Summary:
We think what makes a person blessed is having a happy family, successful career and good health. ‘Oddly’, people Jesus deems to be blessed are those poor in spirit, mourn and are persecuted! Why are the people mentioned in the Beatitudes (Matt 5) blessed?

1. The end of a matter is more important than the beginning
2. Spirit triumphs over physical flesh
3. The gentle triumph over the strong

What makes a person blessed?

In our lives, our most important goal is often to pursue happiness. We hope our entire lives will be happy and peaceful. We are well aware of what can make us peaceful and happy - happy/peaceful family, successful career, good health. Younger members may have a different pursuit in life. Perhaps we want a life that’s exciting and full of experience. Not only do we want a good career, but also one that gives us time to enjoy ourselves. If we possess all these, then we’d call ourselves blessed. But let’s see what Jesus deems a blessed person to be.

Matt 5:3-12
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The people Jesus said to be blessed are very different from what we imagine to be blessed. Instead of having a successful career, He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” They’re not blessed because they have people they love around them, but because they mourn. They’re not blessed when acknowledged by people, but when they’re persecuted. The blessings the Lord Jesus wants to give people are very different from what we deem as blessings.

The message of the Lord Jesus would actually have been agreed upon by the people then as they didn’t have their own kingdom. The gospel Jesus preached was about His heavenly kingdom. They would have been persecuted then, thus Jesus said, “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” (Matt 5:41) They would also have been persecuted by wealthy people. For example, Zacchaeus the tax collector extorted the people. But do we agree with Jesus’ message like the people then did, or do we frown upon it? We often hear about the beatitudes but don’t think about what it actually means. Do we agree with Jesus’ message or do we think we are already very blessed and don’t need to receive any more blessings from the Lord Jesus?

Jesus didn’t invent the message of the beatitudes on the spot. It had been spoken by Prophet Isaiah in 740-700BC.

Isa 61:1-2
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn

Jesus spoke this verse when He went into a synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-22). The message He spoke was similar to what He spoke in the beatitudes’ message. When He spoke the gospel, He made the recipients clear - the poor, those who mourn, and those who were broken-hearted. This was the core of the Messiah’s message.

Isa 53:2, 52:14
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men

It was prophesied that the Messiah’s image would be lowly and have a marred image. What would attract men wouldn’t be His image but His disposition. The Lord Jesus Christ took on such an appearance and tells us that what we should esteem is the internal disposition rather than the external image.

Structure of the beatitudes

The way the beatitudes are structured make it seem like there are only 8 (v3-10), but there are actually 9! The 9th blessing is recorded in v11, which is related to the 8th blessing; the link is persecution.

3 different aspects of the beatitudes

1. With ourselves
Blessing 1, 2, 3, 6 (v3-5, 8) says these people are blessed because of their inner character. For example, “blessed are the poor in spirit” is with regards to the inner person.

2. With other people
Blessing 5 and 7 (v7, 9) have to do with others. For example, “blessed are the peacemakers”.

3. With God
Blessings 4, 8 and 9 (v6, 10-11) have to do with God.

If a person has such special traits with regards to himself, others and God, he will be blessed.

Blessing 1 and 8 say, *”Blessed are…for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” It’s not that Jesus ran out of things to say and so repeated Himself. Instead, blessing 1 and 8 encapsulate the others. People within blessing 1-8 will have the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven isn’t fulfilled at just one period in time, it’s being fulfilled even now. It’ll be completely fulfilled when we are all taken to heaven.

We need to have all the 8 blessings today.

Why are the 8 groups of people blessed?

1. The end of a matter is more important than the beginning

Luke 6:20-26 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: “Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Unlike Matthew, Luke only records 4 blessings in the Beatitudes section. But he then continued to write about 4 woes. He said “blessed are you poor” but “woe to you who are rich”.

The end of a matter is more important than the beginning. We are still on earth and may be facing difficulties now. But it’s not the end yet, we still have to look towards the final end.

We may think we’re rich and lack nothing today, but we don’t pay attention to whether we are lacking in our spiritual lives. We have to take heed because we don’t know if woe will be unto us as we have already received consolation on earth. Men often like to receive instant gratification. When we have received gratification, then we start to slacken. Are we able to continue being watchful until the day we die? It’s a virtue to persevere and have patience. At the very end, if we’re able to maintain an attitude that’s poor in spirit, we will be blessed.

