Miracle is no blessing.  


"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.“ (Matthew 5:3-12)


Why didn't they tell me about Jesus earlier?  

A friend of mine leaves for work at random times.  Quite often he leaves the house around two or three in the afternoon. Other times he does not even set foot outside the house even though it is a week day.   Surprisingly he has not yet been fired from his job, but rather is paid on time and lives in a fancy posh neighborhood.  The reason being that he develops software for a computer company.  Work is project-based therefore there is no set schedule.  Since it is more productive to work late at night in solitude and quiet, the company has no complaints as long as he is getting all the work done on time.  

Just because he arrives to work in the afternoon does not mean he is disobeying company rules. But to outsiders he may look like a he’s on the verge of being fired.  To those who do not understand the way computer companies run it’s only natural to make wrong assumptions.  
                                                                                    
I accepted Jesus Christ relatively late at the age of 33.  After coming to faith I realized that Christians are often scorned as a result of those on the outside having a terrible misconception of Christianity.  That is because non-christians judge Chrstianity with the same criteria as they do other religions.  The highest priority for the faithful of any religion is to do good and help others. Yet it seems that Christians talk the talk but fail to walk the walk.  They obviously conclude then that Christianity itself must be a useless religion.  

What they do not realize is that Christianity unlike other religions is not simply about living morally good lives and doing works of charity to our neighbors.  It is about receiving Jesus Christ as one’s Lord which results only from a one-on-one personal relationship with him.  But the true essence of Christianity cannot be understood unless one comes into the faith completely.  

That is why after first coming to Christ my honest reaction was similar to the merchant who found a pearl of great price spoken of in Matthew 13.  That was why I was able to exchange my entire being with what I had discovered and wholly trust my life to Him.  Since then, walking with the Lord day in and day out and life itself was simply put “Awesome”.  

That is not to say that I’m always experiencing an emotional and spiritual high, overflowing with the outward gifts of the Holy Spirit.  What I mean is that whatever kept my heart clogged shut til now was blasted away.  That is only because I’ve come to be assured that the One who created and rules this universe knows me personally and protects me with his overwhelming power and love.  This was a freedom that came from wholly trusting in Him, knowing that He is leading me and has a perfect plan for my life.  At last I was free from the fear, worry, or the confusion of the past.  

At one point I started to get angry and upset why others hadn’t approached me earlier with such lifegiving and beautiful truth that is Jesus Christ.  Soon after coming to faith, I decided in my heart that every opportunity I get I would share this truth with those who didn’t know and who like me had misunderstood the gospel and blasphemed Jesus.  It’s true that real conversion is not a matter of mere convincing with words or dispelling misconceptions but the work of the Holy Spirit.  I only wished that I may be of help however insignificant it may seem in His work of opening the hearts of people.    

The most often misunderstood Beatitudes

Speaking of misconceptions, the segment in the Bible that is often misunderstood by both Christians and nonchristians alike is the Sermon on the Mount, in particular the Beatitudes.  Before we get into the specifics of each verse, if we could point out one misperception regarding the whole teaching is that we often simply think that if a Christian works hard to change his character, personality, traits, to be morally “good” that God will bestow upon them the eight blessings.  


We think that if we merely humble ourselves, treat others with gentleness and compassion, trying to make peace with them while withstanding all and any kind of persecution, then God will be pleased.  Moreover we begin to have burdens that unless we find noble and righteous things to fill our schedule we become anxious.  Such efforts are not wrong in themselves and our text is not absent of such meanings, but a morality tale the Beatitudes certainly is not.  Jesus had in mind something totally different.

The meaning of the terms “poor in spirit”, “meek”, “pure in heart” does not merely refer to a noble character that avoids evil while only trying to do good.  Remember Jesus begins each phrase with “Blessed are…”  He did not say “You will receive blessing if…”  In other words we must not interpret the teachings as a conditional contract that promises blessing if we obey.  It is not our effort itself to try to become “poor in spirit” that leads to greater blessing.  

