The Beatitudes
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
The longest sermon on record was preached by Clinton Lacy of West Richland, Washington in February of 1955.
It took 48 hours and 18 minutes to deliver it.
.......
Small wonder then that someone proposed the adoption of a new Beatitude:
“Blessed is the preacher whose train of thought has a caboose.”
.......
Don’t worry I won’t be preaching for 48 hours...
.......
I estimate this message will only take 40 hours!
.......
But in all seriousness...
Today, we will be studying the actual Beatitudes as recorded in Luke.
.......
So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 6 and focus on verses 17 through 23.
Our message this morning is titled, “The Beatitudes”
.......
This message today will focus on the first part of the most famous sermon by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...
This first part...
The introduction...
Focuses on the blessings for those who are followers of Christ.
.......
So, this morning we will cover three main points:
The Setting...
The Blessings...
And...
The Rejoicing.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
.......
Heavenly Father...
You are the great I Am!
You are the mighty one!
You are the awesome one!
.......
Help us to properly understand this text in Scripture that we will be studying today...
Enlighten our thoughts and minds with Your eternal truths...
And may Your truth be tattooed on our minds forever.
.......
Thank you for all the blessings that You overwhelm us with...
Your love is a fountain that has no end...
Your grace is a ocean with no borders...
You mercy is infinite and overcomes all our sins...
For those who place their trust in You.
.......
And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
.......
Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon,
18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.
19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Setting
1) The Setting
Verses 17-19: And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
So, this event is taking place right after Jesus calls the twelve apostles from among His larger number of disciples...
We covered that event last week.
.......
At this point...
As Jesus, the apostles, and the remaining disciples come down the mountain...
They end us on a level place...
Which is a plateau or a level place on the mountainside...
And here we witness Jesus doing what we have seen Luke recording all throughout our study...
.......
Jesus is healing the sick...
Jesus is casting out demons...
And all who come to Him are not disappointed...
All are healed...
All have their demons cast out...
For as our passage says...
Power came out from Him.
.......
These miraculous displays of Jesus’ power proved His authority...
Proved He was the Messiah...
Proved He was the Son of God...
And proved that when He spoke...
It was the very words of God!
.......
This lines up with the other accounts of Jesus ministry in the Gospels...
For example, Mark 1:39 says:
39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
And Jesus healed all how came to Him...
Often with just a word as it says in Matthew 8:16:
16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.
.......
Acts 10:38 tells us that the power He had...
That power that our passage says came out of Him...
That power was a proof that God the Father was with Him...
And that power was through God the Holy Spirit
As that verse says:
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
.......
That power that Jesus had meant to help others...
While at the same time prove His claims to be true...
As Luke 4:18 says:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
.......
As pastor John MacArthur says:
“[Jesus] He could have demonstrated His divine power by performing any kind of miraculous act.
But Jesus chose to do things beneficial to suffering, oppressed sinners.
His compassion was a constant theme of His ministry.”
.......
Obedience to God the Father and compassion was the driving force of why Jesus performed the kind of miracles He did...
This is evident all throughout the Gospel records...
As I recite these verses...
I want you to pay attention to the words compassion or pity that the New Testament writers use is describing Jesus’ motivation to perform the miracles that He did.
Let’s start with Matthew 9:36 which says:
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 14:14 says:
14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Next, Matthew 20:34 says:
34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
Mark 1:40-41 says:
40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”
41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”
And finally in Luke 7:13 the Word of God says:
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
.......
After healing those who were in need...
After taking care of their physical matters...
Jesus then starts preaching on spiritual matters...
And this takes us to our second point.
2) The Blessings
2) The Blessings
Verses 20-22: And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
Let’s start with a bit of background...
This sermon that Jesus is starting here is the second one that Luke has recorded in his Gospel at this point...
The first sermon was recorded back in Luke 4:16–30...
Now this sermon is often referred to as the Sermon on the Plain...
The parallel to Luke’s Sermon on the Plain is Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount that is found in Matthew 5:1–7:29.
The Lukan sermon contains 30 verses and is much shorter than the sermon in Matthew which is 107 verses...
Additionally, much of the material in Matthew’s sermon is found elsewhere in Luke.
.......
The New American Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“Today most commentators see the sermons as two versions of the same teachings of Jesus, so that the beatitudes in Matthew and Luke are two forms of the same beatitudes of Jesus.
Much debate has arisen about which of the two sermons (and beatitudes) is more like Jesus’ actual words, i.e., which is more ‘authentic.’
Since Jesus taught in Aramaic, each of the sermons is a translation into Greek; and the process of translation, of course, requires interpretation.
The beatitudes in Luke are more of a word-for-word translation (like such translations of the Bible as the KJV, [ESV], and NASB)...
Whereas the beatitudes in Matthew are more of a thought-for-thought translation (like such translations as the NIV and [NLT]) of Jesus’ teachings.”
.......
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Luke adds this note for further clarity:
“Luke presents a condensed account of the Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew 5–7 recorded in more detail.
However, neither gospel writer recorded everything Jesus said on this occasion.
.......
