By Brother R. Michel Lankford
Christ begins His first public sermon with what we affectionately call the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). The key words that we see constantly repeated throughout the passage are the words, "Blessed are...." So what does it mean to be blessed from Christ's point of view?
In Hebrew: esher (Hebrew Strong's # 835). The word occurs 143 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. It means to be in a state of happiness or blessedness (e.g. Psalm 1; Psalm 32:1-2, 8; Psalm 40:4; Psalm 65:4; Isaiah 56:2).
In Greek: makarios (Greek Strong's # 3107). The word occurs approximately 50 times in the Greek New Testament. The word blessed literally means "Happy, fortunate and to be in an enviable position."
As I've said before, the first principle of authentic Christian discipleship is to define every key concept as God Himself defines them in His Word. That's because if our definitions agree with God’s, then it is easier to bring our mindset into agreement with His, and we can more readily walk with Him successfully. We do not have to look very far down the list of Beatitudes to see that God's definition of blessing and the definition of blessing which is most comfortable to our human nature is not the same thing. In our human nature, when we think of being blessed, we think of it in terms of having an abundance of physical health, wealth, prosperity, provision, and family or circumstantial well-being.
When Messiah makes the list of what it means to be blessed in His first sermon, our human priorities are conspicuously absent from Messiah's list of blessings. In fact, Messiah's definitions of what it means to be blessed are sometimes the direct opposite of what we would consider a blessing.
1. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." The word POOR in this verse (Strong’s Greek #4434); literally means to be so hungry and impoverished that one is reduced to begging in order to survive. It may be against our natural inclination to consider ourselves blessed when we are spiritually impoverished (and when we truly see and recognize that we are), but God through Messiah says that is exactly when we are the most blessed, happy, fortunate and in the most enviable position. Why is this?
a. First, a person who is that spiritually hungry will definitely cry out to God to save them, and they'll mean it, because they truly understand that if God doesn't transform and does not save them they will perish (Isaiah 55:1-11; Psalm 42:1-2; Matthew 11:28-30; Matthew 7:7-11; John 6:37; Romans 10:9-10, 13).
b. Second, a person who is spiritually hungry to the level to the point where they are willing and ready to beg in order to spiritually survive because they realize they are on the verge of spiritual starvation if they don't, that person is humble. When you are that hungry, you cannot be proud. Whatever spiritual pride you had is long gone. God is then free to raise you up and to exalt you. (Proverbs 3:34; Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 23:12; 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6). When you are that hungry, you do not play and piddle with your food. You don't even think to try to treat God's Holy and Life-Giving Word like it's some kind of blasted smorgasbord where you piddle and pick and choose only what you personally prefer, and reject what doesn't personally suit you. When you are that hungry and God offers you a sandwich, your first thought is not to pick and choose what you like and what you do not like about what God offers you. It doesn't even cross your mind to complain if the crust is not cut off the bread, or if the sandwich is not cut on the diagonal to make pretty triangles. When we do that type of thing to God and His Holy Word, we're not truly hungry enough.
c. The third reason that we’re truly blessed when we are spiritually hungry to that level is because God has prepared us to inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3b). Go ahead and contrast that to the exact opposite attitude described in Revelation 3:14-19. Can you see the radical difference between the two attitudes, and the resulting differences in our relationships with God based on our level of spiritual hunger?
2. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted;" (Matthew 5:4). The two key words here are MOURN (Greek Strong's #3996) literally to grieve, to be sorrowful, to wail or lament. It denotes a deep sadness or heaviness sorrowful state of heart as an over the death of loved one (Mark 16:10), or what our attitude should be over sin (Luke 6:25; 1Cor. 5:2; 2Cor. 12:21; Jas 4:9; Rev 18:11, 15, 19; Mk 16:10) and COMFORTED (Greek Strong's #3870); Literally to Exhort, to Aid to Encourage and Console.
a. One of the attributes of God is that He is the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). As a result, Almighty God is near to the brokenhearted, and those crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). Again, it may be difficult from our human fleshly standpoint to look at morning and grieving as being "Blessed," but the reason that we are considered blessed to be in such a state is that Yahweh Almighty God moves when we are brokenhearted and grieving either over our sin or over great loss. When we are in that state God is free to lift us up. He draws near to us, and draws us closer and Fellowship with Him, where He can rightly Comfort us. So if our chief aim is truly a closer relationship with Almighty God of all Comfort, then obviously not all states of grief are bad.
3. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth; (Matthew 5:5). (Greek Strong's #4239). It's a primary word in its own right, meaning meek, humble, gentle, mild It describes the Lord's attitude (Matthew 11:29; cf. Philippians 2:5-8). This is one of those many instances where God's standards and what is natural to our human nature are indeed the direct opposite. In our human sinful weaknesses, we as human beings tend to believe that we will get farther ahead, gain more, and inherit more, if we, "Claw our way past the competition." In our human weakness, we tend to believe, although mistakenly, that the best way to get ahead is to compete, to be more cunning to gain more wealth, gain more power and gain more prestige, and if we have to step on someone else to get the job done, well, that's how it goes. In this instance God through His Son Jesus Christ tells us that God's Kingdom functions in the direct opposite manner. The way to get ahead with God is to bend down and help the other guy up to victory. It truly is a different mindset then what is commonplace in our world (Psalm 37:10-11; Luke 9:46-48; Luke 14:8-11; Mark 10:42-45; Philippians 2:3-4; Matthew 23:8-13; Contrast: Matthew 23:1-7).
