The Beatitudes (Part III)
Matthew 5:9-12:
9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, fortheirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falselyon my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In Genesis 32:26, when Jacob wrestled with God, he personally verbalized to God his earnest desire for bless ings by saying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And as we all know the story, in God’s sovereignty, He granted this request for blessings. Now, you have to be familiar with the backdrop of why God granted Jacob’s request, it was not because of Jacob’s request per se, but it was really because of two essential reasons:
1. God fulfilled His covenant promise to Abraham that he would be blessed and be a channel of His blessings to the nations.
2. God allowed Jacob to go through a series of breaking while he was far from the Promised Land for him to sur render his heart to God. His blessing came after his surrender.
Why am I explaining this to you? It is because many Bible teachers very much misinterpret the story of Jacob that one can simply ask the Lord for blessings, and if they are able to claim them, they will receive them. Is this really Biblical? Absolutely not!
The teachings of the Beatitudes can help greatly in our understanding of how we can be blessed in our lives. I know Pastor Jerome had already explained this when we started this series two Sundays ago, but let me review these important truths again:
• Jesus Christ did not give the Beatitudes to help people enter the Kingdom of Heaven; they were given to the citizens of the kingdom to help them know how they should live their lives.
• The Beatitudes emphasize that God’s blessings will never come through outward religious activities but through the inward attitudes of the heart.
• God’s blessings can never be quantified by material or financial blessings but by spiritual riches, which we can enjoy while here on earth and when we get to heaven.
Now, if we are believers in Christ, the teaching of the Beatitudes is directly written for all of us. Why? First, since we already received Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we are already citizens of heaven according to Philippi ans 3:20:
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
As citizens of heaven, we don’t need to do any work to enter because we are already in. Second, as believers, we are already blessed with so many spiritual blessings. Ephesians 1:3 teaches this truth:
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
Notice, “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.” We should never miss the past tense “blessed.” In other words, we possess them already, like the forgiveness of our sins, the protection of God, the availa-
bility of prayers, or the presence of God in our lives through the Holy Spirit, etc. The reality is that the only reason why we are failing to enjoy them to the fullest is because of our unwillingness to fully surrender our hearts to the Lord.
Again, the Beatitudes are the beautiful attitudes of believers who have surrendered their
hearts to God. By the way, the heart, according to John Piper, former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, should be understood as not the muscle that pumps blood in our body; rather, it is “what we are, in the secre cy of our thoughts and feelings that nobody knows but God.” Without this surrender of our hearts, it would be impos sible to be:
1. Poor in heart
2. Spiritual Mourners
3. Meek
4. Hunger and thirst for righteousness
5. Merciful
6. Pure in heart
Now, we are left with two more items. Allow me to explain them:
7. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS (v. 9)
As we begin to read our main text, verse 9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” St. Francis of Assisi became well known for his prayer - Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.” Indeed, God desires to see us become human instruments for bringing His peace to the world. If you examine this seventh Beati tudes, the Lord Jesus was not referring to people with a peaceful disposition or those who love peace. The challenge to God’s genuine followers is to intervene to make peace. Allow me to explore several realities about this truth.
A. The Command
Dr. Kent Hughes, a New Testament scholar, explained the combination of words that Jesus used in this verse. The first word is “peace.” The word is quite familiar among the Jews, and the Hebrew word is “shalom.” This word car ries the idea of wholeness and overall well-being. With this meaning, it suggests more than just the absence of trou bles or strife, but all that made for a complete whole life. In other words, everything that is going on in the person’s life is positive - physical and spiritual health, work, relationships, etc., are great.
The next word is “makers.” This word suggests that the person is not passive but is a source of peace. Dr. Our natural approach is to watch strife from the sidelines. The godly approach is to make all possible efforts to create peace. Let’s face it, the problem of conflict is as old as humans fall into sin. It was visible as early as the sons of Adam. Cain murdered his own brother Abel because of jealousy. Humans have not stopped fighting since then. Listen to James explain where strifes and quarrels come from:
James 4:1-4 (ESV):
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
4You adulterous people![c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever
wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
From these words, James is plainly saying that quarrels and conflicts come from our sinful passions or the brokenness of humans because of the presence of sin in their hearts. So, this is the main reason why there will always be a need for peacemakers.
B. The Condition
In order for us to be God’s instruments of peace, we must first be reconciled to the God of peace. If you go back to the passage in James 4:4, James states that if you are a friend of the world, then you are an enemy of God. The truth of the matter is that our sins have not only separated us from God, but they have also made us His enemies because we love doing the things that offend Him.
However, since He is the God of peace, He made a way to reconcile us to Himself. The apostle Paul clearly taught this truth in Romans 5:10:
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
The Lord initiated being reconciled with us by allowing Jesus Christ to die on the cross. The only way we can end our conflict with God is to surrender our hearts first to Jesus Christ so that we can receive forgiveness for our sins. Once we are reconciled with God, then and only then, can we be His instruments of peace. This is reinforced in 2 Co rinthians 5:19-21:
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[a]the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and en trusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Out of this passage, we can conclude that our responsibility to be peacemakers is connected to our evange lism or soul-winning efforts. Now that we are at peace with God, we need to help other sinners to be reconciled with God as well. Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson explained this beautifully saying:
“Making peace is part of God’s gracious character. Those who have become members of His family will share in His family likeness. His children will be peacemakers.”
I absolutely agree with his words. Therefore, the more we evangelize, the more we demonstrate that we are His children. This leads me to my third subpoint.