Even Matthew’s longer account can be read in about ten minutes, and the Lord surely preached much longer than that.
There are minor variations in Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts, but those are to be expected in the process of translating...
(The Lord spoke in Aramaic and Matthew and Luke wrote in Greek) and condensing Jesus’ message.”
.......
So, over the course of the upcoming weeks we will cover this sermon and today we start with the Beatitudes or the Blessings.
.......
It is important to note who the audience is here...
Note that Luke says, “He lifted up His eyes on His disciples, and said”...
Both here and in Matthew’s account the beatitudes are addressed to the disciples, not to the crowds...
So, the audience that this message is addressed to is to believers and not humanity in general...
The beatitudes or blessings are therefore are not addressed to the poor and hungry of the world but to the believing poor and hungry...
However, there is a greater crowd listening to Jesus teach His disciples and that is intentional...
For if those on the outside...
If those who are not believers will repent and believe...
Then they too will experience these wonderful blessings.
.......
The Lexham Bible Dictionary says:
“[The] Sermon on the Plain use the Greek word ‘makarios’ for ‘bless.’
This term is used to ‘Recognize an existing state of happiness or good fortune’ rather than express a wish or an invocation of a blessing.
This suggests that the Beatitudes are not statements of what people must do to be blessed, but statements affirming the blessedness that certain people already possess because of a present or future condition.
Jesus does not prescribe action, but affirms a blessed state.”
.......
So, the term “blessed” implies more than just “fortunate” or “happiness”...
The term is a religious term and means those who enjoy the favor of God.
.......
Furthermore, it should be emphasized that the Beatitudes are not conditions for entering the kingdom of God...
Instead they are blessings pronounced on those who have already entered.
In other words...
These Beatitudes are not a treatise on what people must do to enter the Kingdom of God...
Rather the Beatitudes are what is expected of those who are already in the Kingdom of God.
.......
So, when Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”
Christ was dealing with something more significant than mere material poverty and wealth here...
The poverty that Jesus is talking about refers primarily to a sense of one’s own spiritual impoverishment...
This use of the word in this manner if found in both the Old and New Testaments...
For example the term “poor” has more of a theological than an economic sense as recorded in Psalm 40:17; Psalm 86:1; and Psalm 109:22...
Here the psalmist says in all those passages that, “I am poor and needy.”
These psalms are all psalms of David...
So, clearly no reader of these psalms thought that King David was referring to his economic status...
For, as a king, David was not economically poor.
So then, they would have interpreted this metaphorically...
That would be like the way Matthew’s account renders this verse by saying “poor in spirit” as Matthew 5:3 says:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
So, the blessed that Jesus calls the poor are those who understand their spiritual poverty...
They understand the reality of their bankrupt condition of their soul...
They understand that they are bankrupt in righteousness and have absolutely no spiritual resources with which to obtain God’s favor...
They understand that salvation cannot come about by good works, morality, or religious rituals...
And they understand that the only way to truly be rich is to have Christ!
.......
Matthew 23:12 should also be considered in our study about this topic...
That verse says:
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
A true follower of Christ will be humble...
And humility will define there life after they have become a new creation.
.......
Then, Jesus says in his message, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.”
Again this is not just referring to the mere craving for food...
Jesus is talking about the spiritual hunger and thirst for righteousness...
They way Matthew renders it is by saying, “hunger and thirst for righteousness” as it says in Matthew 5:6:
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
So, here Jesus is painting the picture of one who has an intense, deep, and all-consuming longing for acceptance with God...
The spiritually hungry and thirsty are those who are impoverished...
They are starving spiritual beggars...
They are longing for the righteousness that they cannot obtain on their own...
And they know that only Jesus can satisfy that hunger!
.......
As Jeremiah 31:25 said in the Old Testament:
25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
This has always been the character of God...
Satisfying those with a spiritual thirst and hunger for righteousness...
In fact, Matthew 6:33 makes it clear that above all our needs...
We should be pursuing righteousness first and foremost...
That verse says:
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
And Jesus promises in John 6:35 that those who seek Him will not hunger or thirst anymore:
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
.......
Next, Jesus says this in His sermon, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”
The term “weep” expresses not the sorrow of repentance but the grief of unjust suffering...
This is mourning over the brokenness of the present world and the suffering it causes...
They will experience great joy when God’s kingdom arrives in full, upon Jesus’ second coming.
Matthew’s account of this verse is rendered like this in Matthew 5:4:
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
So, Jesus is describing the emotional breakdown of an individual that recognizes the spiritual bankruptcy and lack of righteousness they truly posses...
These mourners view themselves as the poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed...
These mourners view themselves as burdened, disappointed, fearful, and hurting...
And they know that the only way they can ever experience comfort is by having fellowship with Christ!
.......
As Psalm 126:5–6 says:
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
And Jeremiah 31:13 further proves this was a promise from God from the Old Testament:
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
.......
In the Book of Revelation...
We are comforted when John the Beloved records this in Revelation 7:17:
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
And again in Revelation 21:4 the Word of God says:
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
.......
The next Beatitude Jesus proclaims is, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
Please note, Beloved...