The phrase “blessed” in its original grammatical structure is an exclamation rather than a description.  Therefore in order to get at the clearer meaning it is rather correct to restructure the phrase as “You are blessed!” or “You who are blessed, your name is poor in spirit!”  In other words being poor in spirit, being one who mourns are already in themselves the greatest blessing one could receive.  It is not that God looks upon with favor the believer’s effort to become that way and rewards them with extra blessings.  


The theologian William Barclay stated that there are three types of lives or steps in a way a person lives their life.  The reason why he has expressed it not merely as ‘types’ but also as “steps” is because some people may go through all three different steps throughout their lifetime.  Undoubtedly, there are those who may go through only one or two of the steps.  

The first type is when a person lives a stress-free and mundane life and dies without ever having gone through much inner struggle or conflict.  This happens either because the person is content living such an ordinary life or he has never taken the effort to find or has yet to find something better.  

The second type is when the individual throughout their entire lives has never known what it means to be content but always feels empty, living in inner turmoil and distress.  It is without a doubt that he lacks something, but not knowing what it is, he wanders spiritually about until he dies.  

The third is when one has found the joy of a new life and is enjoying that freedom.  There is no longer that suffocating heaviness in his heart, but his heart is wide open.  A newness of life opens up for him.  He continues to walk deeper into this new level of life until he dies.

According to his definition, believers fall into the third category. Enjoying and living out this new life is what the Beatitudes is all about.  That is, the Beatitudes are none other than the new life that believers have come into as a result of receiving Jesus Christ personally and being able to call God “Abba Father”.  It is the greatest blessing that all Christians should enjoy and live out here and now, not some reward we receive after we die.

Simply put it is not that when we put in the effort to become poorer in spirit, God looks upon us with favor and says “Good and faithful servant!  I will double your salary and heal all your diseases.”  Nor does it mean that a nonbeliever who has suffered much loss in the world while helping the needy and doing numerous charitable works will receive as their reward an entrance into heaven.  The Beatitudes were not meant to be a training manual to shape our personality and character to a perfect and holy standard.  It is not a conditional contract statement that says if you keep these commands you will be blessed.

What is the meaning of mercy?  

Let’s take one example.  Most people interpret being “merciful” in this way: By the world’s standards mercy is always given by the one who is financially, socially, and morally superior to one who is less, never the other way around.  It is possible only if one has an extra surplus over the other that can fill the other’s lack.  By the world’s standards a beggar cannot give mercy to a rich man.  

But by Kingdom of Heaven’s standards, no matter how noble, how respected, and how much a person has, if they are without Jesus in their soul, the Christian cannot but have mercy on that person.  A Christian may undergo hardship, lack everything, may not be respected by others, he may even be a criminal in jail, but if he is one who truly has met Jesus, he will show such mercy.  

The true standard by which a person can give mercy is not dependent upon their character, status, income, or lifestyle but on whether their soul is alive or dead. Just because a christian has grown in his mercy towards others, it does prove he has become a holier than thou person.  If he thinks of himself as morally superior than others, that means he is still trying to draw from his own pride to fill where the other person is lacking.  This is no than meaning of mercy given by those in the world.  

The reason why Christians have compassion on the lost is because we are well aware that those without Christ do not have the joy, peace, freedom, comfort, power that we have found in our new life in Christ.  The Christian shares with them nothing of his own, but only what he receives from God freely every day.  In true essence, they are not sharing the life or power in themselves but are merely introducing others to the source.  Simply put it is like a beggar who found a huge food storage and tells other beggars of its location.  Both the Christian and nonchristian were beggars at one point.  The only difference is that the Christian has found the location of the food storage.  Using Barclay’s words, the nonchristian is the second type while the Christian is the third type.  Because the Christian has experienced how utterly desolate and meaningless their lives can be when living outside of the love and grace of God, they look upon the condition of those without Christ with anguish and compassion.

That is why when we look upon those who do not know Christ, we mourn and cry and would stop at nothing to tell them the Gospel. Neither does it mean that a Christian gives mercy merely for the purpose of gaining some great heavenly crown if he evangelizes to the lost.  Because we’ve all been there.  We see our old selves in them.  