4. "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." (Matthew 5:6). SATISFIED (Greek Strong's #5526). It literally means to fulfill and satisfy the desire. Honestly, I believe that this is one of the most underutilized and under taught passages of Scripture. For me, this is one of those standardized spiritual checkup verses of Scripture. Here's what I mean. When you go to a doctor for a standard medical checkup, there are some routine procedures they always perform to check your condition. They always check your height, weight, blood pressure, temperature breathing, and so forth. Matthew 5:6 is what I call one of those standard spiritual checkup verses I often use. When I am unhappy, discontented, or dissatisfied, there is a standard spiritual/emotional checkup procedure that I try to follow by asking myself some key questions. If you're feeling discontented these are the areas you MUST check thoroughly:
a. Am I truly born-again, saved, and spiritually growing in Almighty God and Jesus Christ, the Messiah? That is the most vital need you will ever have (Matthew 7:7-11; John 3:3, 7; John 15:1-11; Romans 10:9-10, 13; John 17:3; 2 Peter 1:5-11; 1 John 1:9; Revelation 21:7).
b. Are my vital key human relationships in good functioning Biblical order? (Matthew 5:23-26; Matthew 7:12; Romans 12:17-21).
c. Do I have food clothing and shelter? (Isaiah 55:1-11; Matthew 6:11; 1 Timothy 6:6-8; Philippians 4:11-19)
d. Am I reasonably physically and mentally healthy and generally unencumbered? (James 5:14-16; 2 Corinthians 12:8-9; Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:4-8).
e. If any of the above issues are not in good functioning order, then have I brought these situations to the Lord in prayer? Am I applying what Scripture requires me to do to resolve the situation? Am I making good use of whatever help and assistance that God has provided through the body of Christ and other people for prayer and support?
f. Am I truly hungry and thirsty after righteousness? Are my appetites and desires truly in the right place? Whenever I feel dissatisfied, unfulfilled or discontented, this is the first question I ask myself, because Messiah guarantees that if I am truly hungry and thirsty for the right things, I will be satisfied. So if I am not satisfied, then I MUST check my appetites to make certain that my desires are in the right place. If I can honestly say that I have truly accomplished items (a) through (e), then it is just a matter of time and persevering in these things till Yahweh Almighty God's provision is made clear. If I have truly done what I can to cooperate with God and maintain the items above, God guarantees that I will be satisfied. If I am still not satisfied, then either I have not truly done the items listed above, or my hunger, my appetites, and desires are not after righteousness. My desires are wrong somewhere.
5. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7). This one makes complete sense, even by so-called normal human standards. If you plant tomatoes you will reap the harvest tomatoes, not corn. If you plant mercy and forgiveness, you will also receive a harvest of forgiveness. So when we are tempted to hold a grudge and be embittered against another person, then we have to ask ourselves, "Do I really want God to forgive me when I am wrong? If I want God's forgiveness for my sins, I cannot afford to be unforgiving and hold a grudge toward other people (Matthew 18:21-35). The person who holds a grudge has actually lost sight of his own sinfulness, and how much he himself is in need of God's mercy and forgiveness. When I truly understand how guilty I have been and how much forgiveness I need, I have zero grounds not to forgive someone who asks for it.
6. "Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). When Messiah said those words, He was speaking ancient ideas (Deuteronomy 30:6; Psalm 15:1-5; Psalm 24:3-5 cf. Psalm 51:10-13; cf. 1 Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:2-3; Revelation 22:3-4).
7. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God" (Matthew 5:10). The key principle here that is often overlooked is at the verse says, "Blessed are the Peace MAKERS. It does NOT say, blessed are the PEACEKEEPERS. What's the difference? Well, in order to successfully MAKE peace, Yeshua the Messiah and Christ Who is the Prince of Peace, must be at least given the opportunity to rule in the hearts of people. Only when people are at peace with their Creator can they possibly have peace from within their hearts. Only when God and His Principles rule our hearts can we possibly overcome our selfish and sinful natures and produce lasting peace (James 4:1-4; Luke 6:35; Romans 8:14; Romans 14:19; James 3:18; 1 John 3:1).
8. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. (Matthew 5:10-11 NASB). The last two of the Beatitudes basically go together. Once again, the mindset that we are required to have his disciples runs 180° contrary to what feels natural to our human nature. It is not natural and certainly not comfortable to consider ourselves blessed, happy, fortunate, or in an enviable position, when we are being persecuted for doing the right things. It is not our natural inclination to feel blessed when people insult us, when they persecute us, or when they speak falsely against us for doing what Almighty God and Jesus Christ tells us to do, and yet Almighty God through the Messiah tells us that we are BLESSED when this occurs. Even as an avid Bible believer, this truth does not swallow easily. This must be a work of the Holy Spirit inside the believer. In order to develop this mindset, we must reach a point where we truly value Heavenly things so much that we are ready and willing to give up the approval of human beings in order to have God's approval. We must be so eager for God's approval, and so hungry to please Him, that we are willing to take the scorn of men in order to have God's approval. The person who develops this mindset truly has firmly put their mindset on heavenly things and not on earthly things (2 Timothy 3:12; 2 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Timothy 2:10-13; 1 Peter 3:14). It is only after developing the kind of mindset described in all the Beatitudes that we can't successfully obey Christ's third public command in the New Testament.
See you next time.
Brother R. Michel Lankford
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