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| A little reminder from the previous beatitude- are you thirsting and hungering for righteousness of God? That is a stark contrast to the average man these days. And what a challenge it is for us too- to always be seeking to be right with God, for that is what ultimately satisfies our souls. Which leads us to our next beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." At once this thought strikes people: So if i treat others with mercy, i will be treated with mercy in return. Its like how ppl think if they forgive somebody then they will be forgiven by God. No, these two ideals do not reflect the meaning for which I think is what Jesus intended. These two statements emphasize on you being merciful & being forgiving, rather than doing those very acts. You see, the reason why this beatitude is put in this sequential order is because it follows the others before it. The man who is being described here sees himself brought down and empty of spirit, mournful in his sin and the world, meek in his ways yet ever hungry and thirsting for righteousness. Its until you realize what it means to repent and come to your senses, then you will be able to show mercy to others as a result of it. Not from the fact that you'll get paid back for what you do, but because it stems only from the love, grace and mercy of God. God showed us mercy, not because he 'overlooked' our disobedience or law breaking and lacked justice or truth. Its because he overflowed with love. He didn't just pity us either- he came right down to earth to do something about it. We as humans, were just sitting here rotting in our own sin destined for hell and God pitied us, but did not neglect us so extended his mercy upon us. That is mercy. To see others in a pitiable state and do something about it. The implication today is that we see people around us rooted in sin. You can not go through one day without witnessing or being part of it. But we who truly look to God, we truly weep inside ourselves as we see ppl and our very selves being controlled by sin. We hate it so much yet can we look at the other person with love and see that sin as a separate entity? If you can, then wouldn't you wanna rescue them from sin's bondage? To do so is to show mercy. So, do you think you are merciful? If so, then you know that you have truly understood God's grace and forgiveness.
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| Up until this point, we see that our Lord Jesus Christ has been emphasizing the need to recognize just how self concerned we are. To examine ourself and see how utterly corrupted by self interest we are, how truly poor we are in spirit and how much at the same time we hate it yet mourn because we cannot get rid of it entirely. However, when we approach this next beatitude, there is a different note to the last three. "Blessed" says Jesus, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." Why? Simply-"for they will be filled." Let's take this sentence literally: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." To be blessed is to be happy in a sense and filled carries a sense of satisfaction. What is seen today is everyone thirsting and hungering after happiness- the saying is "be happy" (and ironically 'don't worry'). People are trying their hardest to seek that happiness in their life, but they can not find it. Why? Because they are seeking directly for it. Happiness can't be found itself, it comes from seeking something else. It comes, says Jesus, from hungering and thirsting for righteousness. What is this righteousness mentioned here? Automatically we think of 'good' men who are moral and got a heart of gold. Who want peace between nations, love, honesty, care etc. These are 'right' in themselves, but I think Jesus is elucidating something more. Given the previous 3 beatitudes, this righteousness is the pure desire to be free from sin in all its shape and form, for it is sin which separates us from God. Its the desire to be right with God and the fact that a man ain't right with God is why he's gone wrong everywhere else. Just like how your body recognises that you need food or water and will not stop, with hunger pains, until you find food and fill up. So too, we should actually "hunger and thirst" after that right-ness with God and not stop until we are filled. What does this mean practically? We should work harder to be right? No, that'd be like the Pharisees who were under law. We are to realize how much we need God, and if you truly believe in Jesus' death on the cross, then you know you are forgiven, and you know that God does not see you as that sinner. You are under grace. And that starts with the continual hungering and thirsting after righteousness. You don't just get filled right away and end of story. No, once your desire is recognised, it will grow, and God will make you grow. Just like how our bodies need food and we will never stop hungering after food, so too, will our desire for God grow.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
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| There is nothing more promising than this next beautitude. "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth". The earth is theirs. Not the powerful, not the ambitious, not the competitive strong aggressive people. It is the meek who gain the whole world. Well, let's first look at what meek means.
Its not just being passively nice or trying to get peace at any price. It's not a "weak" label or plain nice, happy joyful one either. It carries an essence of gentleness, submission (not blind) and above all, humbleness. You see that the world wants you to be 'big' and out there. You kno, its a competition to the top. But Christ is saying the opposite- be meek. We must not confuse this word with weakness. Because there is strength carried along with it. Meekness is an unnatural quality that is only enabled through the Spirit. You will never have the will to be meek unless you truly see yourself in relation to God. It is an utter awareness that you need God, live because of God and therefore live for God. The Christian would only want to ever live by the will of God, and not their own. They don't submit to their own wants, but God's, and do so in such a manner worthy of Christ. They stand up for the truth and won't back down even when opposition stands in their way. That is meekness. Look at the bible. The people there. They were so strong, yet so humble and meek. I like looking at Paul, He's so strong in standing up for the truth. He's so true to his faith and his character is so powerful. Yet he was so humble at the same time. But ultimately, look at Christ. He chose to become human and suffer for us. Look at his reactions to the people around him, he never lacked meekness.