2. Spirit triumphs over physical flesh
The 8 groups of people who are blessed may seem physically weaker. For example, they are poor in spirit, mourning or persecuted. Externally, they may not look like they’re being blessed. On the other hand, some people may look blessed because they’re rich and not persecuted. But at the very end, we see God blesses the former. Today, are we the ones who are stronger or weaker? Zacchaeus was rich in the flesh but poor in spirit. He desired the Lord Jesus and eventually received satisfaction in his heart. The church of Laodecia saw themselves as rich but Jesus saw them as poor, blind and naked. One who humbles himself is better than one physically wealthy.

3. The gentle triumph over the strong
Gentleness may seem to be a weakness to people. It seems they will be bullied. But actually one who is gentle has strength. When the Lord Jesus went into Jerusalem, he rode on a donkey; He entered gently. The lowliness and gentleness of the Lord Jesus attracted people to come believe in Him.

There are many touching stories of the Christians who were persecuted in the 1st C. They succumbed to persecution because they were willing to give up their flesh but not their faith. Through their persecution, they moved some to come believe.

Jesus also said that those who mourn are blessed because mourning is a virtue

2 Cor 7:11
For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Strength that comes from repentance is very great. The strength of the Corinthians’ repentance was stronger than the strength of their physical bodies. There’s a chinese saying that goes: “It’s easy to change your physical body but very difficult to change your character.” A person willing to repent and change is one who has great strength.

Truly, their end is better than their beginning. Their spirit triumphs over their physical flesh. Their thirst for Jesus in their hearts helps them to not need strength from their bodies. Their gentleness gives them strength.

What kind of blessings would they receive?

1. Their needs and wants would be satisfied
For example, those who mourn will be comforted. Those who hunger and thirst will be filled. Their spiritual needs would be satisfied by God.

Isa 55:1
Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.

Those who thirst and are hungry don’t need to spend and are able to eat. We know there’s no free lunch; how are these people able to be filled without spending money? Because what God wants to give men is spiritually food which can’t be bought with money. Those who mourn, hunger and thirst don’t need to pay money and can be filled. But just because we don’t need to pay money for it doesn’t mean it’s lowly. We can only receive it if we put our hearts to work for it.

In v2-3, note how God says:
“Listen carefully to Me”
“Incline your ear and come to Me”

Don’t stand afar off. Come near and listen! For the first kind of needs, Jesus gives them satisfaction in terms of their spirit.

2. Spiritual inheritance and status
Amongst the 8 groups of people who are blessed, it’s mentioned that some will inherit the kingdom, inherit the earth, become sons of God.

Matt 12:28
But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting demons out by the power of the demons. Jesus replied He had cast the demons out by the spirit of God and that “surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you”. This world is ruled by demons, but when they are cast out by Jesus, the Kingdom of God would be upon the people.

Luke 17:20-21
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

The Pharisees asked Jesus again when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus said the Kingdom of God doesn’t come with observation. They probably thought Jesus would physically restore the kingdom. But Jesus said the kingdom is spiritual, cannot be seen with our eyes and is actually within us. Since the Kingdom of God is already within and upon us, we can begin receiving the blessings of the heavenly kingdom.

Matt 5:10
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Do we look forward to receiving the kingdom and becoming sons of God?

Luke 12:31-32
But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Jesus once called His disciples ‘little flock’. Jesus comforted them by saying the Father was willing to grant them the kingdom.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness. Especially in the environment we’re in today, the teachings Jesus told His disciples become more real. They were worried what they would eat and wear then. Today, we worry too. Perhaps we don’t worry about whether we can eat today. But we worry about whether we will still have a job next year. We start to worry about things that are not within our control. The Lord Jesus asks us to look at the grass of the field and animals that walk the earth. If the Lord Jesus looks after that, what more us, His children. But first, we must seek His kingdom, then He will grant us His kingdom. We won’t only have enough to eat and wear, we’d have the kingdom too! This far exceeds what we can ever imagine.

Let us pursue to be the 8 groups of people who are blessed and receive abundant spiritual blessings.