Ep. 6. Matthew 5 - What Do the Beatitudes Actually Mean?

This is the Bible show.

[music]

Welcome folks to another episode of the

Bible show. My name is Sam. Joining me

is Will and we are continuing our study

in the Gospel of Matthew. And today we

come to the first section of Jesus's

longest sermon, the sermon on the mount,

the most famous sermon ever given. And

we are in Matthew chapter five. When you

think of the sermon on the mount, what

jumps into your mind?

>> It's bold of us to talk about it in a

lot of ways. Yeah. You know, because

Jesus said, "This is the sermon I'm

giving and we're going to not add to it,

but we're definitely going to talk about

it."

>> Yeah. It feels like Yeah. He gave the

sermon. Just listen to this. Like I

don't I don't want to give a sermon on

his sermon. It feels a little little

presumptive, but it is helpful to unpack

this. And so that's what we're we're

going to try to do. Uh for me, I

remember listening to a pastor who is

used this as an illustration, but there

was some a teacher in the Ivy Leagues or

something like that. I'm probably

butchering this whole story,

>> but she gave an assignment to her

students to say, "Go read the sermon on

the mount and then I want you to write

what you think about it." And they all

came back and they were like, "We hate

this." And so like when we were a

Christianized society and a biblically

literate society like people read the

sermon on the mount they were like oh

this is the greatest ethics ever written

but to a biblically illiterate society

more recently they were like this is

impossible. Yeah

>> the standards of this are so oppressive.

I mean like you think be ye therefore

perfect as your father in heaven is

perfect. It's like uh and you know turn

the other cheek and all of these things

that when you really stop and think

about them like they are really really

hard. And so you get into the sermon and

the whole thing is meant to drive you to

recognize your need of the gospel. And

so let's let's jump in. Matthew 4 ends

by telling us that massive crowds from

Syria which would have been up in the

north, Galilee, which is where he's

preaching, the decaps, which are 10

Greek cities that are on the other side

of the Sea of Galilee. Judea and

Jerusalem, which are like the first

class Jews, you know, those are the the

hoytoy religious leaders from from Judea

and Jerusalem. They're all coming to see

his ministry of teaching and proclaiming

the gospel and healing. And so that's

where Matthew chapter 4 ends and then

chapter 5 starts and we're in the sermon

on the mount. And so you've got this

impression that it's, you know, it'll

say that he calls his disciples, but I

think those are the ones who have come

to follow him, not just the 12.

Obviously, this is a a sermon to massive

crowds. And so in my mind's eye, I'm

imagining this is not just Jewish

people. like there there's a mix of

people that have been coming to check

out his ministry and his teaching. And

he's when he gives this sermon, it's not

just giving moral advice. He is

describing what citizens in the kingdom

of heaven look like. Like if you're

going to be a disciple of Jesus, if you

are going to be a part of the kingdom of

heaven that he is ushering in, what do

those citizens look like? What do they

do in this world? And how in the world

could anyone ever become righteous

enough to enter into that kingdom? And

so this is going to be his first major

public sermon. Like he's given a sermon

in a synagogue. We find from Luke's

gospel before, but this is where it's

like outside of a synagogue, mixed

crowds, an enormous crowd. And he starts

by talking about what the blessed life

looks like. And what do we call that?

>> The biatitudes. the biatitudes which is

and the word literally means blessed.

The Greek there is macarios and it's

like when you think blessed like if I

say have a blessed day how do most

people mean that?

>> Great. A good one.

>> Yeah. You stay in a good mood like

things are great. But in in Greek like

this is it's not merely happy or like

emotionally I'm cheerful and I'm walking

through with a smile because things are

going well and everything's going my way

and it's a you know circumstantially

wonderful. No, this is like a deeper

meaning. It is a rich kind of

blessedness where you're you're

flourishing in life because of your

faith. You are favored of God like

having that perspective. You are a

approved by heaven and you are

spiritually whole. Like everything about

your essence is set apart and wonderful

in another category. That that's kind of

the idea. Like the Romans referred in

their writings to Caesar as the blessed

one. So you get the idea like on one

hand you've got the Greek world and the

Roman world saying Caesar like oh he's

he's different than all of us because

he's you know

on a different plane. And here scripture

comes and says no no no you want to know

who's on a different plane. You want to

know who's truly blessed and favored by

heaven. It's these people. And then it

will begin describing and it gives a

portrait of kingdom citizens and a road

map for sanctification. And this is also

describing Jesus himself. Uh all these

biatitudes you find it's not just Jesus

saying be this.

>> Jesus is going to do this as well. And

that's important because if you're

reading this in our modern context,

that's not how we use blessed most of

the time. You know, like the common

culture word for blessed is, oh, I have

material possessions. Everything's going

great. like I have a blessed life if

this this and this happens. You know,

even just asking the youths of our world

is one of my favorite questions. Like,

you know, what does a blessed life look

like for you? And nine times out of 10,

>> it's material things.

>> Yeah.

>> It's do I have cars? Do I have, you

know, we live in a world with boats, so

boats, you know, it's all things like,

can I acquire these things and if I

reach finally whatever this bank account

looks like or this job title, then I

will finally be blessed. Whereas Jesus's

version is far different from that

because it just won't even add up as we

get into it.

>> Yeah. If a valuable life and a blessed

life is all about your material

possessions, which you can't control,

it's all circumstantial.

>> Then that means that your sense of

blessing and peace and all of that stuff

can be taken away. I mean, you live in a

world of anxiety.

>> And the gospel and the scriptures are

coming to you saying, "Anchor your sense

of blessing in things that can't be

rocked." Right? And so, and the

biatitudes, you know, where Jesus is

going to say, "Blessed are, blessed are,

blessed are like, those aren't new." You

find those all throughout the Old

Testament. I mean, there's dozens of

them. I'll give you 10 examples. You

ready?

>> Blessed is the man whom the Lord

corrects.

>> Job 5:17. Blessed is he whose

transgressions are forgiven. Blessed is

the man who takes refuge in him. Blessed

is he who has regard for the weak.

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of

the Lord. Blessed is the man whose

quiver is full of children. Blessed is

he whose help is the God of Jacob.

Blessed is the man who listens to me.

Blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

And so when when Jesus starts saying,

"Blessed is," it's like, "Oh yeah, we've

heard this. This is the those are all

over the Psalms. Those are all over the

Proverbs." But Jesus is going to take a

lot of the same ethics because you if

you go through those, you'll notice it's

all that blessed as those that realize

they need help.

>> Yeah.

>> The ones that have been humbled to

recognize that they should be a tool in

God's hand to help the needy, to help

the defenseless and those who recognize

that they themselves need God and they

need a refuge. They need, you know, all

of those things. And so that's going to

be a big theme of the biatitudes

which is surprising because it's like

you said to show up in the first century

in Roman world with ancient ethics and

you're trying to sell people right if

because if you're starting a religious

movement it's like gosh what do I what

do I say to get the crowds to follow me

right and you're expecting him to be

like you want to know how to get power

and prosperity and safety and influence

but instead all of his biatitudes are

going to be like no Oh, poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are

those who hunger. Blessed are the

persecuted. And so his opening to this

great sermon takes everything the world

is expecting and throws it upside down

on its head. And it's shocking. It would

have been absolutely shocking for a lot

of people to hear this.

>> Yeah. It's not a good PR move for your

kind of your first sermon out of the

gate. Especially when like you have he

kind of has the following now. Mhm.

>> Like this is kind of

>> doing healings.

>> Scarier as the guy who's speaking and

you're trying to build a reputation cuz

now you have something to lose. And this

is very much a sermon where you're like

people are going to walk.

>> That's right. And the Roman world like

it's kind of interesting. You go back

and you look like the Romans recognized

that hubris was wrong. Like I'm going to

destroy everyone and no one can stop me.

That kind of hubris was wrong. But they

looked down on humility. The idea of

coming and expressing weakness or

showing mercy or or thinking that the

disadvantage should be lifted up at your

own expense that was seen as weakness.

