The Sermon on the Mount
abound: every-where and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” (Phil.4:12-13). “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted,” Jesus pronounces a benediction on the mourners, because they will be comforted by God. These souls are not mourning over the loss of a loved one but they are mourning over their personal sin and the state of sin around them. The Psalmist says, “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (Ps.119:136). The prophet Jeremiah was broken by backsliding Israel and judgement of God which followed, he declares, “Before Me continually are grief and wounds” (Jer.6:7b). He opens his heart to mourning and tears, “Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jer.9:1). “Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow” (14:17). His is a double mourning - for Israel’s rebellion and for Israel’s suffering as a consequence of God’s judgement. Jesus promises comfort to the mourner, He does not promise to remove the cause of pain, but in the midst of brokenness the Comforter comes alongside to console and strengthen. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth,” the attribute of meekness is a character quality of God and supremely demonstrated in the life of Jesus. Another word for meekness is selfeffacement as opposed to self-assertiveness. We are told today that we must “sell ourselves” – show ourselves to be who we truly are. The meekness of Jesus is perfectly presented to us in Paul’s most important Christological passage (Phil.2:1-8). The Bible says about meekness “the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace” (Psalm 37:11). The Bible also says, about Moses - almost in parenthesis, “(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth)” (Num.12:3). To look at meekness in the context of Moses’ life is helpful. Here is a man of strong personality and a man who has a strong relationship with God and yet he is humble in his thinking about himself, he is humble in his actions towards others, patient under suffering and He is teachable. He has no sense of being better than others which meant that he was a modest and humble person and lowly in spirit. To spend so long in the presence of God and to bear continually the burden of a rebellious nation had a big impact on his character. The stoop of God to become human in the person of God, and Jesus’ stoop to submit Himself to cruel men who crucified Him demonstrates the nature of God’s character of meekness. The act of riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as the son of David and the exemplary act of foot-washing also demonstrates His meekness and the constitution of His mind. The promise of Jesus to the meek is that they will inherit the earth, thus we see how God’s kingdom is not conquered by guns, military might and cunning but by simplicity, guilelessness and meekness. These attributes of God which are
New Life Radio – Talk No 36
3 Derrick Harrison
16/06/2021
