Grace,
mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
And from our
Gospel reading today, we read where Jesus says:
Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for there is the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer: May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O
Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Our gospel reading today is often
called the “Beatitudes”. This word comes from the Latin word for blessed:
“Beati”. Jesus begins each of his little sayings with the word “blessed”.
Blessed, blessed, blessed, ringing like church-bells over the centuries—Jesus
scattering his blessings over his disciples of all times and places.
And these words of Jesus are his
first words as a teacher of the people. We read at the beginning of the
chapter: Seeing the crowds, [Jesus] went up on the mountain, and when he sat
down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them.
Do you notice how everything that
happens here is described in detail: he went up on the mountain, he sat down,
his disciples came to him. It even says that he opened his mouth in order to
teach them. It’s almost as if the Holy Spirit wants us to take notice of what a
wonderful occasion all this was. It’s almost like the words describe a
ceremony, where Jesus opens his mouth.
And Jesus says:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for
they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for
they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who persecuted
for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
So what do you think when you
hear these words of Jesus? Do you qualify for his blessings? Are you poor in
spirit? Are you meek? Are you merciful? Are you pure in heart?
I want to have Jesus blessings
rest upon me, but I know that I don’t like to be poor in spirit. I want to
think as though I am spiritually rich. But also, I know that there’s a lot of
darkness in my heart and sin—will I see God as Jesus promises here?
But first of all, Jesus is not
talking about us. In fact, these descriptions of blessed people here, actually
describes Jesus himself. Jesus fits these descriptions the best.
These blessings of Jesus sound a
bit like the very first psalm, which says:
Blessed is the man who walks not
in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the
seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he
meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which
yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he
does, he prospers.
Jesus fulfils these words
perfectly. He is the man who is truly blessed, because he is completely free
from sin by nature, and as a man he is also true God perfectly united in one
person. He never walked in the counsel of the wicked—he never took advice from
the devil and evil people. He never stood in the way of sinners—he always did
away with sin, and forgave people’s sin, and ate and drank with them, and took
on their sin upon himself. He never sat in the seat of scoffers—he never
scoffed, he only blessed and healed and showed friendliness and love to people.
He delighted in God’s law day and night—even when he was on the cross he was
praying the psalms: Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?
But also, the blessings of Jesus
in our reading today, the Beatitudes, also describe Jesus most perfectly:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus was poor in spirit. He
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross. He
didn’t live a life royalty in this world, but he was the king of glory himself.
He owned very little, and what he did have, he had taken away from him, so much
so that he was left to die a lonely death, naked, wounded, and nailed to a
cross. But the kingdom of heaven belonged to Jesus, and he was the king of
heaven himself.
Blessed are those who mourn, for
they shall be comforted.
Look at Jesus in the garden of
Gethsemane, where Jesus says: “My soul is greatly troubled, even unto death.”
The prophet Isaiah says that he was a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief.” Jesus knew mourning, depression, sadness like no-one on this earth has
ever known it. But also, he is comforted—he even defeated death himself through
his own resurrection.
Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth.
Jesus says: “Learn from me, for I
am gentle and lowly of heart -- (I am meek) – and I will give rest for your
souls.” He rode into Jerusalem, lowly and meek, not riding on a great majestic
horse, but on a humble donkey. He submitted to his Father’s will. And also
Jesus inherited the whole earth. He says before he ascends into heaven: “All
authority on heaven and earth has been given to me.”
Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Jesus hungered and thirsted in
the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. He was tempted by the devil. He thirsted
for water on the cross. But also, after he rose from the dead, he was exalted
and seated at the right hand of God. He was satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for
they will receive mercy.
Jesus is perfectly merciful—he
always shows mercy to people, and especially today he shows mercy to us, and
promises to show mercy to us.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
Jesus heart is perfectly pure,
and he continually sees the face of God.
Blessed are the peacemakers for
they shall be called sons of God.
Jesus made peace for the whole
world through his blood on the cross, as it says in Colossians. And he is the
only begotten Son of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted
for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus was persecuted, and he was
completely innocent. All throughout the time he was teaching people, the high
priests and such like were conspiring to put him to have him arrested and put
to death. And finally he was persecuted through his suffering and crucifixion
in one of the most brutal ways that the world has ever seen.