That was seen as folly. They were all

about pride and dominance and honor and

power in the ancient world like the kind

of stoic mindset. And Christianity

enters and says, "No, no, no. You want

to know what should be exalted? Humility

and and meekness and purity and and

peacemaking and all of those things."

So, it's Jesus is redefining what it

means to be great. And so, starting in

verse one, it says, "Seeing the crowds."

So, I mean, they're all coming to him.

It's where we ended Matthew 4. Seeing

the crowds, he went up on the mountain.

And when he sat down, his disciples came

to him. Now, you we've been to Galilee.

We've been on the boat. You look up and

there's kind of like this place where

they believe that the sermon on the

mount was given. And it's kind of a

natural amphitheater, right? like where

sound would have traveled. You're right,

against, you know, a bowl of kind of

hillsides. And so he sits down and he's

going to preach in this thing. And I'm

going to stop here for a brief moment

because what do you hear? I mean, we've

talked about how the Gospel of Matthew

is showing you that Jesus is greater

than Moses.

>> He is the perfect fulfillment of Israel

where they failed. And so now when you

get to like the first major teaching

where he's going to expound upon the

scriptures and he goes up on a mountain,

what what is God inviting you to

recognize here?

>> Just like Moses went to up to Sinai to

get the original law.

>> That's right. And Jesus is going to

authoritatively reinterpret or interpret

the law and show what it was meant to

be. And so all of the theologians like

they recognize that that is really

significant. But one thing that I think

is kind of interesting when you go

through Matthew's gospel, there are

seven mountains, right? Seven major

mountains in the stories of Matthew

about Jesus. And one of the things that

I think is interesting is it's not just,

you know, that he's contrasting himself

with Moses, but by bringing about the

seven mountains. And this is a theory. I

mean, take it or leave it. It's not, you

know, thus sayeth the Lord, but I think

he's contrasting himself with Rome

because you know what Rome's nickname

was?

>> No, I

>> I mean, Steve, still to this day, it's

the city of seven hills.

>> When you look at all of their artwork

about Rome, there were seven hills or

seven mountains. Revelation 17, when

it's talking about the the world being

fallen in Babylon, which is talking

about Rome, what does it say? There's

seven mountains in Revelation 17 talking

about that. And when you go through the

seven mountains that are mentioned in

Matthew, they form what we call a

kayastic pattern where you know the

first one talks echoes the last one and

then as you come to the center of the

story, you get to the climax. And so

what are these seven mountains? You

ready?

>> I'm ready.

>> The first one we talked about last week,

right? Satan takes Jesus where? Up onto

high mountain and he shows him all the

kingdoms of the world. And so what is

that? Satan's saying, "Hey, if you bow

down to me, I will give you authority

over all the kingdoms of the world."

What's the last mountain? Well, the last

mountain is when you get to Matthew 28.

And what does Jesus declare?

>> All authority on heaven and earth has

been given to me. And then he ascends

into heaven. So, it's like you see the

echo going on there. The second mountain

is this one. It's the sermon on the

mount where Jesus is explaining what

does it take to become part of the

kingdom. You know what the second to

last mountain is?

>> Goltha.

>> Goltha.

>> And Jesus all these things that are laid

down in Matthew 56 and 7 where it's like

how in the world could we ever measure

up? What happens in that second to last

mountain?

>> He does them all.

>> He measures up for you and gives you his

righteousness. Don't don't miss that.

The third mountain is when he's going to

feed the 5000.

the the third to last mountain in

Matthew 24 is when he goes to the Mount

of Olives. So again, it's like a food

mountain, but it's the judgment. It's

it's all the things that are coming, the

kingdom consummation. And the middle

mountain is where Jesus is going to be

kind of unveiled. And you get to see him

in all of his glory. And that's the

mount of transfiguration on this great

and high mountain that's set apart. And

so even the structure of the gospel of

Matthew is so deliberate and it gives

you interpretive keys like this mountain

echoes back to this mountain and it

helps you interpret. Why doesn't Jesus

bow down for all the kingdoms of the

world? Because he knows that under God's

will if he's obedient and carries that

out all authority in heaven and earth is

going to be given to him through the

cross. And so like you pair these

mountains up and they interpret one

another until you see at the pinnacle

where he shows his glory but says don't

tell anybody about this until after the

resurrection. Right? Glory doesn't come

until suffering comes. And that's going

to be an interpretive key for the entire

book of Matthew.

>> And the whole idea that you know God

meets with his people on mountains and

here Jesus is as God in the flesh saying

hey I'm going to teach to you

authoritatively from mountain tops.

>> That's right. That's right. And another

fascinating pattern is you have Jesus.

This is the first of five major sermons

or big teaching blocks that he gives.

>> Okay.

>> Okay. Can you think of any other figure

in history that gave five big teaching

blocks? I

>> mean our our boy Moses.

>> Our boy Mo. What do you mean?

>> He wrote the first five books of the

Pentetuk.

>> That's right. The Torah. Right. So here

you have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,

Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Five. So five

major discourses. Five major discourses.

Like that's not an accident. This is

telling you he is fulfilling where Old

Testament Israel

>> failed. And by the way, when Moses

writes and he's writing what God has to

say to his people, what does he say?

>> Thus says the Lord, right? To break out

my King James.

>> Thus says the Lord. Thus says the Lord.

When we go through the sermon on the

mount, notice how many times Jesus

doesn't say thus says the Lord.

>> Yeah.

>> What does he say?

>> I'm I'm speaking.

>> I say to you. I say to you. Well, that's

I mean that's a redundant. Like why

would you say that? Of course, it's I

see it coming out of your mouth. Like,

why do you have to say I say to you?

He's He's saying it's not, you know, the

Lord that I'm speaking on behalf of. I

am the Lord.

>> It's like the Lord that's here.

>> I say to you. So, it's I mean, that's I

mean, an apologetic against anybody who

says that the Gospels aren't, you know,

presenting Jesus as God, which is

ridiculous. It's all over the place. But

that's one example where he's claiming

divine authority and the authority to

speak directly from the mouth of God.

And so he sits down to teach. That's the

posture of authoritative rabbis.

Everybody else would have stood around

him and he is ready to go. And then he

lets go the beatitudes. And so I'm going

to list them first because there's a

progression that goes on and we'll get

into this how this is actually a

sequence of your growth in Christ,

right?

>> Okay.

>> Poor in spirit, right? So poor in

spirit, you're going to mourn over your

sin. You're going to be meek. You're

going to hunger for righteousness.

You're going to show mercy to others.

You're going to have purity of heart,

peacemaking, and persecution. And you'll

notice like if you really stop and think

about it, the later ones are built upon

the foundations of the earlier ones. So

there's an order to this. We'll see. So

in verse two, it says, "He opened his

mouth and taught them saying, here's the

first beatitude. Blessed are the poor in

spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of

heaven." And man,

that is everything else builds on that.

Mhm.

>> And so here you you have Jesus who is

building his sermon not on achievement,

not on you know you better go out and

you better do all the good stuff and

help the old lady cross the street and

you know then you then you might measure

up. He's like you want to know how to

get in. You want to know how to qualify

for the kingdom of heaven. It starts

here. Bankruptcy.

>> Don't don't come to me with your resume.

Don't come to me saying no no no. I

think I actually measure up. like take a

look Jesus like you might be lucky to

have me on your team. He's saying if you

want in you have to start by recognizing

you're totally bankrupt. It's not coming

with a plan for moral improvement to

earn the kingdom. It's recognizing that

you have spiritually collapsed. And the

word there, the Greek word there for

poor, chachos, I think I'm pronouncing

that right. It literally is poor. It's

beggar. It's destitute. It's a word

that's used for like extreme neediness.

