Part 2 - The Last Four Beatitudes

We will continue our study of the beatitudes in Matthew 5:7-12. Last week we went over the first four beatitudes, which are all generally linked to how our posture should be between us and God. The last four beatitudes shift more towards how our transformed heart should produce action or interactions with others in this world if we are on the right path that God desires.

5:7 – “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

We have been shown an enormous amount of mercy by God when he sent his son to allow us a path to redemption and forgiveness for the sins of Adam, which led to our present condition. While the first beatitude about being poor in spirit that we went over last week established our dependance on God for mercy (or even the word pity does well to describe the relationship between God and us, with our inability to save ourselves without him). Now that we have been shown mercy/pity by God, our actions towards others should do the same. Later, Jesus explicitly said several times that if we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven (Matthew 5:14-15). The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18 told the story that we have been forgiven a great debt by God, and anything in this world that we would need to forgive anybody in this world is small in comparison, and if we fail to forgive them then we will not be forgiven. This shows that a transformed heart by God will lead to forgiveness of others, but we must desire and choose to let go of that bitterness in our hearts. While many people resist forgiving others, because they think that they shouldn’t have to (especially if it is something severe), it can be helpful to understand that forgiving others may mean nothing to other person you are forgiving, but it can help you release the bitterness you are carrying that only harms the one that is carrying it in their hearts. Mercy is only a necessary word and is only required when someone does not deserve to be forgiven.

5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

This one is linked to the central theme of the entire sermon on the mount, the heart. In the time of Jesus, almost all the religious leader’s focus was about obeying the commandments. There were so many added rules/precedencies that established how the commandments should be carried out in so many specific circumstances (this is very similar to how courts establish legal precedencies today for new situations). The religious leaders obsessed about the appearance of carrying out all the laws and commandments, but they paid little attention to the condition of the heart underneath it all. Jesus wants our hearts to be pure with the commandments that he gives us (loving God and loving others is the best place to start), and if our hearts authentically do this, we will almost unintentionally follow and obey all the other commandments that Jesus gives us. The commandments that Jesus will link to salvation cannot be faked or tied to works done out of obligation with an insincere heart. He wants our heart to naturally want to live in a way that is in line with what God desires for our lives. So many of the passages following the beatitudes are linked to this one in how Jesus introduces them. He tells them that “they have heard” this commandment, but then he tells them what a pure heart that follows this commandment should look like when obeying that commandment. This beatitude is not just about obeying the commandments with a pure heart, but also what a pure hearts greatest priority should be, which is God. He wants God to be the biggest priority and should be held higher than anything else in our lives, including money, careers, power, etc.

5:9 – “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

To be a peacemaker requires a lot of strength and humility. Notice that he did not say peacekeeper, but peacemaker. Somebody that is a peacemaker must actively desire to not just de-escalate a confrontational situation or separate those that are in conflict, but they have the goal of bringing reconciliation. This could be either between a conflict that does not directly involve them, or between themselves and somebody they are in a conflict with. Jesus later tells us that this includes everybody, even enemies that would kill you if they had the chance. A heart that is meek/humble (is required to do this), because conflict often occurs when people are wanting to get their way, they want to be right, they think the other is tarnishing their reputation or feel like others are taking away something from them. To bring peace to a situation may require compromise in some situations, or it could require one turning the other cheek and letting the situation go (which Jesus tells us to do later in the sermon on the mount. Peacemaking is not passive; it requires very intentional effort because we often will have to defy what our emotions are telling us to do. It also will sometimes require that we speak up when it is a situation that does not directly involve us. Jesus himself confronted hypocrisy, rebukes people, exposes exploitation, and challenged religious leaders. However, he did it with a heart of love that did not want to dominate and sought reconciliation instead of division.

5:10-12 – “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecute the prophets before you.”

In today’s day and age, and in countless examples throughout the Old Testament, many people expect that when they start walking down the path that God desires for us and obeying his commands, they will be rewarded in this life with popularity, safety, power, money, or many other things that they want. All the beatitudes we have gone over so far, ways of living, and examples of what a kingdom heart looks like sound like they would lead to these things, but Jesus tells us to expect that they won’t. More obviously to most, this would mean that you would be less welcome in many social circles that openly sin or even celebrate it, because Jesus calls you to let what is right in God’s eyes known. Another less obvious example, would be to be persecuted by the church for going against the grain and speaking openly about the harder teachings of Jesus that if were preached on a Sunday morning would likely result in many people not going back to the church because it made them uncomfortable, and then the church would make less money with fewer members. This does not mean that doing the right thing in Gods eyes will always result in persecution or struggles in this world, but it can, and when it does God is watching and will reward us in the eternal side of life. Throughout the rest of the sermon on the mount, Jesus calls his followers to do very hard things that are completely against their nature and their culture, and those things will cost them some sort of sacrifice. This beatitude prepares the followers of Jesus for the times when things will get hard, because he does not promise only good things will happen to us when we are on the path that he is going to guide us down with the Holy Spirit. This is where endurance is required to be a follower of Jesus, “for the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13).