This is not referring to suffering in general...
Jesus is saying those who specifically suffer “on account of the Son of Man”...
For that kind of suffering will be considered a blessing.
.......
Keep in mind the truth found in 2 Timothy 3:12:
12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
.......
Jesus warns of this...
That is why He said in John 15:18–21:
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
Yet, we are called to love our enemies...
Even though they persecute us and the ones we love...
As Matthew 5:44 says:
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
.......
Yet, it is not just love for our enemies that we are to feel in the face of persecution and hardship...
We are also to feel a sense of rejoicing...
And this takes us to our third and final point.
3) The Rejoicing
3) The Rejoicing
Verse 23: Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
The ESV Study Bible puts it this way:
“Whenever enemies hate, exclude, revile, or spurn Christians, the response should be to rejoice, because their reward is great in heaven.”
Notice what Jesus says, “and leap for joy”...
That is the very same verb used to express the joy of John the Baptist as he met Jesus...
So, even amid persecution Christians are instructed to be filled with joy and need to rejoice!
.......
I love how theologian Darrel L. Bock puts it in his commentary on the Gospel of Luke:
“Jesus is not holding out a carrot for his disciples to earn, but is reminding them that God is aware of their commitment and will honor it.
Thus, the reference is to a promise of present, heavenly vindication.
The God who is in heaven knows what they are suffering and honors such faithfulness.
The promise calls one to look beyond circumstances, and it encourages one to see God’s perspective on suffering endured because of commitment to him.
.......
The second reason for rejoicing involves an awareness that the disciples’ persecution parallels the treatment that God’s prophets once received.
The pattern of the poor treatment of God’s servants and messengers is in view.”
.......
This attitude of rejoicing in the midst of suffering is found recorded all throughout Scripture...
Paul, a man who dealt with serve suffering in his walk with Christ boldly recorded in Romans 5:3–5:
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
So, enduring suffering and hostility of all kinds for the sake of Jesus is a mark of genuine saving faith...
And that is reason to rejoice, Beloved!
......
Look at the attitude of the early church that is recorded in Acts 5:41:
41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
They were rejoicing...
This is so counter to what our flesh would think of as the proper response...
In fact, the world is shocked by this...
They can’t understand how believers can rejoice in the face of severe suffering and persecution...
But, we are not of this world...
And we don’t act like this world.
.......
When we suffer for the sake of Christ we need to keep in mind Colossians 1:24 which says:
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
.......
Peter who watched his own wife get murdered in front of him...
And who was crucified upside down made it clear that experiencing fiery trails even for the Lord was not something to be unexpected...
And that suffering for Christ was a true blessing...
He said in 1 Peter 4:12-16:
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.
16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
And Paul...
Again with words of wisdom...
Words that were God breathed said in 2 Corinthians 12:10:
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
.......
Finally, Jesus ends this first part of the sermon with the words, “For so their fathers did to the prophets.”
2 Chronicles 36:16 records some of that persecution that the Old Testament prophets and saints endured:
16 But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
When Stephen...
The first Christian martyr...
When he was preaching...
Right before he was stoned to death...
He boldly said in Acts 7:51-52:
51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,
.......
So, let us meditate and cherish the words of James 1:12 that says:
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
And let us be encouraged by the words of 1 Peter 5:10 which says:
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this that I came across in my study this week:
This is a list of twelve points...
And this list is titled “The Devil’s Beatitudes”...
1. Blessed are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend even an hour once a week with their fellow Christians – they are my best workers.
2. Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked -- I can use them.
3. Blessed are the touchy who stop going to church –for they are my missionaries.
4. Blessed are the trouble makers – for they shall be called my children.
5. Blessed are the complainers –for their complaints are music to my ears.
6. Blessed are those who keep a list of the preachers mistakes -- for they get nothing out of his sermons.
7. Blessed is the church member who expects to be invited to his own church – for he is a part of the problem instead of the solution.
8. Blessed are those who gossip -- for they shall cause strife and divisions that please me.
9. Blessed are those who are easily offended -- for they will soon get angry and quit.
10. Blessed are those who do not give an offering to carry on God’s work – for in stealing from God you steal for me.
11. Blessed is he who professes to love God but hates his brother and sister -- for he shall be with me forever.
12. Blessed are you who, when you hear this, think the preacher is talking about someone other than you– for I’ve got you right where I want you.
.......
So, we have two list of Beatitudes...
The Devil’s Beatitudes...
And Jesus’ Beatitudes.
.......
Which list best describes your current life?
Which list do you fall under?
.......
Our allegiance to our master will be reflected in our actions...
And there are only two groups of people...
The ones on the left and the ones on the right...
The ones who are goats and the ones who are sheep...
The ones who embody the Devil’s Beatitudes and the ones who embody Jesus’ Beatitudes...
Where do you fall under?
.......
As you ponder that...
Let me leave you with this...
Let me leave you with the words of Christ found in Matthew 25:31-46:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
.......
If you have not already done so already...
I implore you to repent and believe!
For Christ is the only way to eternal life!
.......
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
.......
Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.