It comes from the root of a verb tosso,

which means to crouch or cower. Like you

imagine when a beggar comes, what do

they do? It's it's like you see their

posture change where they're like, can

you please help me? And it's a sign of

like almost I don't measure up. I need

help. That's where that word even comes

from. So it's not like ah we're we're

below average you know we we may not pay

upper class but we're middle to lower

class like we've got no you're bankrupt

like that's what this is saying you've

got nothing to offer the only thing you

can do is come to the Lord with open

hands saying

>> I'm a mess I need charity I need mercy

and so the doorway into the kingdom is

realizing I cannot save myself I bring

nothing to God I need mercy And that for

Jesus's opening of this great sermon is

radically different than every other

religion that you find in the world,

which is all measure up. Try harder. Get

there. Come qualify for God's presence.

And Jesus is saying, "Forget that you

can't. You need to come bankrupt or

admit, acknowledge, realize you are

bankrupt."

>> And even his first invitation to

everyone even before this is repent for

the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so

like if you want the kingdom of heaven,

the first step is repentance. And you

need you only need repentance if you are

poor in spirit.

>> If you don't think you need repentance,

then you're missing out on the poverty

in spirit.

>> It's a good point. And and here like

remember who he's preaching to because

you've got it says the crowds include

all of these people that are coming up

from the the religious elite areas.

>> And this would have been sobering or or

offensive to a lot of these Jews because

what are they teaching? Like we talked

about this.

>> You got you got to get there. You've got

to show enough zeal, enough personal

piety, enough holiness, otherwise the

Messiah is never going to come. And so

when Jesus comes and says, "Yeah,

holiness is important. We're going to

get there. But you can't even start. You

can't measure up and then God is going

to deliver you." No, you need to start

by recognizing you've got nothing.

>> You do not deserve this. And you need to

realize that you don't deserve it.

Otherwise, you'll never enter into the

kingdom. And that's they would have been

shocked. Um, and Jesus is saying that

those most aware of their unworthiness

are the ones ready to receive grace.

>> Which is why he clashes with the

Pharisees all the time because what are

they teaching?

We're spiritually rich.

>> Yeah,

>> we've got it together. I thank God that

I'm not like those other people. I look

at my prayers, look at my tassels, look

at my robes, look at all the things and

all the meticulous ways that I keep

every little bit of the law. But in

here, it's garbage. They they refuse to

recognize that they're bankrupt in their

soul. But the outcasts and the sinners

and the prostitutes and those that feel

way far off and hopeless at this point

like God has to have given up on me when

they hear a message of hope that I have

to just come with my bankruptcy. I got

that. They're really near to the

kingdom. And that's where us, even those

that are, you know, we've been raised in

the church and we've got all the things

going like you got to recognize that the

the entry fee to the kingdom is just

recognize you have nothing. There's

nothing you can give. There's nothing

you have to give that would qualify for

God's amazing grace.

>> And even the world we live in, I mean,

our modern world, a lot of, you know,

we're sold that our identity, who we

are, is just a sum of what we do.

>> You know, it's a lot of what have you

done for me? Lately, it's like, okay,

hey, show me what you're doing. I'll

either love you or I'll hate you based

off what you do. So, even coming into

this just in our modern world is

offensive and then very refreshing to be

honest. Like, it hurts at first. It's

like, but look what I've done. Look what

I've built. you know, look at my resume.

Everyone else loves it. Why can't you?

And all of a sudden, it's like, well,

that doesn't matter. And then we're

really like, oh, thank goodness.

>> Yeah, you're going to love me no matter

what. All of my secrets that I hide from

the rest of the world. But every other

beatitude is going to flow from this

one. And it is that freedom that you're

talking about. And Jesus

>> is going to begin with the ultimate

statement of humility. You have to

recognize you're bankrupt because that

humility is the gateway to every other

Christian virtue. You have to start

there because every sin is going to

begin with, "I know better than God. I

matter most. My desire reigns supreme.

He's lucky to have me. I think I'm

pretty good." And if that's you, you

look down on everybody else. You'll

never have a merciful heart. You'll

never, you know, think, "Oh, I'm going

to be a peacemaker." Because nobody, you

know, I'm always right. So anybody that

needs peace, it's their fault. Like you

never understand grace. So you never

extend grace, right? We love because he

first loved us. I mean, that's one of

the ethics, central ethics of of the New

Testament. And every virtue is going to

begin with surrender, dependence,

humility, and longing. Psalm 51 17 when

when David is describing what God is

looking for most in worship, he says,

"The sacrifices of God are a broken

spirit, a broken and contrite heart, oh

God, you will not despise." One of the

ethics you find in in the Old Testament

and the New Testament, James 4:6, God

opposes the proud, but gives grace to

the humble. So, if you want to look for

dividing lines, I mean, he doesn't do

wealth. He's not like, "Oh, rich and

poor." He's not, you know, what's your

nationality, what's your race, what's

your gender, like there's no dividing

lines there for God. But you want to

know what is a firm dividing line all

throughout the scripture? Proud, humble.

Which which one of those sides do you

want to be on with God?

>> Humility.

>> You better get bankrupt quick. Like

recognize that you are bankrupt. Be wise

enough and humble enough to recognize

your need because God divides along

those lines. Proud, humble. That's entry

point. Which why this is so crazy to us

and why this is upside down kingdom

ethics because we live in a world where

pride is great.

>> You know, we pat each other on the back

with pride. I mean, we're looking, you

know, maybe not, we don't use the word

arrogant, we see as bad, but like, yeah,

>> you're proud and entitled. I deserve

this. I'm better. Like, I how dare that

not come to me because I'm amazing.

Like, but you think about this. Jesus

doesn't just come and say, "Hey, do

this." One of the most amazing things is

when you recog like when you think Jesus

is God in the flesh and what are we told

Corinthians 8:9, though he was rich,

where was he rich?

>> In heaven.

>> Oh my goodness. It's like by the power

of his word, he has anything he wants.

Yet for your sake, hear that. For your

sake, he became poor so that you by his

poverty, by his bankruptcy on the cross,

when he lays everything down and all of

his privilege, when he enters into his

poverty, you might become rich.

>> Do you see how that works? Like Jesus

doesn't come and say, "Hey, be poor

because I'm God."

like he he says yeah be poor but then he

enters into the world and he is going to

model this the ultimate charitable

action of the one who is rich who

becomes poor so that you can become rich

that's the nature of the gospel ethic

right and so one of the other things I

think that's interesting about this

first biatitude then we'll move on to

number two is this promise is present

tense did you notice that for theirs

>> is

>> is the kingdom of heaven. That means

right now if you're spiritually

bankrupt, it's already there. You're

already in like you are. It belongs to

you. The kingdom of heaven is yours if

you're poor in spirit. Not hey someday

you know it's coming. No, you're there.

You're already in. And that's kind of an

interesting promise that that is present

tense because from this point in the

biatitudes till you get to the last one

where it's a repetition of theirs is the

kingdom of heaven. It shifts to future

tense where it's shall be. You know the

next one is going to be blessed are

those who mourn for they shall be

comforted. But the kingdom of heaven

poor in spirit yours now present tense.

Wow.

>> And that's one where it's like handle

this one first. Mhm.

>> Like don't skip this one and go to ones

that may be easier, more difficult. Like

this is the entryway. So handle this if

you haven't answered this question.

>> That's right. Because once you obtain

the citizenship, right? You have that

card. I I belong to this. Every other

promise that then comes from that point

forward flows from the fact that you are

a citizen of the kingdom of heaven

>> that you belong to it and it belongs to

you. Every other promise will manifest

because of that. So second beatatitude,

blessed are those who mourn, for they

shall be comforted. And this isn't

generic sadness,

>> okay?

>> This isn't just, you know, I'm just

going to beat myself up and I'm so bad.

Like this is grief over the fact that

like I'm I'm really sinful and I'm

selfish and I don't I don't treat my

neighbors. I don't treat my wife. I

don't treat my kids. I don't treat my

co-workers the way that I ought. I'm

sorrowful over the fact that there's a

fallen order of war and starvation and

hatred and rebellion and brokenness and

separation from God. Like I look at the

world and I look at my law in the world

and my contribution to the world and I

recognize God deserves so much better

and it breaks my heart. Like you mourn.

