may be too self-respecting to follow some upstart preacher. Life may not be great, but they take pride in their work and their religion. Others stay away because they do not want to feel the sting of conviction over habitual sin in their lives. This is the world. Neither the most respected nor the most detested have time for Jesus.

The second group is this crowd whose needs have driven them to Jesus. Some people see this kind of popularity as a sure sign of success. Crowds can be exciting, but they are also fickle. Do they see beyond the desperation of the moment? Are they just coming to get something? Do they grasp anything about who Jesus is and why he is doing this? Will they simply disappear afterward?

The third group is the disciples, and Matthew distinguishes them from the crowd. They are not just seeking to fulfill their felt needs. They have already come to Jesus, and that commitment is demonstrated as they gather around him here on the hillside. They may not fully understand who he is or what he will ask of them, but they have decided to trust him. Have you taken that step?

We will see from the Beatitudes and from the rest of the Sermon on the Mount that discipleship is not popular. The world likes people who conform to its values one way or the other, but it can be hostile toward someone who lives differently. In the last Beatitude, Jesus speaks of enduring persecution on his account. Are you willing to take that risk? It is unavoidable if you are to receive his blessing.

At the end of the Sermon, Jesus says that the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. Few find it (Matt 7:13-14). Is that how you think about Christianity? I suspect that many of us see the crowd and assume that they are all disciples. But the fact of the matter is that they are still wrapped up in their own wants, needs, and goals. They are on a different path!

Discipleship begins with coming to Jesus.

Learn from Jesus

Many of us approach learning as if we are preparing for a test. The teacher gives you a list of facts that you review several times. You cram it into your brain, so that you can spit it out at the appointed time. But after that exercise is done, you simply move on to the next subject. What you “learned” has not made a lasting impression on you, so you forget most of it.

We find this same mode of learning in the church. Bible colleges and seminaries tend to operate this way. So, it is no surprise that many Bible studies and sermons end up being a recitation of biblical facts and theological ideas. That approach is better than just telling stories to amuse people or pulling people’s heart strings to trigger an emotional response. Biblical and theological knowledge is important, but we find something more in the ministry of Jesus. Matthew 5:2 leads into the Beatitudes by saying, “And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:”

How does Jesus teach? Matthew told us in verse 1 that he is sitting down, which seems to have been common among rabbis and philosophers of the time. Now in verse 2, he adds that Jesus opens his mouth to teach. This phrasing suggests a degree of formality. In other words, he speaks with authority. In fact, Matthew 7:28 tells us that the crowds are astonished by this quality of his sermon.

So, Jesus’ purpose is not to inform, entertain, or motivate. As he teaches, he seeks to shape the way that people think and to change the way that they live. Paul calls Timothy to adopt the same goal. In 2 Timothy 4:1-2 he says,

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

The authority of Jesus is unique because he is the Messiah and the Son of God. As Paul says, he will judge the living and the dead. So, as his followers preach and teach, it should be clear that we submit to him. We should not be focused on airing our personal views, opinions, or complaints. Our job is to represent his concerns by proclaiming his words under his authority. This responsibility requires us to refute error and to rebuke sin. Yet it should be done in a way that is encouraging, patient, and formative. Good Bible teaching should be characterized by all these qualities.

Going back to Jesus, we should also take note of whom he teaches. Matthew says he taught “them,” but Luke is more explicit. He tells us that Jesus lifts up his eyes on his disciples as he speaks (6:20). The crowd is still around. Some of them may have been listening. There are other occasions when Jesus addresses the crowd, so he probably still has them in mind. But he focuses on shaping the lives of those who have made the commitment to follow him.

So, before we examine his sermon, we should all ask ourselves, “Am I coming to learn? Am I willing for Jesus to shape the way I think? Am I willing for him to change the way that I live?” Why? Because he is the Messiah. But also, because he shows us the path to true blessing.

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Matthew 5:3-12 tells us that Jesus lays out the path by saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

To start down that path you must acknowledge your need, come to Jesus, and learn from him. Have you taken these steps? If not, I encourage you to begin following him today. If you want to learn more about this idea of God’s blessing, the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is also a good place to read. Perhaps you decided to follow Jesus at some point, but you have drifted from it. Would you renew your commitment to learn from him?

Though Jesus focused on his disciples, he never forgets the crowd. His goal is for them to become disciples. He has given us the responsibility to reach out to them. Is there someone that you could invite to learn with you? Tell them about Jesus and this path of blessing that he has revealed.

May we all grow to be more like him!

Reflect

Why is it important to focus on future blessing?

Describe what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. How could you grow as a disciple?

How should these steps shape our efforts to make disciples (Matt 28:18-20)?