CWA Gospel Lesson - Epiphany 4 –- Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Matthew 5:1-12
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
IA Jesus was talking to His disciples in this section. He was not saying, “Be like this in order to become a Christian.” He was saying, “Because you are a Christian, you are like this.” Jesus was teaching, using paradoxes. Seemingly contradictory statements which lead us to look beneath the surface of the statement to understand Jesus’ point.
B1 What are we like? “Poor in spirit.” A poor person is one who is without the necessities of life. A person who is poor in spirit is one who acknowledges that he or she is lacking what is necessary to make oneself right with God. We Christians don’t constantly rehearse all the wonderful, moral, godly things we do. Why not? Because we know that they won’t make us acceptable to God. Only perfection makes us acceptable to God. We don’t and can’t produce perfection. Therefore, we acknowledge that we are lacking in the spiritual area of life. We are poor in spirit. Since we are poor in spirit, we don’t focus other people’s attention on us. We focus them on the solution to our spiritual poverty. That solution is Jesus. Poor in spirit people show Jesus to others.
2 What are we like? “Mourners.” We are sad because our sins make us unworthy of God. We are sad because we continue to do things that are displeasing to a God who has lived and died and risen to give us forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life. We are sad because of the problems in our lives as a result of our sins. We are sad because of all the problems in the world because of sin. Sadness isn’t a very attractive characteristic. So we don’t tell people to learn as much as they can about us. We tell people to learn as much as they can about Jesus. He takes away the cause of our sadness. Mourners show Jesus to others.
3 What are we like? “Meek.” We work as hard as we can to get a 4.0 in school, but we feel embarrassed when it gets put in the school district’s communique to the community. We are starting wide receivers and score a lot of receiving touchdowns but we don’t ever do a touchdown dance. We are financially well-off but we live in a modest home and drive an ordinary automobile. Why? Because we realize that we are blessed by Jesus with intelligence, athletic ability and financial success. We are not in this world to call attention to ourselves. Meek people show Jesus to others.
4 What are we like? We “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” We have an intense desire to be right with God. Since we are poor in spirit, we can’t make ourselves right with God. We have been led to believe that God gives us the righteousness which Jesus of Nazareth lived for us as our Substitute. We realize that God clothes us with that righteousness through tools. His Word and the Holy Supper. So we have an intense desire to use God’s Word and to participate in the Supper. That intensity points people to Jesus. Our hunger and thirst for righteousness show Jesus to others.
5 What are we like? “Merciful.” We are kind to others even if they can’t ever repay us. We are kind to others because we know how it feels to be in need of kindness. We are kind to others because we know by personal experience how difficult life becomes when it is filled with problems and concerns. We work hard at not just looking out for ourselves. We live that way because that is the way Jesus treats us. When we are asked why we are like that, we mention that is how Jesus treats us. Merciful people show Jesus to others.
6 What are we like? “Pure in heart.” We know that our actions and words are driven by our thoughts and emotions. We actively avoid places, presentations and people who will make our thoughts and emotions impure. We don’t want to selfishly and sinfully destroy our relationship with Jesus and other people. The pure in heart show Jesus to others.
7 What are we like? “Peacemakers.” . We attempt to bring people to repent of their sins.
We attempt to deliver to people the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus by His death on the cross. That brings peace to individuals. We attempt to solve differences between people by leading them to repent to each other and forgive each other. That brings peace to people. Peacemakers show Jesus to others.
8 What are we like? “Persecuted because of righteousness.” Ridiculed and maybe even attacked for insisting that Jesus is the only source of righteousness. Ridiculed and maybe even attacked for insisting that Jesus’ way of doing things is the right way of doing things. People persecuted because of righteousness show Jesus to others.
IIA What are we like? We are “blessed.” A blessing is something beneficial. A blessing is something that gives us joy. Some translations don’t translate, “Blessed is.....” in this section. They translate “Happy is.....” What gives us joy? With what beneficial things are our lives filled?
B With what are we blessed? Jesus says: “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” God is active in our lives. We are comfortable admitting that we are sinners because God is active in our lives through His Law. We are confident that Jesus lived and died and rose to give us forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life because God is active in our lives through the Gospel. We get up in the morning and are willing to face whatever comes because God is active in our lives through His Word reminding us of His presence. We look to the future eagerly because God is active in our lives through His Word reminding us of His promises. We in the kingdom of God show Jesus to others.
C With what are we blessed? “They will be comforted.” We are comforted that our sins have been washed away in the blood of Jesus. We are comforted that we are covered with the holiness of Jesus and thus pleasing to God. We are comforted that Jesus gives us the strength to go on in life in spite of the problems caused by our sins. We are comforted that Jesus rules all things and can use the problems in the world caused by sins to accomplish His purposes. Comforted people show Jesus to others.
D With what are we blessed? “They will inherit the earth.” We realize that God created the world we live in to nurture us. We use what Jesus gives us on this earth to take care of our needs as God has directed. We are content with the amount that the LORD chooses to give us. We are filled with joy that the entire universe is being managed by Jesus for our benefit. It all belongs to Him. We are His body. So it all belongs to us. Inheritors of the earth show Jesus to others.
E With what are we blessed? “They will be filled.” We know that our lack of holiness has been filled up with the holy life Jesus lived as our Substitute. We are not driven about wildly trying to achieve our status with God. We have stability based on God’s gift of Jesus’ righteousness which gives us our right standing with God. Our fullness shows Jesus to others.
F With what are we blessed? “They will be shown mercy.” We are comfortable being receivers. We gratefully receive God’s actions for our benefit. We gratefully receive the forgiveness of sins from Jesus’ death. We gratefully receive the holiness Jesus lived. We gratefully receive the eternal life which Jesus won by His resurrection. That willingness to be receivers is the opposite from humans’ tendency to insist on being accomplishers. That willingness to be receivers is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work. Recipients of mercy show Jesus to others.
G With what are we blessed? “We will see God.” We can’t now. He isn’t physically present among us. We will see Him in eternity. I don’t know how we physical creatures are going to be able to see a nonphysical creature like God. But God tells us that we will. Besides that Jesus is still the God-Man. Our confidence that we will see Him tells people that Jesus always keeps His promises. We who will see God show Jesus to others.
H With what are we blessed? “They will be called the children of God.” We are members of
God’s family because of Jesus. We call each other that. Other people call us that. That automatically shows Jesus to others.
I With what are we blessed? “Great is your reward in heaven. Eternity with the LORD. A reward given to us not because we earned it but given to us because we are righteous in God’s sight through Jesus. People in eternity with Jesus because of Jesus show Jesus to others.
Conc: Jesus made you all epiphanies. Your character produced in you by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word and your blessedness given to you by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word show Jesus to others. Thank you Jesus. Keep the Holy Spirit coming. Amen.