2 Corinthians 7:10 says godly sorrow.

Well, what is that? I mean, it's

mourning. Godly sorrow brings repentance

that leads to salvation and leaves no

regret. That's wonderful.

>> Yeah.

>> Like godly sorrow is or mourning as

Jesus is describing it here is not

walking around going, "I'm such a pile

of garbage." Like that's actually

prideful. It's pretty gross, right?

Because

>> you still

>> because what does Jesus say about you?

>> You're not.

>> You're not.

>> You're worth dying for.

>> You're worth dying for. Your price tag

absolutely outrageous. Everything that

you have to mourn about, he's coming to

bring comfort. He's coming to show you

valuable. He will redeem it all. It does

lead to salvation and leaves what? No

regret. And so once someone sees their

poverty of spirit, what's natural to

follow, you're going to mourn that.

>> You're going to want better than that.

And that's Psalm 34:18. The Lord, I love

this verse. The Lord is near to the

brokenhearted and he saves those crushed

in spirit. Well, if that's who the Lord

saves, if that's who the Lord pursues,

like the brokenhearted and the crushed

in spirit, not so bad. But you you're

not hopelessly crushed in spirit. You

look around and you're like, gosh, this

world is heavy. I want better. God, you

deserve better than this. And that's

helpful because so often we use those

verses for just like something traumatic

happened. There's a death in the family.

there's some kind of real pain that

happened which I think it's great to

apply these but there's also we all feel

it sort of like the mundainess of life

the brokenness of just this world like

maybe I can't put my finger right on it

right now of what that specifically is

but I feel it

>> so it is helpful to be able to mourn

that state as well

>> yeah there's a there's a part of that

you know when you when the Bible says

you know come quickly Lord Jesus like

there's there's two sides of that one is

I can't wait to be with you

>> but there's another side that says I am

so worn out and tired of the broken

nature of this world. Like I mourn the

fact that this is what it is and what it

is

and hurting you like and betraying you

and that idea of mourning. Here's

another one where Jesus doesn't say okay

mourn now he himself is going to carry

out this beatitude. Isaiah 53:3 it says

he was despised he was rejected by man.

And then listen to what he's called. A

man of sorrows and acquainted with

grief. Like Jesus knows what it's like

to mourn the nature of this world. He

knows really well more than we do. True

grief.

>> Yeah.

>> Like he's somebody that can weep over

Jerusalem. He can mourn with Mary and

Martha over the death of Lazarus. He can

see sin's impacts. He's endured

abandonment. He cries out from the

cross, "My God, my God, why have you

forsaken me?" Like, this is He's He's a

savior who knows what it means to mourn,

and he knows what it means to be

comforted and to comfort.

>> So, you get to the third one, blessed

are the meek, for they shall inherit the

earth.

>> What jumps to mind with this one?

>> This one's the most confusing for me.

>> Okay. Why?

>> Because I think meekness is a hard word

to define because we don't use it well.

>> Yeah.

>> You don't One, you just don't hear it a

lot. It feels like a very biblical

verse, but then it does just come off as

like you're a doormat most of the time.

And then shall inherit the earth. Like

again, that brings it back to like

>> well that's the blessed life I want.

Like give me everything I can get down

here. So it is one of those ones where

it's like all right, how does this bake

out in reality?

>> Yeah. So let's dive into that because to

be meek is not being passive, dmat, you

know, oh, so I'm so weak. But being

meek, think of it this way. It is

strength under control,

>> right? It is confidence without

arrogance. It is receiving power

submitted to God. Okay? So a a meek

person is confident in his identity and

his source of strength. So if you if you

have the God of the universe who comes

to you and says, "Hey, Will, here's my

promises. I will always have your back.

>> I I am your strength. When you're weak,

I've got you." and you receive all of

these promises that he sings over you,

that he rejoices over you, that he can't

wait to be with you, and everything is

secure in him. How do you then walk?

>> Confidently.

>> Confidently. But do you need to go

around going,

>> you know who I am? I'm the greatest.

Like, no. You're humbled in the fact

that he has to be your savior. And yet,

you're utterly confident because he is

your savior and he values you to the

highest degree. And so, I've heard

someone say, "This is like a waror under

perfect control." like you you're you

are strong in him. You have unlimited

capacities in him and yet it's all under

control for his purposes of peace and

humility. It's like I remember when I

was going to school, one of the things

that always stood out to me and this

isn't a universal rule, but

>> ages ago when you went to school.

>> That's right. Ages decades. It is 30

years. 30-year reunion. This it's kind

of crazy to say out loud. Anyway, is it

30? No, it's not 20 year. 20 Who am I?

It is.

>> I have no idea.

>> Let me go back.

>> No, keep it in.

>> It is 30 30 years. 30 years. Yeah. 30-y

year reunion. That's crazy.

>> I need to like moment. [laughter]

>> Anyway,

>> but I wrote this when I wrote in my

notes from a long time ago. I said, "The

meek are rooted in a surplus of strength

and security afforded by their faith in

the Lord." Armed with this confidence,

the meek consider the welfare of others

above their own. The meek person's

willingness to forfeit the world's

temporary, finite, and petty pleasures

will secure an everlasting, infinite,

and precious inheritance in the Lord.

They stand to inherit all things. And

what I was going to say is back when I

was in school, I got sidetracked with my

mortality.

I always noticed like the kids that were

like the offensive linemen that were

just humongous and jacked and you knew

that if you ever got in a fight with

them they would destroy you.

>> They were always the coolest, calmst,

friendliest, but the it's the little

wiry ones that are like insecure.

>> Got something to prove.

>> They have something to prove. Those are

the ones where you're like, "All right,

dude. Just chill out. I want to get away

from you." The bigger kids were always

the coolest. Why? Why? Why were they

always the calst? And I'm sure there's

exceptions. There's probably people been

bullied by offensive linemen out there.

But why is that generally the norm?

>> Because if literally push came to shove,

they knew they could do it. They didn't

need to prove it all the time.

>> They walked around with a quiet

confidence. They didn't feel threatened.

And so you walked with kind of a

meekness.

>> That's what that is. That's how I think

we should hear meek. You know, it's

Jesus who can command angels, right?

Ultimate power. He commands molecules

for Pete's sake, storms, creatures, all

of that. And yet, when he walks through

this life, he doesn't lord that over

people. He allows himself to be

crucified. He's crying out on their

behalf. That is the ultimate picture of

meekness. Jesus, it's not And it's again

not Jesus saying, "Be meek." He He's the

ultimate picture of meekness.

>> Yeah. And he's the same guy who

protected the temple when he threw

tables over because they were

disrespecting the Lord. So there is

instances where like you saw that part

of him and he was still meek.

>> Yeah, that's exactly right. So meekness

is not, oh, I never fight. I never raise

my voice. I never I never No, it's it's

where you don't need recognition or

domination or vindication. You're not

doing it so that everybody looks at you

and goes, "Wow, he's really strong and

powerful and look at how angry he can

get." It's in defense of the

downtrodden. It's putting yourself out

there and putting yourself in a position

of vulnerability for other people.

That's meek. Yeah. Like that is part of

that. And and this is he's quoting

essentially from Psalm 37:11. Like this

isn't a brand new one. Listen to what

that says. But the meek shall inherit

the land. In Hebrew, ets can mean land

or earth. It's the Hebrew word. The meek

shall inherit the land and delight

themselves in abundant peace. And Jesus

here's I love this verse to describe

humility or meekness. Philippians 2 6

to8. Though he was in the form of God,

ultimate strength, right? He didn't

count he didn't count equality with God

a thing to be grasped but emptied

himself out.

>> And so here you have like think about

how wild this is. The king of heaven

I've said before one of my favorite

attributes of God is his humility. The

king of heaven, the creator of heaven

and earth was a carpenter.

He washed feet. He endured mockery. He

wept with mourers. He submitted to

crucifixion. He told people who were

willing to fight for him, don't. Right?

