Category Archives: Christian Life

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

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BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6

In Matthew 5:6-8, according the literary device we have already explained, called reverse concentric symmetry, the two “bookends” are:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and

            Blessed are the pure in heart…

And the central thought is:

Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy.

What is righteousness? We, from our western perspective, erroneously define sin as doing bad things and righteousness as not doing bad things but in the Old Testament, sin was regarded as anything that did not measure up to God’s perfection. God demanded a sacrifice for everything that was not perfect to make atonement for the “sin”. Hence, for example, childbirth required a sacrifice because the loss of blood made a woman less than perfect. The Apostle Paul, a trained rabbi, wrote, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. The blood of Jesus is the perfect sacrifice of atonement for all sin for all time. 

Righteousness is about living a life characterised by the same disposition as Jesus our rabbi, who mirrored the character of God according to Ex 34:6. Righteousness is both a gift and a lifestyle. The righteous life we live is an expression of the gift God has given. Jesus’ righteousness is imputed to us by faith (Phil 3:9) but it also results in a change of attitude. The natural human disposition is selfishness and greed but the gift of Jesus’ righteousness frees and empowers us to act generously.   Righteousness and generosity (tsadaq and tsadaqah), come from the same Hebrew root. They are two sides of a coin, and are often coupled together in Scripture, e.g., Psalm 37:21, 25, 26. Generosity is righteousness in action, sharing our resources with others.  

Jesus promised that those who yearn to be generous and willingly use their resources to meet others needs, will never go hungry. The word “filled” has to do, not with being filled with righteousness but with satisfying physical hunger.

There is something reciprocal about the way God treats us. Whenever we do something to meet the needs of others, God responds by meeting our needs. This requires faith. Everything we do to make some else’s life better, with humility and meekness, is a seed that produces a harvest of righteousness. All of God’s resources come to us in seed form. To reap a harvest, the seed needs to be sown. God’s resources can all be recycled. When we give to someone in need with a generous heart, we create a current which will always come back to us.

In the world system, people try to find happiness by acquiring things. Because things can only produce temporary pleasure, they have to acquire more things to maintain their pleasure for a while. God’s way of happiness is lasting because it results in a change of heart and disposition that reproduces that character of Jesus.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN

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BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

In my previous article I explained that Matthew used a Hebrew literary construction called reverse concentric symmetry to record Jesus’ teaching on the Beatitudes. The first three beatitudes in Matthew 4:3-5, deal with the attitude of humility. Verses 3 and 5 form the “bookends” enclosing the middle thought which is blessed are those who mourn.

There are four ways in which Hebrew people expressed mourning.

1. They put on sackcloth – they wore rough and shapeless clothing to denote self-abasement.

2. They sprinkled ashes on their heads – a symbol of humbling themselves to come alongside the person who had suffered a loss. To wear sackcloth and cover oneself with ashes was to identify with and suffer the pain of grief with the person who grieves. It was an act of humbling oneself to bring life to someone else. 

The word “lovingkindness” (God’s covenant love) –  which is the Hebrew word  CHESED, is derived from the word CHESEDAH which is the picture of a mother swan plucking out her own feathers to make a soft nest for her young. The idea is that God creates a soft place for us through His own suffering. As we identify with someone else in their grief, we are creating a soft place for them by suffering with them.

3. They sat shivah – sitting for seven days with someone who was in emotional pain, in silence unless they were spoken to – eg, Job’s friends. The silent support was all that was needed to bring comfort to a grieving person.

4. They tore their garments – which meant exposing themselves for the good of some else.  In the temple, the veil was regarded as God’s clothing, hiding His glory from the general public.  When Jesus died, God tore His clothes to mourn the death of His Son, exposing His glory to bless His people, providing access to His throne and sending the Comforter to bless us.  When God mourned, it comforted everybody.

Blessed are those who mourn would be viewed as someone willing to humble himself to bring comfort to someone else.

The Apostle Paul picked up on this thought in 2 Corinthians 1:3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

We can summarise Jesus’ words like this:

You will be truly happy when you choose a way of life that is not full of pride and self-promotion. Instead, by humbling yourself and to coming alongside others who mourn through grief or loss, you will discover that God will comfort you in your trouble when you comfort others by your presence and your support. In this way you will find real and lasting happiness where you least expect it.

BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT

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BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3.

There is a Hebrew poetic structure in the Beatitudes, called reverse concentric symmetry. Verse 5 and verse 3 are saying the same thing. They are like bookends which enclose a central thought that summarises the whole thing.

1.  “Poor in spirit” and “meekness“ are basically the same idea.

2.  “Kingdom of heaven” and “inherit the earth” are the same idea.

3.  “Mourning” is in the centre. What does it mean to mourn?

Jesus is not talking about “baruch” but “asher” here (as explained in the previous article), the happiness that comes as a reward for good deeds, good decisions and Torah observance, a list of things that would be good for us and benefit us, helping to bring our lives together in completion and wholeness. It is good to receive the supernatural, undeserved blessings of God but, most of the time we are living the consequences of good or bad decisions.  Jesus is pleading with us to listen to His wisdom so that we can be happy. Do we really believe that, regardless of heaven or hell, Jesus’ way is the best way for us to live now, in this life?

Since Jesus probably spoke Hebrew to His fellow Jews, He would have thought and taught in Hebrew.

