Sermon Notes-"Blessings Realized" from Matthew 5:4-8

Introduction: #Blessed-Spend any time on social media and you will see this hashtag appear. It appears 137 Million times on Instagram (wedding, babies, relationships, vacations, new jobs). As we begin this morning, I want us to think about the pictures or events in our lives where we would use that hashtag. How many of the things you and I mention are listed in the beatitudes we are going to look at it today? 

·         Descriptive not Prescriptive-It’s describing how things are; not what you need to become

·         Beatitudes not Doatitudes-Things that Jesus wants us to be in power of Spirit not our own strength

·         “The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount is not a to-do list; it is a good news list.  Jesus is describing who has the most to gain by the arrival of His kingdom. He is not prescribing what you must do to enter it.” Skye Jethani pg. 18

·         What does blessing mean? Happy or highly favored

·         Jesus is speaking (red letters)

·         Jesus is flipping upside down what the culture understood as blessed. “No one is beyond God’s blessing.” (Jethani)

·         He describes someone’s situation and then what HE is going to provide or do.

Mourn (vs. 4)

·         Mourn-feel grief or sorrow; be sad; lament.  Often associated with death of a loved one.  But can be other things as well (job, friendship, item, pet, evil, oppression).

·         Often in our culture, we try to move people quickly through mourning, but the reality is mourning takes time and there is not a set amount of time needed.  I often pray, “Lord, help them to mourn in a healthy way.”

·         Jesus provides: Comfort.  Reminder from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Meek (vs. 5)

·         Meek-gentle, humble, mild

·         Meekness is not to be confused with weakness[1]

·         In our culture, do the gentle and humble inherit the earth as we understand it? Do people advance in work or politics through gentleness and humbleness?  Often, we see the opposite.  So, what is Jesus saying? 

·         Past: Inheritance was connected to physical land

·         Future: ruling with Christ over all the globe and ultimately to enjoying an entirely re-created earth and heavens[2]

·         Present: Take back the “spiritual” land for Jesus, His kingdom expanded, on earth as it in heaven.

·         Jesus provides: Inheritance of the earth Reminder from Psalm 2:8 “Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”

Righteousness (vs. 6)

·         Hunger and Thirst- fundamental human need for sustenance[3]

·         Righteousness-what is right, justice

·         Self-righteousness

·         it is a given righteousness, not an achieved righteousness. The blessed do not achieve it but hunger and thirst for it.[4]

·         Great exchange-Jesus takes our sin and gives us His righteousness

·         Jesus provides: Satisfaction Reminder from John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Mercy (vs. 7)

·         Mercy-Receiving something we don’t deserve. Merciful-someone who extends forgiveness or love to others who don’t deserve it or possibly have offended them. The Hebrew word is Hesed.

·         My instinct when offended or dealing with difficult people is to not show mercy.  Why?  Because they don’t deserve it and yet I am reminded that God was merciful to me and I don’t deserve it. 

·         Jesus provides: Mercy Reminder from Exodus 34:6 “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,”

Purity (vs. 8)

·         Pure in heart-clean, free of guilt and sin

·         Purity of heart is not manufactured by the believer, but is granted by the God of mercy (5:7) to those who mourn their spiritual bankruptcy (5:3–4) and who seek his righteousness (5:6). [5]

·         Jesus provides: Seeing God Reminder from Psalm 24:3-4 “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.”

Closing: Which one of these resonates with you?  Ask God. Be encouraged by what Jesus provides.


[1] Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel according to Matthew (p. 98). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

[2] Blomberg, C. (1992). Matthew (Vol. 22, p. 99). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[3] Nolland, J. (2005). The Gospel of Matthew: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 202). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

[4] Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel according to Matthew (p. 99). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

[5] Weber, S. K. (2000). Matthew (Vol. 1, p. 60). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

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