We carry that soul in our arms and bring him before the cross in tears and in prayer.  It pains us to see the person struggling with pride and intellect running after the vain things of the world.  Sometimes we’d rather pray that even if they fall into greater hardship, they may first and foremost come to know God.  Yes our hearts go out to them because of their immediate hardship.  Yet the joy and peace we have found in the cross far surpasses any comfort or prosperity in this life that we sincerely pray that they may also experience and find the true meaning and purpose of life.  This is the meaning of mercy for a true Christ follower.

The true meaning of blessing.  

The real surprise in the Beatitudes is that there are different levels to the joy we can experience and that as we progress in faith, greater joy awaits.  There is a common misconception we have towards the Beatitudes.   We tend to think "I don’t have the gift of being a peacemaker, but I have a meek and merciful heart.”  Or we say “I am a people person so I have the gift of smoothing out conflicts between people.”  We see the Beatitudes separately as if they are various giftings.  In other words we believe it is good enough to pick and choose one or two among the eight blessings and try our best to live them out.

But when you look closely at the Beatitudes Jesus has purposely arranged a picture of the believer’s life in order as he grows in maturity.  Take a look at the first blessing, being “poor in spirit”; it has to do solely with an individual’s inner man.  Then gradually the Christian moves on toward having mercy towards others and making peace until in the last stage he is persecuted for righteousness.  

A Christian is someone who has found Jesus.  Our text is teaching addressed to such people and to the disciples.  It speaks of the vibrancy of joy and life that overflows when a person truly lives out the Christian life.  Put in today’s context, Jesus could have been leading a seminar on spiritual growth.  The central theme of the Sermon on the Mount is the Kingdom of Heaven, and as Kingdom Lifestyle 101 Jesus began this seminar on the Beatitudes.  

As mentioned above, the Beatitudes are exclamations.  That is, Jesus was probably speaking in such a following tone: “Let all gather! You have no clue the kind of heart-pounding adventure and lasting joy that is waiting for you!  The first stage is… then the second is… even onto an abundance of eight greatest blessings the world doesn’t even have a clue about!  You are blessed because you can live such lives filled with excitement and wonder!  Are you ready?”

But who were the audience of such a bold message?  As we saw in the end of chapter four they were the multitudes who had been healed from chronic and terminal illnesses.  In other words Jesus was saying to those who were leaping with joy for the first time having been set free from cancer or paralysis, “Do you know that the greatest blessing a person can ever receive is being jeered at, persecuted, and slandered for my sake?  This blessing begins by becoming poor in spirit.  Now live out this blessing I’ve given you and start seeing and owning the Kingdom of Heaven!”  To put it differently Jesus is saying that merely being healed of cancer or paralysis itself is not even the beginning of such a blessing nor does it mean that one has come to own the Kingdom of Heaven.  Does this ring true in your spirit and move you to shout Amen?  Do you sympathize with it at least?  

Jesus said that if we are cursed, persecuted, beaten, slandered, or put in danger for His sake, we are to “rejoice and be glad" (V. 11-12).  He is not talking about undergoing hardship because of our personal greed or sins.  He is referring to the persecution and trials that comes as a result of living in obedience to His command.  If one receives a curse as a result of trying to preach the Gospel and praying for those without Christ, then great will be their reward in heaven.  

But a true believer does not need to obsess over his reward in heaven.  Those who have experienced the joy of praying for and seeing the lost come to be transformed over time, regardless of the insult or ruse against them will boldly receive such persecution.  Rather they are more afraid of losing the true joy within themselves by trying to avoid persecution or trying to compromise.  They may have it hard here and now.  Many say that Christians are obnoxious in trying to spread their faith.  It may be so, but that is only because they know there is no greater joy in this life than to bring one person held hostage by Satan, regardless of all the evil spoken against them.  Whether they receive any praise or reward in this life, they will never lose out on the blessing to praise and pray to the Lord together with the newborn convert.  That is why at all costs, they simply desire to be “obnoxious” witnesses of Christ.