So we can see that all of these
beatitudes, these blessings, is perfectly fulfilled by Jesus himself.
But we’re not finished yet,
because Jesus isn’t talking about one person, he’s talking about many. He
doesn’t say: “Blessed is the poor person in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven
belongs to him” or “her”, but he says, “Blessed are the poor people in spirit,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them”, “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
And Jesus here shows us that he
is not just going keep all these wonderful gifts for himself, but that he will
share his blessings with all his disciples of all times and all places. He
won’t just die on the cross by himself, but throughout history he will place
his church and everyone in it constantly at the foot of the cross, and he will
say to each Christian, “Take up your cross and follow me.” And when on Easter
Sunday morning he stands up and walks out of the tomb, he doesn’t just do it
for himself, but he does it so that each of us will do the same. It says in 1
Corinthians 15: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those
who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all
be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his
coming those who belong to Christ.”
Do you hear those words? “Then at
his coming those who belong to Christ.” He is the “firstfruits of those who
have fallen asleep.”
And this is especially important
for us as we remember today on All Saints Day all those who have fallen asleep
with Christ in the faith, all those who belong to Christ. Christ is not so
selfish as to keep eternal life and the resurrection from the dead just to
himself, but he wants to share this great gift. And he shares this gift by
uniting each person to himself in Holy Baptism, and pouring out his Holy Spirit
on them through the water and the word, and forgiving each and every single sin
of the past, present and future.
And so, Jesus begins this great
sermon in our Gospel reading with the words: Blessed, blessed, blessed. Let me
share my blessing. Let me throw my blessings over here, and scatter my
blessings over there. There’s enough blessings for everyone.
He is the vine, and he makes us
his branches. All the juices that flow through him flow into us.
Jesus is not stuck up in heaven
in such a way that he is not with us on earth. He says: “I am with you to the
end of the age.” He unites himself to us, his baptised people, and lets us
plant each footstep we take in his footprint. And through the forgiveness of
sins, he promises to dwell in each one of us, even through we see still our sin
clinging to us.
You see, Jesus only lives in
sinners. He doesn’t live in saints: saints don’t need him. If you think you’ve
made it in your spiritual life, and that you’re free from sin, then go home—you
don’t need Jesus, and Jesus won’t live in you. He will only make his home in a
sinner. He knows what sins looks like, he knows what it feels like. He took it
upon himself and died for all of it.
And now he says:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who need me,
says Jesus, who are poor, who have been made destitute by sin, by the world, by
the devil, who are helpless to save themselves. I myself will come and be your
Saviour. I will forgive you in baptism, and through that forgiveness, and
through that forgiveness alone, I will dwell within you. If you are poor, then
hear the living voice of God in his Scriptures, and those living words will
enter your ears, go into your heart and Christ himself will build his kingdom
there.
Blessed are those who mourn, for
they will be comforted.
Blessed are those who are
depressed and grieving. Come and be sad with me, says Jesus. Let me share it
with you, let me drink that cup for you and die for you. Let me be your sadness
in my crucifixion, and let me be your joy and your happiness and your gladness
in my resurrection from the dead.
And so we can go through each of
the beatitudes in the same way, and see the way in which Christ shares his
kingdom with us, his living presence with us, and all his blessings with us.
Read each of these beatitudes, study them, learn them, and drink deeply from
them. Jesus embodies each of them himself, but he also embodies each of them in
us through uniting us to be part of his own body together with all Christians
throughout the world of all times and places—all the disciples, all the
martyrs, all the saints.
So let the Holy Spirit call you
to Jesus’ feet, let the Holy Spirit draw you to him and place you at Jesus
feet. Jesus sits down, opens his mouth and teaches you himself. But he doesn’t
simply teach you information, he teaches you living mysteries of the faith,
living blessings.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Amen.
Teach us,
Lord Jesus, your words of blessing, your words of salvation, your words of
blessedness. Send us the Holy Spirit from your Father and purify our hearts
through the forgiveness of our sins that we may see God. Make us poor in spirit
that the kingdom of heaven may be ours together with all the little, humble
people you have called to yourself throughout all time. Amen.
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