But when he needed to speak with

authority, he could.

>> And so proud people are harsh,

but broken people become tender. And so

now when we're thinking, okay, we're in

the third biatitude. How do you get to

meekness? You recognize your poverty of

spirit? You mourn over it. And in

receiving the comfort, what does that

make you?

>> Meek. Makes you meek. It's not weak, but

it is kind of this tender confidence. So

then you jump to the next one. Blessed

are those who hunger and thirst for

righteousness, for they shall be

satisfied. And and western ears like we

hear that a little bit differently

because if I say I'm hungry, like get

out of here. Like it it basically means

like I could go for pizza right now.

Like this word is intense.

>> Okay,

>> it's like hunger in a starving village.

Like this is imagine a man who is

starving to death desiring for bread or

somebody who's on the verge of

dehydrating to death craving water. You

know, death is right on on the verge.

Jesus is saying the same way that you

would hunger with desperation in that

moment like I need to get this or I'll

die.

You should hunger and thirst for

righteousness.

>> Changes it, doesn't it?

>> And he just came out of that feeling.

>> Like if anyone knows what does it look

like to hunger and thirst? I mean after

40 days in the wilderness. I mean time

has passed since then a little bit but

it's like he felt that.

>> So what does that mean? Like how do you

how do you walk in that? How do you

hunger like that for righteousness? What

does that mean?

>> I think I have to value it more in a

sense.

>> I mean I think for me at least

righteousness isn't one of those ones

that comes to the top of my mind that

like I value just intrinsically. I know

that for sure. But also it is one where

it's like oh how do I get to that place?

>> Yeah. And for me, like when I think

about it, because it's convicting

because there's so many things that I

want where it's like how much how much

do I have to extend myself into the

desires of God or designs of God or the

commands of God because if I go too far

this way, I have to give up this stuff

over here, right? And I really want

that. I'm really hungry for money, job,

career, you know, whatever. Like all of

this stuff, man, I really want that. But

if I if I'm legit following after the

Lord passionately, I got to let go of

some of this stuff to be what he calls

me to be over here. You follow?

>> My hunger for this stuff should pale

next to this. I should be like, "Get rid

of that. I desperately need water. I

desperately need this bread because I'm

that hungry for it that everything else

pales in comparison." Like, if you're

thinking about that kind of hunger and

you're on your way and somebody says,

"Hey, you're on the verge of death.

You're starving to death." Oh, there's

bread right over there in my car. It's

ready for you. You wouldn't be like,

well, let me go check my email first and

all these other distractions, right?

You'd be like, what does it take for me

to get there? Everything else can is a

secondary priority.

>> He's saying that hunger like that to

where every other priority gets put into

his place because you want his

righteousness demonstrated in your life.

And even for me, it's filtering out like

some things make sinful will feel

righteous.

>> You know, there's a lot of things that

get my blood boiling, which sometimes it

feels like that's what does it. And for

me, it's discerning like, all right, is

that just sinful selfish will

>> or is this glorifying God, Jesus's

righteousness? And I think in our world,

that can be confusing because we're kind

of in a world that's I raid about

everything.

>> Yeah. We're outraged monsters. Yeah. And

and back to that point,

the question is not whether you hunger.

>> The question is what are you hungering

for?

>> Because I think every single person, I

mean, if you put it out there, you're

hungering for approval or lust or money

or comfort or power or tickling your

ears and entertainment or whatever the

case might biblical language, but

anyway, like you're you're you're

wanting something and Jesus is saying,

"No, no, no. your desperation for

righteousness should be more.

>> And I think, you know, here again, it's

not Jesus who looks at us and says

hunger. He does it. You know, he he's

the only one ever in the history of

humanity who walked the entire life with

perfect righteousness. Never betrayed

God once, never sinned, never fail, goes

to the cross, and he will give his

righteousness away. And I think that's

why on the cross he cries out, I thirst.

I

>> mean, this is somebody who has lived his

whole life saying, "You come to me,

you'll never hunger again. You come to

me, you'll never thirst again." Who on

the cross for the first time cries out,

"I thirst." And I think that's a legit I

mean, crucifixion by

>> physiology makes you thirsty. It does.

And bleeding out makes you thirsty. But

I think that there is something bigger

going on when he says, "I thirst."

because it's the first moment in all of

eternity past where God out of his

generosity to us gives us his

righteousness, feels a separation from

God and is desperately thirsty and

hungry for I need that back. I need I

need what it was that I just lost

because there's an alienation going on

now. And he more than any other person

in the world, I think, experienced a

hunger and thirst for righteousness when

he gave it away to us. I think that's

part of what's going on there. The

righteous one bore our unrighteousness.

He thirsts so we can receive the second

half of this beatiti biatitude where it

promises that we shall be satisfied.

>> And it's good that we hunger and thirst

for things. Our problem is we just

hunger and thirst for the wrong things.

So this is just an interesting thing.

Jesus is saying no that desire in you is

good. Let's just refocus this on what

you need most. And that and the fact

that you hunger for something means

what?

>> You can be filled.

>> It can be filled. And if you're

hungering for it, you don't have it

currently.

>> Like that's kind of a weird thing. Like

he presupposes that. Like if I just eat

four steaks, I'm not like, "Oh, I'm so

hungry." Like I I'm hungry because I

haven't eaten. I haven't had what it is

that I need.

>> And he's like, it's it's again the

humility train. It's it's poor in

spirit. It's mourning. It's meekness.

And now it's hungering. Well, you're

hungry for something you don't have. So,

you have to come to the table by saying,

"I don't have righteousness in the way

that God deserves." I mean, I'm sure you

do some things that are righteous to

some degree, but it's, man, I

desperately need that and I desperately

want that and I don't currently have

what I'm looking for. Right? If you've

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Back to the show. So then you jump to

number five. Because what does God do

with your lack of righteousness and your

poverty of spirit and all of your

mourning? He crushes you.

>> Right. Yeah. He comes and shows you

abundant mercy. And so number five,

blessed are the merciful, for they shall

receive mercy, right? Mercy received

becomes mercy shown. Christians forgive

most or should forgive most because

they're most forgiven.

>> That's 1 John 4:19. We love because he

loved first. We receive compassion and

so we know our own need. And so then we

want to replicate that. You can see the

progression. Like, man, mercy. Once you

go through those first four and he still

wants you and he still clothes you and

he still desires you, it's like, oh my

gosh. Like, I could offend you this much

infinitely more than anyone will ever

offend me and you still pour out your

forgiveness on me to the to the degree

that you would go to the cross for me.

>> Who am I to then hold on to grievances

and grudges? Like, I I can't do that

anymore. So, I forgive. I forgive. And

when he says, "If you show mercy, you're

going to receive mercy," it's part of

the very nature of being a Christian is

recognizing the gravity of what you've

been given. And if you've truly been

given mercy, you'll show mercy. And

obviously with that, again, it's not

Jesus being like, "Be merciful." Like,

my goodness, this whole ministry is just

absolutely filled with mercy.

>> Pure mercy,

>> tender. I mean, from the cross crying

out Luke 23:34, "Father, forgive them

for they know not what they do." I mean,

you think about this. Step back. I mean,

this is him showing mercy while he's

bleeding, while there's still spit on

his face while he's being mocked, while

he's struggling for air and trying to

get the nails off of his nerves and

trying to figure out any place of

comfort while people are walking around

hurling insults. And he's crying out

mercy. Like if he if he can do it in the

midst of that against such wicked and

gross people.

>> Yeah.

>> That he would beg for their mercy in the

midst of that.

And we're supposed to follow after him.

And we we're recipients of that mercy.

We're the ones who put him on the cross.

Okay. Like we should replicate that.

Even just in meekness in the moment. I

mean, if I'm being tortured to death, I

assume probably correctly that all my

thoughts are going to be about me.

>> Mhm.

>> Yeah. I'm be like, I don't know how it

would actually be, but for him to be

like, I don't care about me right now.

