Now we come to the Beatitudes themselves. Let’s contemplate them individually, but in doing so, it appears to me that the first four deal with our relationship with God, and the last four related to our relationship with our fellow man. I have Biblical support for taking this approach, because it’s a common pathway in the Bible. The Apostle Paul, often divided his letters in half like this. Romans 1-11 for example deals with serious Bible doctrine, but the remaining chapters primarily discuss the practical application of those doctrines. That is not a hard and fast rule, but that is the general idea. Another example of a division like that, and even more closely connected to these Beatitudes, is the way that God gave the Law to Moses. The first few speak man’s relationship to God, and the latter speak of relationships between men. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image… Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. On the second tablet of the law we read: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet.” The Lord Jesus summarized the Law by saying. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” He follows the same pattern with the Beatitudes.
The first Beatitude is – “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Keep in mind that as Jesus first spoke to His disciples, they were thinking in the context of the Old Testament. They didn’t have the letters of Paul or John to color their thinking, the way that we do. Furthermore, they were probably far more familiar with the Old Testament than we are. When Christ spoke of poverty of spirit, and the Kingdom of Heaven, they immediately visualized certain things which we might miss. So let’s try to put ourselves in an Old Testament context.
But even before that – what is it to be poor? Some of us know from a practical standpoint exactly what that is. To be poor is to stand in literal, material need of some sort – usually in the form of food or money with which to buy food. And what is it that the poor usually do? At this point there could be a lot of divergence. Some might look for second jobs, even at a minimum wage. And some might look to the government for a hand out. Some might turn to friends and relatives for help. But the most spiritual, would look to the Lord who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And here is the thing – over time, poverty, at least Biblical and Spiritual poverty, came to be synonymous with dependence upon the Lord.
Last Sunday morning I referred to Psalm 34, which was written by David after he fled from Saul and took up residence among the Philistines in Gath. “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” David called himself a “poor man,” and even though it might be argued that he was talking about his lack of food and shelter, the context indicates that he was primarily thinking spiritually. “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” David’s poverty was not about a lack of friends, a place to sleep, or food to eat. David was acknowledging that he needed the Lord in a very difficult situation.
In Psalm 40, was David speaking as a man whose belly was empty, and whose enemies were upon him? “Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”
Are the words of Isaiah 60 speaking of people who couldn’t buy clothes, shoes and food? “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” In the Old Testament, poverty of spirit, came to be synonymous with humility, contrition and repentance. Isaiah 57:15 – “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. When Christ made reference to poverty in spirit He was reaching back to the words of David, Isaiah and others. He was talking about poverty which could only be remedied by the Lord Himself. This is an acknowledgment of spiritual bankruptcy. Humanly speaking, bankruptcy involves the law – courts – plaintiffs, defendants and judges. It is life-changing and something which is nearly impossible to overcome. Spiritual bankruptcy, poverty of the spirit, is similar, but the Judge is Jehovah. “Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to the cross I cling; Naked, I come to Thee for dress; Helpless look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die. Rock of Ages, cleft for me; Simply to thy cross I cling.”
Here is the application: the Kingdom of Heaven is a gift – citizenship in God’s Kingdom is an act of His grace. The Pharisees thought that they had the right to march right into that Kingdom and enjoy its fruits. The Zealots in Jesus day felt that they had to fight the Roman government in order to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. But Christ tells us all that only those who are spiritually bankrupt will enjoy that Kingdom. And essentially, we can equate the Kingdom with salvation. Deliverance from the penalty of our sins, and the enjoyment of God’s blessings for eternity, are gifts of the grace of God. Only those people who will acknowledge their spiritual poverty ever taste of God’s blessings. This a description of those whom the Lord commanded, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
One of the things to notice in most of these Beatitudes is their apparent ludicrous contradictions. Only the poorest and most undeserving people can immigrate to the Kingdom of Heaven. The meek are the people which shall inherit the earth. And in this second Beatitude, “Happy are the unhappy, for they shall be made happy.” What kind of sorrow can it be which brings the joy Christ’s blessings to those who suffer with it?
There are many things about which we might mourn. Of course, the first would be our mourning over the death of someone close to us. Some of us know what it is to loose a loved one who never professed to be children of God. There isn’t a grief quite like that kind of grief. But as far as mourning over believing relatives, are we even supposed to do it? “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” Isn’t our mourning in that case, not so much for the deceased, but for ourselves? Sometimes our mourning is rather selfish. On the other hands, some people mourn with others who are mourning, when the loss isn’t particularly their own. Or we can mourn for the loss of freedoms. Or we can recall days when we were in better health and we can mourn.
I am absolutely convinced that the mourning to which Jesus refers is none of these. It is a spiritual mourning; a mourning over sins committed; mourning over innocence lost. It is a mourning because of guilt and guiltiness; because our offences against God; our wicked hearts. Without trying to trvialise spiritual poverty, spiritual mourning is a step above that. It is one thing to be spiritually poor and acknowledge it; it is another to grieve and mourn over it. Or to put it another way, it is one thing to confess our sinfulness, but contrition is something else.
I realize that we aren’t finished with our study yet, but perhaps it’s a good time to point out that the Christian life was never meant to be one of constant joy and laughter. There are few things in modern christendom which disturb me more than professional “Christian” comedians. Some Christians seem to think that those who are the most spiritual will wear a perpetual grin. In the Book of Luke, we read of another of Jesus’ sermons which included Beatific comments. And in the midst of them the Saviour included some “woes.” “Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.”
There are such things as Christian tears, and too few of us ever weep them. The Lord Jesus wept over sins. But of course they were not sins that He had committed, because He never committed any. I think that David, as a type of Christ, could speak about weeping over the sins of others. “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.” Ezekiel and other prophets, spoke as mouth-pieces of God, and they wept as they spoke. Even Paul – “Many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.” I’m not sure that, except in certain cases, that you and I have any right to weep over the sins of others. The exceptions being the sins of loved ones, especially those of our children. But weeping over our own sins, is another matter, and is something which is not nearly done enough. Paul said, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
In 1740 David Brainerd, missionary to the Indians wrote in his journal – “In my morning devotion my soul was exceedingly melted, and I bitterly mourned over my exceeding sinfulness and vileness. Tears like these are the holy water which God is said to stone in His bottle.” Does he mean that the tears which God saves are not those we weep when someone has wronged us? They aren’t the tears we shed in the midst of the persecution against us? They aren’t the tears that the shed at the grave-side of a loved one? Brainherd said that they are the tears of the second Beatitude. And as a result, most modern Christians will not have a great collection in Heaven. Only after sufficient mourning over our own spiritual conditions, perhaps then, we can think of weeping over the sins of others.
This kind of mourner will be comforted – consoled. The greatest of all comforts is that which relieves the problem, and in this case that means pardon and forgiveness. Remember that this, according to what Jesus’ disciples would have known, was to be the ministry of the Messiah. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” I know that it is customary to think that this comfort is the gift of God to those who have lost a beloved family member, but in the light of this second beatitude, perhaps it should be lifted much higher.
And – do you remember when the baby Jesus was first brought into the temple, and he was met by Simeon. Do you recall how Simeon was described? “Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.” Consolation and comfort are essentially the same Greek word – “parakaleo.”
Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted” by the Saviour, the Messiah. Even though we can taste the comfort of which Christ speaks in this verse, this is only a taste. It is only when the last tear is shed, when the last sinner is judged, and when the Lord Jesus sits upon His eternal throne. that the mourners will be finally and ultimately comforted. But is that the kind of comfort most modern Christians are seeking?