C. The Commitment
The last part of verse 9 reads - “for they shall be called sons of God.” I could not think of a better title to be called than “sons or children of God.” When Jesus connected this title to those who are actively making efforts to bring His peace to this broken world, his emphasis is the dignity and honor of being His child. As we established earli er, peacemaking proves the children of God. Have you ever considered what it means to God’s children? Here’s a great passage:
Malachi 3: 17 (ESV):
17 “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.
God directly refers to His children as “my treasured possession.” You and I have many possessions but very few treasured possessions. I can guarantee you that we are going to give a greater amount of care and attention to
our treasured possession. Just like God, when He begins to judge sinners for their sins, we will have more compassion on us and spare us from judgment. The children of God are guaranteed with His unconditional love.
8. BLESSED ARE THE PERSECUTED (VS. 10-12)
When Christians take Jesus Christ seriously, they will have to expect some persecution.
The Lord Jesus anticipated this persecution by making it the last Beatitudes. Listen to these words again - “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when oth ers revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
By the way, there are some who will separate verse 11, but I would like to treat it simply as an expansion of being persecuted. Now, I’m sure many of us are familiar with Christians who will hide their faith because they want to avoid persecution. If you have the tendency to do it, I’ll hope you stop. Why? The Beatitudes emphasize that you are the one who’s going to miss out. Let’s try to understand this Beatitude better. A. The Causes
In these three verses, there are two essential explanations for why Christians would be persecuted. The first one is found in verse 10, saying, “for righteousness' sake.” The commentator William MacDonald, a Bible commenta tor, explained the meaning of these words by saying:
“Their integrity condemns the ungodly world and brings out its hostility. People hate a righteous life because it ex poses their own unrighteousness.”
I totally agree. You see, in general, people tend to resent those who go up to them, telling them that they are wrong. In a way, when Christians, without saying anything, can tell them that they are wrong when they are living righteously before them.
The second reason is found in verse 11, “on my account.” In other words, Christians are persecuted because they are identified with Jesus Christ. Jesus provided a long explanation of why persecution may occur because of Him in John 15:18-20:
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.
Here, the main reasons given by Jesus Christ are two-fold. First, since we are not of this world, the world will hate us. In other words, since we live with different moral standards, then we are not acceptable to them. Second, since they persecuted Jesus Christ, then they will also persecute His servants. Today, this truth is very much dis played; Christians are often mocked as being ignorant, narrow-minded, and antiquated by the very liberal world. This happens without any surprise because Jesus anticipated that it was going to happen.
B. The Conduct
The question is, how are they going to persecute us? There are three specific ways they will do it. Let’s high light each one of them:
1. “Revile” - This word suggests being slandered or insulted. This type of persecution expresses misrepresenta tions that degrade another person’s reputation. During the first century, Christians were slandered by refer-
ring to them as cannibals, traitors, and rebels against Rome. Today, it has never changed.
Christians are slandered by referring to them as bigots, racists, narrow-minded, etc.
2. “Persecuted” - This word simply means “harassed” or “to trouble by repeated physical raids and attacks.” Just like during the first century, today, so many Christians are being arrested, tortured, and killed. I’m sure we are very familiar with stories of Christians suffering because of their faith in Jesus Christ. When I was in the Middle East, attending a missions conference, I heard of a mother being doused with gasoline and set on fire by her very own husband because she converted to Christianity.
3. “utter all kinds of evil against you falsely” - These words simply mean “wicked accusations” against Christians. Time and again, we would find people trying to discredit us or falsely accuse us in the same way that they did to Jesus Christ.
C. The Consolation
Christians who are persecuted because of their faith in Jesus Christ should never feel miserable or should be mourning because of all their suffering. Instead, Jesus plainly stated that they ought to rejoice. John McArthur ex plained the literal meaning of “Rejoicing” by saying, “to jump and shout for joy.” This may sound crazy, but Jesus gave three reasons in the passage:
• “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 10)
• “your reward is great in heaven” (v12)
• “they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (v.12)
When you consider these three promises, you will see what Jesus is trying to help us understand. Christians should not be short-sighted, and they just live for the present. Our best life will come when we go to heaven, receiving all the great rewards for faithfully standing up for Jesus Christ. Plus, in heaven, we would be in the company of great heroes of faith who also willingly suffered for Jesus Christ. As we all know, all the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ died cruel deaths because of their commitment to Jesus Christ. This is the reason why Paul who these words in Romans 8:18:
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Indeed, blessed are the Christians who will suffer for Jesus Christ because there are greater and more glorious rewards that await them when they go to heaven. Allow me to close these studies about Beatitudes with this story.
The Toronto Ward Museum tells us the story of a nineteenth-century man named Isapo Muxika. He is more commonly known as Crowfoot. He was the chief of the Siksika Indian tribe. He was known for his peaceful relations with Canada during a time of great violence.
When the Canadian Pacific Railroad was being built and they needed to build part of it on his land, the Canadi an government approached Crowfoot with an offer. They said, “If you will give us the land we need for the railroad, you can ride it whenever and wherever you want.”
So they made a deal. They finished the Canadian Pacific Railroad and Crowfoot received a lifetime pass. It was put in a beautiful case. Crowfoot is said to have carried that case around his neck for the rest of his life. It entitled him to go wherever he wanted where the railroad could take him.
There was just one problem. As far as we know, Crowfoot never stepped foot on that train. He had the right to travel anywhere he wanted, but he never availed himself of that right.
There are a lot of Christians like Crowfoot; they possess God’s promises; they quote them; they frame them; they hang them on their walls; they even post them on social media, but they never actually make use of them. God wants us to abound in His blessings and enjoy the privileges we have in Him, but we won’t en
joy them to the fullest not until we fully surrender our lives to Him and live out the kind of life He is able to delight in.