Even in the midst of all of this, my

only focus is outward towards them,

>> it's crazy.

>> Yeah. I mean, it just shows you how good

he is. I take care of my mother. I mean,

all the

>> everything from the cross,

>> it's it's kind of wild, but I mean,

that's that's his heart. Verse eight,

uh, number six, beatitude. It says,

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they

shall see God." And so this is I used to

think like pure in heart means you're

sinless. Right? That's the way feels

that way.

>> That's the way I've always read that.

But and and there's some element to

that. But what he's getting at is that

righteousness and the purity that he's

after is not about the external

cleanliness. Jesus is after your

motives, your desires, your affections,

your integrity, the stuff that starts

here. So it's why it's pure in heart.

And so this purity is about less about

being totally sinless and more about

being undivided in your devotion.

>> Okay?

>> Your heart is purely desiring what the

Lord wants. Even if you know the fallen

nature breaks up, like you're entirely

one in your mind that I want Jesus. I

want to follow you. It's integrity. Like

the word integer, I love it's no

fractions, right? It's where we get the

word integrity. So when you come to the

Lord, it's undivided loyalty. It's

sincerity before God. It's not, yeah,

I'll I'll love you and I'll follow you,

but you know, half of my heart's over

here and I'm giving a portion of it over

here. Yeah, you're nice to have on the

shelf, but you know, I've got all these

other competing loyalties. He's like, I

want it all. Like, even if even if

you're going to mess it up and not be

perfect on the outside, which you are,

>> which you are, I want you to to strive

to give me everything in the heart,

which you're not going to do well

either. And he says, but those that can

surrender and give everything, they

shall see God. Right? And so in a life

where God is purging you more and more

and more, you you start seeing every

other attraction as petty and you start

becoming more and more pure in heart.

>> And like we talk about it feels like

constantly on this podcast, which is a

good thing. Like our whole goal is to

behold Jesus and then we'll be more and

more like him. You know, it's like the

backwards part of Christian that says

like no, your responsibility just behold

Jesus. He'll make you more like him in

that regard. And that kind of follows

this.

>> Yeah. You see that everywhere that's I

mean that and that to see God I mean

half the Old Testament you talking about

if you see God you die but then the for

the saints that I mean that's David's

greatest request is to gaze upon the

beauty of the Lord that's Psalm 27:4

and so in Christ who redeems your heart

right who makes it whole even though

you've got mess in there he will make it

perfect to where now you will behold God

and the more you behold God and the more

you behold God. And the more you behold

God, the more you become like him. And

so he alone, Jesus is the only one who

had perfectly pure motives and perfect

holiness and perfect love. But guess

what? He imputes that to you. And so

this beatitude is imputed to you

legally, but then in like in a practical

everyday sense, it's more and more of

your heart is conquered by him. You're

becoming more and more pure in heart as

you go. your desires are going to be

changed more and more and more toward

him. And in this one, this is again

Jesus who's got, you know, he has other

interests like but he never lets go of

his primary. Like God gets number one

bill all the time when he's in the

garden of Gethsemane and he's like, I

don't want to drink this cup.

>> Yeah, there's a lot lot in his mind.

>> I don't want this wrath. I don't want to

endure this. Nobody would want to endure

this and yet not my will be done, yours

be done. Like I'm giving you everything.

So then you get to number seven. Blessed

are the peacemakers, for they shall be

called the sons of God. And this is not

about avoiding conflict. It is about

actively reconciling. The Bible says

there are times for conflict. But you

always want to be and as much as it

depends on you, you want to be at peace

with all men. And you're you're talking

about Jesus stepping into a time and

place in history where good Lord,

there's conflict everywhere. I mean,

everybody hates everybody. things. You

got Jews and Gentiles and Samaritans and

Pharisees and Sadducees and Romans and

the conquered people and the Zealots and

collaborators that they were trying to

assassinate all the time. And you get

Jesus who comes into the middle of that

and says what it looks like to be part

of the kingdom. Reconcile. Pursue peace

with people who hate you and people that

you right now are actively hating and

you need to repent of. No, you you

should be a peace maker. And that's what

Jesus is is he's not I mean he's not

coming again and saying be peacemakers

now. He comes to reconcile heaven and

earth. He comes to reconcile sinners

with a holy God. He comes to reconcile

Jews and Gentiles in himself. He

reconciles. Colossians 1 tells us he

reconciles all things in himself. Like

that's kind of a wild statement. He is

the ultimate peacemaker. Ephesians 2:14

just says he himself is our peace.

>> Not he brings peace, not he changes our

circumstances so that we can have peace.

He himself is our peace. And so no

matter what's going on out there, he's

our peace. And from the overflow of that

that we have ultimate peace in him and

regardless of our circumstances, we then

become peacemakers. Right? And so if

he's your peace, then your peace isn't

circumstantial or dependent on others.

So reach out, show mercy, be pure in

heart, care about his desires more, and

now you're extending peace to those that

are your enemies.

>> I'm glad this one comes later cuz this

one [laughter] seems difficult.

>> They will.

>> Yeah, this one seems one where it's like

if you're not working through this in

the order, if if this one came too

early, I think other people be like,

"Okay, that's we're out."

>> Yeah. I mean these people first century

we have this still in our day and age. I

mean there's there's all the labels

depending on which political party you

are and which da da da da da da. We

still have all these divisions where

we're kind of in a cold war of animosity

and bitterness and resentment. And Jesus

is coming and he's being like my days

were more intense

>> like

really intense

and I brought peace. I swallowed like I

was a Jew and I went into Samaritan

towns and I gave dignity to the

Samaritan woman who looked at me and was

like, "How are you talking to me? You're

you're a Jew." Like, no. In every sense,

he is always looking to extend peace

wherever he can. That's the mark of

somebody who But to your point, if you

started at number seven, it's like,

whoa, that's really hard. You literally

have to go, I'm bankrupt, right? And go

through it. I'm going to mourn. I'm

going to be meek. I'm gonna hunger. I'm

going to show give be shown mercy, show

mercy and pure in heart and give

everything all of my devotion to God and

what he wants. And then once you do that

huge, you know, you're working down now

all of a sudden you're ready to be a

peacemaker.

>> Yeah. And this is one that like I have

to look at Jesus for this

>> because a lot of times this is too much.

But like peace feels too costly in this

life. Like it feels like I just want to

run away from it. I want to sweep it

under the rug. It'll just be easier this

way. to actually get real lasting peace

where two people who have differences,

who there's hatred, who there's

bitterness to come to a point, I mean,

not just work, but just

>> the cost of and the sacrifice of it.

Like, if I don't see what Jesus did for

me, then I'm out on this one.

>> So, to see that Jesus

>> who is infinite would go to the lengths

he will so that I could have peace with

him.

>> That's the driving factor.

>> And I think where we fail as a society

is we we don't know how to disagree

agreeably anymore. Um, and what I mean

by that is like, you know, Jesus doesn't

say, "Hey, be at peace." And so, never

say anything that might be

objectionable. Like, he's going to live

a life where he's constantly saying

people that saying things that make

people mad. You know, he's he's mortal

enemies, it seems, with with the

Pharisees who hate him and are

constantly conspiring. And yet, in Luke

7, he's going and having dinner. When

he's invited to a Pharisees house to

have dinner, even though it seems like

they're trying to set him up, he takes

the opportunity to extend peace and to

go into the house and have dinner with

Simon the Pharisee. And so he's always

like even though he's going to tell the

Pharisees you're wrong, like you're

actually doing damage to the kingdom

with what you're teaching and he's going

to throw down some really hard things on

the fear. We'll talk about it in a

minute. Like some really hard things on

them. His desire is always for peace,

right? His desire is always for that.

And where we get stuck on this is like

they're actively destroying the very

things I love. How do you make peace

with somebody who stinks that bad? Yeah.