At what stage are you?  

At what stage of the Beatitudes are you currently?  Is it your goal as a Christian to truly live out all eight of the beatitudes?  Could it be however that 90 out of a hundred Christians have not yet even graduated from becoming poor in spirit?  Or are you still making excuses as you did when you were not in Christ, saying to yourself, “I am meek at heart.  There’s nothing really wrong with me.  I can live pretty much without anyone telling me what to do.  I’ve never done nobody harm.  In fact I suffer everyday for trying to be good.”  

Such excuses are merely cowardly lies we used before we came to the truth to pretend that we are good people.  They don’t mean anything to a Christian.  Moreover, before the Lord who died in our place on the cross and made us His children, they are such arrogant and foolish words that we shouldn’t dare speak them; it shows that we do not yet know the true meaning of the cross.  Insisting that we have lived blamelessly without the help of the law may convince the world, but before the Lord, such words are merely confession that we are wicked and lazy servants.  If a Christian merely boasts of his moral superiority over others it is a sign that he has never completely surrendered to the power and grace of the cross.  The righteousness of man is like filthy rags, most vile of all creation- mankind.  Everyone without the grace offered to us on the cross is a mere piece of trash and dust in the wind.  

When a believer boasts of one’s self-righteousness, it means that perhaps one has given to others out of their plenty, but has never once in his life prayed for the salvation of a soul with the burning heart of God and His tears.  If they know that they are who they are because of the grace of the cross, they will never boast of such nonsense.  They will merely confess as did the Aposlte Paul, “I am the worst of sinners.”    

The qualification to be an employee at a computer software company is dependent upon how good a software one can produce.  As long as he is sticking to the vision of the company, since the company policy allows it, there is no reason for him to be looked down upon for showing up in the afternoon.  In the same way, a Christian may be misunderstood and jeered at by the outside world because they do not know what true Christianity is about.  But what really matters is that the Christian himself knows with clarity the essence of the Christian faith and is faithful to it.  

"For you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:9).  The ultimate purpose of faith is salvation of our souls.  Salvation does not merely mean that one now has a free ticket to heaven after believing in Christ.  The moment a person receives Jesus as Savior and Lord, he immediately receives forgiveness of sins from God who alone is the absolute standard of good and evil- the ruler of the universe- and steps into His love and abundant grace.  It is coming into a right relationship with God as part of His creation.  It is a continual relationship with God and living within His leading and protection, in accordance with His will.

Simply put, it means to continue in this proper relationship outlined by the Beatitudes and to enjoy such abundant blessing in each stage of life. Therefore if one were to reinterpret the first few words of the Beatitudes it would be something like, “Blessed are those who are restored to a right relationship with God, they will receive salvation of their souls.”  The faithful can live a life full of joy and life right here, right now.  Even if he may be blackmailed, cursed, and persecuted by the world, if he is standing with Jesus, then he is standing on blessed ground.  That is why Jesus transforms all the land the Christian travels on in this life as part of his inheritance.  

The Beatitudes does not refer necessarily to eight different blessings.  In reality the only blessing that is given to the believer as a reward is Heaven itself.  The reason however that they are separated into eight is because a person’s faith matures in such distinct stages after conversion.  The greatest blessing a Christian can receive is only this, that "they fellowship with God, and live under His rule.”  It is starting with this life, God being our King and we His people.  No doubt that blessing from heaven is one    Moreover as the person gets to know God better and obeys in greater measure, the blessings increase in depth, width, and height.  Consequently when an individual is led to the point of rejoicing in persecution, his blessing has reached its pinnacle.  

Let us be real honest and ask ourselves at what stage we are.  Do you consider being persecuted by the world for the name of Jesus as a far greater joy and reward than being healed of cancer or paralysis?  Have you ever experienced a joy not of this world, or even know of it?  Do you understand why Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes with such beautiful prose?  Can you understand His heart?  

5/21/2011