Tag Archives: blessed

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART,

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BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

In my previous article, we looked at the meaning of “hungering and thirsting for righteousness”, a yearning to be generous towards others which will mirror God’s generosity towards us which is the first “bookend” of the literary construction called reverse concentric symmetry.

Pure in heart is the other bookend that encloses the idea of being merciful. It is based on the teaching in the Torah about “tamai” and “tahor”, unclean and clean. Sin is not defined as doing bad things; sin is defined as anything that is not perfect which makes a person “tamai”, unclean. Being unclean separated people from the community and demanded sacrifice to restore them to a state of “tahor”, purity. Being “tamai” was very infectious. Anyone touching someone who was tamai became tamai.  Living in a situation like this made them realise how impossible this was. It demanded someone to rescue them from the ceaseless cycle of being tamai.

Jesus came to rescue to world from being in a state of tamai which separated everyone from God. He was the once-for-all sacrifice which made us permanently tahor before God. Everyone Jesus touched became “tahor” instantly, lepers, blind, deaf, lame, and dead people.  Because of Him we are no longer “tamai” because He has made us “tahor” in Him. To be “tahor” means that our vision is cleared of our selfishness and self absorption and we can more clearly see the suffering of those around us. Jesus said “Be perfect (tahor) as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

In Hebrew thinking there was something called “zikkut”. “Zikkut” described a person’s attitude of heart that reached out to help someone in need, not in obedience to a command but just because of the compassion in the person’s heart that moved him to help. The rabbis taught that “zikkut” enabled one to see the face of God – to see, know and experience God in a deeper way than simply by obeying His commandments.

This is what God said to Shallum, king of Judah, who was selfish and greedy, about his father Josiah. “Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 22:16.

In the beatitudes Jesus is saying that to desire to be generous to people in need, sharing your resources with them even if your resources are meagre, means that you will always have enough yourself. You will never go hungry if you share with others.  But, more than that, when we have a burning desire to meet the needs of others, beyond our duty, we will truly understand the heart of God and God will take care of every need of ours in response to our self-sacrificing generosity.

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

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BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

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

Today we come to the main point in this second trio of beatitudes. Matthew 5:6-8, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy”, is the central thought between the bookends.Being a merciful person is in the middle of being righteous and pure in heart.

In Hebrew culture, firstborns always get justice, second-borns always get mercy. A curse on the second-born father was passed to his firstborn son – e.g. Ham and Canaan, Genesis 9:24, 25. Every firstborn son belonged to God (Exodus 13:2) and had to be redeemed by sacrificing an animal. At the first Passover, God killed the firstborns of Egypt (Exodus 11:5); they got justice for Egypt’s treatment of Israel.

Firstborns got the double portion as a compensation for their responsibilities; firstborns had to take responsibility for the sins of the family; firstborns had to be the judge of the whole family and they had to be the judged of the family; firstborns had to be kinsman redeemer e.g., they had to take over the role of a deceased brother, i.e. marry his widow(s) and produce a son.

John 3:1 – Nicodemus was a Pharisee; Pharisees made up 2% of the population and they were all firstborns. Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to be born again, from firstborn to second-born so that he could be moved from firstborn who got justice to second-born who gets mercy.

We are all in Adam (God’s firstborn) and get justice. Jesus (the second Adam) took the form of man (in Adam the firstborn) so that He could take the justice for Adam’s race in order that we can receive mercy.

All who receive mercy are expected to give mercy (James 2:12-13).Every word from God is to be full of mercy (James 3:17-18). We are to express to the world the heart of God that is full of mercy, full of passionate grief for lost potential.

The whole issue of being merciful is that God Himself in Jesus took on the form of the firstborn (Adam) to take the justice for Adam’s race. Through the miracle of rebirth by the Spirit of God, we become God’s second-born and are therefore eligible for mercy. Since we have received the mercy of God that has cancelled such a huge debt, we are to imitate the character of God (Exodus 33:19) by showing mercy to all people.

Like the wicked servant in Matthew 18:23-35, not to show mercy to those who offend us is to cancel out God’s mercy towards us and place us back in the position of firstborn – justice, not mercy.

We reflect the heart of God by being generous to those who do not deserve it, just as God has been generous to us so that we ourselves will experience God’s generosity to us and that we can truly know Him, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness – Exodus 34:6.

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.