>> Like, and so you have to walk this

balance of being able to say, "Hey, what

you're doing is destructive and and to

carry out the prophetic role that God

gives to his church, but at the same

time working internally to actively

desire their peace and good

>> to preach truth to them with the aim

that they will become a friend in the

process even if it is not possible." But

the Bible doesn't say you have to do

that. It has to be peace. that says

everything within your power to make

peace. That's what you do. If they

reject that, shake the dust off your

feet and move to the next town, right?

But he doesn't say just at all costs

peace. Absolutely not. That's

wickedness. You know, you go to the Old

Testament and it's woe to those who say

peace when there is no peace. Like don't

you don't get to pretend here. Like

that's not godly either. And so that's a

rough one. I'm with you. I feel it. Like

I feel like I'm falling down on the rung

out of the rungs here of sanctification

as we go. And you get to lasso number

eight and it's the the kudigra, right?

Blessed are those who are persecuted for

righteousness sake for theirs is the

kingdom of heaven. There it is. Present

tense. Blessed are you when others

revile you and persecute you. Well, why

would they do that? Because you've

spoken up. Because you're different.

It's you're not pretending. you're not

allowed to do whatever it takes to get

along. Like they're they're mad at you.

That's why they revile you and persecute

you and utter all kinds of evil against

you falsely on my account. He says,

"Rejoice and be glad for your reward is

great in heaven. For so they persecuted

the prophets who were before you, who

also spoke boldly

and tried to be at peace, but it wasn't

for them." And so this one is personal.

It becomes all the other biatitudes.

You'll notice it'll say, "Blessed are

those."

>> Yeah. What does this say? Blessed are

>> you.

>> You. So, it's like an expectation. He

assumes that faithful believers are

going to suffer.

And by the way, you're not going to get

there unless you've walked through all

the other biatitudes that come before

this or you're not going to get there

properly. People might hate you, but

unless you're going through this

correctly, you're not doing it on his

account.

>> And just what a gift that he switches to

you.

>> Because hate's so personal. You know,

when someone's reviling you and hating

you, you're not like, "Well, that's

abstract." It's like,

>> "No, I need something more personal to

hold on in the midst of that."

>> So Jesus to say, "No, I see you and what

you're doing on my account."

>> And I know all there's all this out here

that's after you because of it, but I

see you.

>> And the interesting when he says on my

account, all throughout the Old

Testament, like when it talked about

being persecuted, it was persecuted for

God's sake. Persecuted for God's sake.

And he says that you're persecuted on my

account. Right? What does that mean?

God. I'm God. Right? This is this is a

heavenly calling and you're being

persecuted on my account. Again, he's

not hiding his identity here. And so 2

Timothy 3:12 says, "Indeed, all who

desire to live a godly life in Christ

Jesus will be persecuted." And again,

it's not Jesus saying, "Good luck, you

know, go be persecuted for me." There's

nobody in the history of humanity that

was more persecuted than him. No one. He

endured false witnesses, mockery,

betrayal, torture, crucifixion,

rejection at every turn. Like, and when

he says, you know, the world is going to

hate you, know that it hated me first.

Right? When you act like me, when you do

those beatitudes, the world's going to

go, I don't think I like this guy.

You'll be persecuted. But it's because

you're behaving like me

>> and they hated me first. That's wild

that God chose to be hated

to be this kind and good to us,

which says something about us, too. And

again, back to this whole like first

sermon out of the gates. It seems wild,

but also it's just so generous of Jesus

to these people. You know, he's not

hiding anything from them. You know,

he's not getting to the end of his life

being like, "Well, I told you it was all

going to be prosperity. Joke's on you.

Guess what? Yeah,

>> here comes reviling and hatred. It's

like, hey, this is the path I'm going to

walk and I want to call you to the same.

>> Yeah. There's no bait and switch here.

He's he's painting a picture that's

like, oo, do we want do we want to be a

part of this?

But it's the beautiful life.

>> Yeah. Again, is he worthwhile?

>> It's the blessed life. He says,

>> this is what matters for eternity. I

mean, you can waste your mist and a

vapor of a life for all the vain vain

and self-pursuits of this world that

fall apart and disappear. Or you can

live the blessed life for the eternal

one in whom there's an eternal

inheritance, in whom there's comfort, in

whom there's peace and mercy and all the

things that he promises. But becoming a

mature Christian, by the way, all the

biatitudes, not all of them are entrance

into heaven. They're not all like, "How

do you get saved?" That's not what the

biatitudes are. You have to recognize

your poverty of soul and your need and

cry out for a savior. Then you're in.

The rest of this is working out your

sanctification, right? It's becoming

more like him. And so if you fail at all

these things, you would be up a creek

without Jesus, right? But the first

beatitude drives you to Jesus. And he

then gives you his righteousness if

you'll put your life in his hands.

>> And the rest of it is sanctification.

And so one of the interpretive keys that

I love about this is, you know how we

talked about the mountains being

kayastic? You remember that? How the

beginning and the end?

>> How could I forget? [laughter]

>> You're welcome. By the way, you know why

it's called kayastic? Do you know why?

>> Uh it's because they're kayazm. Thank

you.

>> The adjective version.

>> So it comes from the Greek letter kai,

right? Which is the x, which is

symmetrical. So the idea is kai. It's

coming up and it's the same on both

sides as it comes and meets in the

middle. So with that one of the kayazms

that you find in Matthew where in

chapter 5 you're going through the

biatitudes well you back up five from

the end 28 dot dot dot dot dot you get

to 23 you see the echoes of the

biatitudes except they come in woes. So

it's when when Jesus is going in and

it's after he's had the triumphal entry.

He's coming to Jerusalem. It's the last

week, you know, he's going to be

crucified coming up and he gets into it

with the Pharisees, right? And you want

to talk about somebody who's spirited.

So, think about the ultimate peacemaker

is having this conversation and notice

how they echo each other in the opposite

ways. And this tells you in a sense, it

gives you a key. How do you interpret

this? Ready? So, the first beatitude,

blessed are the poor in spirit, for

theirs is the kingdom of heaven. But

then he looks at the Pharisee with the

first woe in Matthew 23:13

and he says, "Woe to you." The opposite

of blessed. Woe to you scribes and

Pharisees, you hypocrites. For you shut

the kingdom of heaven in people's faces.

>> Poverty, yours is the kingdom of heaven.

Pride and self-righteousness like the

Pharisees. No, you shut the kingdom of

heaven in men's faces if they follow if

they follow after you. Number two,

blessed are those who mourn. Will you

fast into Matthew 23:14, which if you

look in your Bible, do you find verse

14? Read me Matthew 23:14.

>> I can't do that.

>> Right. Well, ESV and a lot of different

versions of the Bible will put a

footnote there because they say some

manuscripts don't have verse 14. And so,

you go to the bottom of the page and

it'll say what verse 14 reads. Well, it

should be in there. And the kayazm

verifies it because the second one is

about mourning. And what is the missing

verse 14 that's at the bottom of your

page? Which is really annoying that they

do this.

>> Yeah, because they still put it there.

>> Just makes me work for it.

>> It's so dumb that some translations do

this.

>> Woe to you scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites, for you devour widows

houses.

>> Whoa. Devour widows houses. What do

widows do?

>> They're hopefully mourning.

>> They're mourning, right? So you've got

those categories that come except this

time you're you're exploiting those who

mourn rather than comforting them. You

get to the third biatitude. Blessed are

the meek, for they shall inherit the

earth. But then you get to verse 15 of

the woes in Matthew 23. And it's woe to

you scribes and Pharisees, you

hypocrites. You travel across sea and

land. You go all over the earth. But

when you win a convert, you make them

twice as much a child of hell as

yourselves. Like, whoa,

>> you just called a Pharisee a child of

hell. And you said anybody he wins to

his cause is twice a child of hell. So

you're not going to inherit the earth.

you're going to inherit a much different

future. Four, this is true righteousness

versus false righteousness. One is

blessed are those who hunger and thirst

for righteousness where in Matthew 23:16

it's woe to you blind guides, you blind

men. What's greater? The gold or the

temple that has made the gold sacred.