ANI HA RUACH is translated “poor in spirit”.  Spirit, meaning “breath” or “wind”, refers to what gives us life. It can either refer to the breath God gives us or the “windiness” or being puffed up with pride that comes from the fallen spirit. In this verse it has the connotation of windiness or pride.

Jesus is saying, “Happy is the person who chooses to live a life that is poor in pride,” – not trying to promote oneself. A life of self promotion is a life of disappointment. Isaiah 66:2. “This is the one I esteem; he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

ANI = poor, ANA = meek, come from the same root and are saying the same thing. Meekness comes from the idea of a horse’s strength submitted to his rider.

“The kingdom of God” and “inheriting the land” are also saying the same thing. They refer to living in the realm where God’s best way to live is put into practice (Psalm 37:11 – the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace).

Who is the person who is poor in pride and meek?

1. Someone who does not promote himself or dress or act to draw attention to himself.

2. Someone who is not secretly angry when he is not noticed.

3. Someone who does not demand a reward for his good deeds.

4. Someone who can draw non-violent boundaries around himself.

So, in the first beatitude, Jesus is saying that a humble and meek spirit that does not promote itself produces happiness and allows one to enjoy living in the kingdom of God.   

THE BEATITUDES

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THE BEATITUDES

“Blessed…blessed…blessed…blessed…blessed…blessed…blessed…blessed…blessed…”   Matthew 5:3-11.

What is this blessing of which Jesus speaks nine times in the opening verses of His “Sermon on the Mount”?

Before He launches into a description of the ways of the Kingdom of God, He answers the question many people are asking: “How can I be happy?” Does God really care about our happiness? Yes. Isn’t He more concerned about our holiness? According to Jesus, no. God cares about whether we are happy or not and He tells us how we can be truly happy. The problem is that most people look for happiness instead of realising that happiness is a by-product of something else. If we focus on happiness, we will find that it is elusive but, if we follow Jesus’ prescription, happiness will be the automatic outcome.

There are two words for “blessed” in the Hebrew language.

“Baruch” is the word used for the supernatural blessing God gives to us just because He can. We cannot merit God blessing. It is the evidence of His divine favour.

“Baruch” is also the word used when we bless God in worship. “Bless the Lord, O my soul…”

“Asher”, also translated “blessed”, refers to the happiness that is the outcome of obeying God’s word, of living the way He prescribes. Happiness (being blessed) is the natural outcome of living within the boundaries of what God intended for us. In the Old Covenant system, living God’s way ensured that His people would live in the land God assigned to them, under God’s protection and enjoying the blessings of His provision and prosperity. This was what His people understood about His kingdom, and the outcome of living this way would be a truly happy life.

Happiness is the by-product of the way we relate to and treat other people. To seek happiness for ourselves is to miss the way in which we can be truly happy. When we live for ourselves at the expense of other people, we cut off the source of happiness which is being unselfish and generous towards those less fortunate than ourselves.

The thrust of the Beatitudes is not inward- but outward-looking. What can we do to make life better for other people so that we can experience the happiness that flows from that lifestyle?

Interesting that these are called “be” attitudes and not “do” attitudes, since our doing can only flow from being! So Jesus focuses on heart attitudes which only come from the transformation that must happen before our behaviour can change.

The “Sermon on the Mount” is Jesus’ explanation of what living in the Kingdom of God is all about, and the Beatitudes His introduction to that way of life. Without understanding the Beatitudes, the rest of the Sermon on the mount is more difficult to grasp. In the next nine postings, I intent to explain the Beatitudes in the context of Hebrew literature and interpretation so that we can attempt to understand them as Jesus taught, from a Jewish rabbi’s perspective.

ADD TO YOUR FAITH

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ADD TO YOUR FAITH

“…He has given to us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world cause by evil desires. For this very reason make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge…”    2 Peter 1:4, 5

There is a difference between believing and knowing. Hebrews 11:1 says that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. Hope is not wishful thinking. It’s the picture of the cake in the recipe book that you plan to bake, and faith is the process of following the recipe to reproduce what the picture represents.

To simplify our understanding of the difference between faith and knowledge, let’s use our recipe illustration again. The first time we bake the cake, we have to trust our ingredients and our equipment, e.g., our measuring cups, spoons, scale, beater and our oven. If they are reliable, we believe that the end product will look like what the picture predicts. When we bake the cake the second time, we know that it will be a success because experience tells us that it worked the first time. We have moved from faith to knowing through our personal experience.

There is another step that comes between believing and knowing that Peter urges us to take, called “goodness”. We know that God is good, but what does that mean? Moses begged God to show him His glory (Exodus 33:18) and God responded by saying, “I will cause my goodness to pass in front of you and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Exodus 33:19). When God passed by Moses He proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, the gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” (Exodus 34:6, 7a).

Moses stood in God’s presence, shielded from the visible glory of God but hearing from Him a description of His character. He heard God’s Word and could say, “I know that God is good because I have heard Him proclaim His goodness in my presence.” On the strength of that revelation, Moses could ask God for mercy for His sinning people, and know that God would be merciful because that’s who He is. Moses never doubted God’s mercy again because it was forever written on his heart.

What about us? Since only God is good (Luke 18:19), we cannot add “goodness” to our character. At best, our goodness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We can know the goodness of God when we listen to God through His Word and His works. If we look at Jesus, we will see God’s goodness. When we know that God is good, faith will become knowledge and knowledge will fulfil our hope.