What is what is what are they after?

What's they what are they hungering for?

>> Physical goods.

>> The physical goods. You're after the

gold. You're after all that, but rather

than the righteousness and the holiness

of the God behind it. The next one,

blessed are the merciful, for they shall

receive mercy, where the fifth of the

woes is woe to you scribes and

Pharisees. You tithe men and dill and

cummen and have neglected the weight to

your matters of the law, which are

justice and mercy and faithfulness.

Opposites

six, blessed are the pure in heart, for

they shall see God. Now you got Jesus

who refers to the Pharisees as blind

guides. What can blind people not do?

>> See things.

>> They won't see God. And woe to you

scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You clean the outside. Well, blessed are

the pure in heart, but woe to you

because you clean the outside, but

inside is full of greed and

self-indulgence. So, you're not pure in

here. You worry about purity out here,

and you're not going to see God. Next

one. Number seven. Blessed are the

peacemakers, for they shall be called

sons of God. And listen to this. He,

"Woe to you scribes and Pharisees and

all that." And he says, "For you are

like whitewashed tombs."

What are the tombs for?

>> Burying dead people.

>> Burying dead people. And he calls them

serpents, a brood of vipers. How are you

to escape being sentenced to hell? So,

you're not going to be called sons of

God because you're a brood of vipers.

You are sons of Satan, the serpent,

right? And you're not peacemakers. You

put people in the tombs. And then the

last one, blessed are those who are

persecuted for righteousness sake.

What's the eighth of the woes?

You witness against yourselves that you

are sons of those who murdered the

prophets. You're the descendants of the

persecutors.

Blessed are the persecuted. You are the

persecutors.

And so he's coming against it and he's

saying anybody who wants to come into

the kingdom of God needs to be humble.

They can't be filled with self-righteous

religiosity. And in Matthew 23, he goes

after the experts of self-righteous

religiosity. And he gives them the

anti-batitudes. It's all the woes of

those who will not follow the

biatitudes. This is who you are. You're

blind guides. You're a brood of vipers.

Your destination is hell. Like

everything, he just lights into them.

And this peacemaker who is calling them

to recognize that that future is not

peaceful at all. that they're only

bringing harm into the world, that

they're hurting their disciples, and

he's calling them to stop from a heart

that desires peace ultimately, but

boldly tells them, "Get away from that

self-righteous religious mindset. It is

destructive and gross.

>> It's the best thing he could do for

them. It feels crazy as you're reading

those woes, but in the end, like I won't

let my kid run to the street, you have

to yell at them."

>> That's right. That's right. you know,

and when he's calling them hypocrites

repeatedly, like they would have heard

that

Greeks were famous for their for their

dramas. And so they would have the two

masks, you know, if you've seen it like

one is the laughing face and the other

one is the sad face and they're like the

masks that are put right together and

that's kind of the symbol of drama.

Well, that comes from the Greeks and

that was hypocritus and it what it means

comes from a Greek word which means

two-faced. You know, we use two-faced

today, but this is like the religious,

you're two-faced. You go out in public

and you're like, "Yes, I love God." And

anytime anybody can see you, you're

immediately a different person. But in

your heart, or when you don't think

anybody is there to see you or judge

you, you're you're far from me. You

know, you you care what people think.

You care you could you could not care

less what God thinks about you. You are

a hypocrite. You are a two-face. You're

putting on a drama. And in doing so,

you're bringing about woe to you. That's

why the biatitudes are like get real.

>> Mhm.

>> Drop the pretense. Recognize your

depravity. Recognize your bankruptcy.

Rec mourn over it. Like come with

humility that recognizes God I don't

deserve you. Which will and then to be

comforted and to be made meek. Like

God's like you'll inherit everything.

Like stop putting on the pretense. Like

I'm ready to give you everything. The

new heavens, the new earth, they are

being created for you. Like Jesus will

say I go to prepare a place for you.

What is he doing? He's ready to give you

the inheritance that he is building for

us. And then what does that do? Well,

man, if he's that good, I really want to

be more righteous. I I want this. And

then he shows you mercy. He He satisfies

that hunger through mercy, which then

you show mercy. And then as you're

building this worship because of how

good he is, your mind and your heart

becomes less and less divided because

you're so in awe of who he is. And he's

like, "Man, you'll see me when you're

like that." And then what happens next?

You become a peacemaker because you've

seen the ultimate one who's made peace

between you and God at the expense of

his own life. He will he won't stop at

anything to make peace between men and

God, men and their neighbors. So, you

want to be more like that. And the more

different you are and the more you don't

confine yourself to the world's way of

doing things that the world's going to

hate you and you'll be persecuted and

you'll be walking the exact road. When

Jesus gives you the biatitudes, he's

basically saying like this is what my

life looks like. This is this is what

the kingdom looks like. Hard,

difficult, and you can't get there

unless you recognize you can't get there

on your own.

To do anything else makes you a

hypocrite. and be careful because

there's a lot of woes

>> in store for those that think that they

can do this on their own and that

they're better than everyone else.

Humble up. Don't be a hypocrite.

Recognize your weakness and come walk

with me.

>> Yeah. It's like the scariest warning but

the most beautiful invitation. But

you're saying like, okay, part of this

is like stop trying to figure it out.

Like come to me and pour in spirit and

then taste that I'm good. You know, just

that single taste and keep on coming

back for more cuz I'm going to prove it

to you. M I'm going to prove that I'm

better than all of these things that

you're chasing after. Just trust me in

that and start the first step and watch

how the spirit moves.

>> That's it. I mean, at the bottom of this

is Jesus saying everything's free.

>> If you're coming bankrupt, what do you

have to offer?

>> Nada.

>> And yet there's

is right infinite. There's the kingdom

of heaven.

>> You have nothing to give for it. And

when you recognize that, you get

everything.

>> It's the gospel.

>> It's good. rich, but you got to start

there. Well, let's go to that God in

prayer now.

Jesus, we just thank you for these

biatitudes,

Lord, on first read that they do feel

daunting. They do feel overwhelming, but

they're from you.

They're good and they're for your glory

and for our glory. So, let us hear them,

Lord. Give us a heart that desires to be

poor in spirit. Transform us, break us,

and let us repent of all those ways that

we lift ourselves up. We desire all

these things around or we chase after

everything to give us meaning when the

invitation is here.

The blessed are the poor in spirit for

theirs is a kingdom of heaven.

Lord, fill us. Let us mourn over our sin

today. God, let us see the brokenness

not just in the world around us, but

that's in us and that's through us that

we do ourselves. And let us feel comfort

because of that. Lord, producing us a

meekness, not not this fake meekness

where we're weak and we're just trying

to run away from everything, but a real

meekness that trusts in you that says

you're God and and you have given us

these promises and I can walk in them

because you are going to fulfill them.

It doesn't rely on me. And let us hunger

and thirst for righteousness today, God.

Reequate our hearts on who you are. Let

us see you for who you are. Lord, let us

be merciful. Let us today see all of the

brokenness that we are. Let us see that

we were your enemies when you chose to

die for us so that we could be given

mercy

and transform our hearts into purity.

God, let us not be undivided, but let us

be fully focused on you. We're going to

fail and we're going to mess up in the

midst of that, but give us a glimpse of

who you are. Let us see you. And in all

of that, let us become peacemakers, God.

You poured out everything so that we

could have peace with God. And that

makes no sense. That's not fair at all

because you took it all for us, God. So

let us see that and let us be active

peacemakers on this earth. And Lord,

when all the effects come if we are

living like this, God, let let us meet

the persecution.

Let us see that you too are the perfect

son of God that walked on this earth

never doing any wrong yet they tortured

you. They abused you. They sent you to a

cross.

And let us see that you call us to that

cross as well. So we just thank you for

your pour out your spirit on us today in

Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.

>> We want to thank you so much for

watching. Don't forget to like,

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at thebibleshow.com

and we will see you next time as we

continue in the sermon on the mount.

[music] God bless.