So a Christian therefore, is meek. He brings himself low and willingly submits to the will of God. What happens to him? He will inherit the earth. He will have won over the world. Thus, they will always be content- because they know in their hearts what is true and worthwhile living for.
If you look at it, this description follows the other two well- only a poor spirited fellow would mourn and become meek. Thus, Christ has put the order in a logical way.
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| I look onto the second line of the Beautitudes, and it says the most contradicting statement of all. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matt 5:4) In the shallow context, i thought, surely you can't be blessed, you can't be happy, when you are mourning. Why say so? It ain't rite!
But after reading thru Jone's book, it made me realize just how important and true this seemingly paradoxical statement our Lord says is. The world says "Don't worry! Be happy!" or "Forget about your troubles!" Don't ruminate on your problems no more- move on. Be happy. No, "blessed are those who mourn" our Lord says. Those who are mourning, full of sorrow, are those who are truly blessed and happy. If you look at Christ, He was 'a man of sorrows', He never had a good laugh. He was angry, he suffered, he cried. And we as Christians are to be like that.. Mournful. How does mourning bring happiness? Well, let's look at what a man mourns about.
The typical person of this world mourns over things in life. Divorce, violence, loss of loved ones, war, abuse ect... The Christian man mourns much deeper. He mourns of all those things too- but all the more, he mourns of the root of the problem, man's sinful nature. Why does all the cruel things in the world happen today? Because of man's sinful nature. It is because of this ugly, bitter evil sin that lives in our hearts that we mourn, that we realize how ugly we are.
Yet unless we see that and mourn, we will never repent. It is because the Christian comes to that realization that he mourns, and is in effect blessed. Blessed, and happy because of the solid fact that Christ alone can save us. Christ alone can redeem us, and Christ alone we can rely on to help us repent. That makes a Christian truly comforted, and inevitably happy. So what picture of the christian does this paint? He's not someone miserable or gloomy. He's not sad nor jovial all the time. He is one who looks at this life and thinks it through a spiritual point of view. He sees sin and its effects and seriously considers them. The doctrine of sin plays a big part of their life, yet the indescribable joy of God's kingdom engulfs them.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
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| Helloooo xanga~! Its been more than half a year ago that i've last written in here and man its so different. Took me a while to figure out where to write a new log =P But i must say, what inspired me to use xanga again was one person who's xanga logs i kept reading in my emails- Candy. =) I realized how much better xanga is than facebook. I still don't kno how to use that thing.
I have been thru alot of stuf but the main thing i wanna share up here is my growth in Christ =) I have been meaning to put up a log about the book i started reading last year called "sermon on the mount" by D.M.L Jones but i just... chose to be busy. But let us start with Matt 5. Here begins the longest and maybe the most detailed preaching that Jesus gave. He pointed out the different ways a man could live and react and think in given circumstances, including every aspect of daily life. Its not only a doctrine pointing out ways to live, it dealt with the very heart of the matter- the way that men sin and have their hearts taken away by it. What did he start with? The Beatitudes.
Now, i never realli gave much thought into the Beatitudes. After all, they're just some poetic expressions that are nice to hang on the wall. No. That is not what they are at all. They are the very descriptions of a Christian. I found that hard to believe coz in comes the first line "Blessed are the poor in spirit.." Like, what...? Shouldnt we be strong in spirit? Like, a bit more confident and all that to go out there? Then comes the next lines "Blessed are those who mourn.... blessed are the meek..." Like um... aren't we here to advance the gospel of God? Why are we s'pose to be poor in spirit & mourning? I was always turned off by that and never realli paid much attention to the beatitudes.
But let's just consider that first line of Matt 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The image of a guy that's not confident, slouched and basically a loser comes into my mind. But because the kingdom of heaven is theirs and they are blessed, that must not be the image. A few things must be pointed out. Firstly, Jesus is definitely pointing out a clear difference between a man of this world and the Christian man. You either belong in the one or the other. And there is a clear distinction between the two. Secondly, nowhere does it say that these descriptions are natural. Indeed they are the antithesis of our worldly nature. They do not come naturally to us but require a will and determination to carry out. Thirdly, it is easy to be looked down upon by others and to be treated with contempt. So let us now focus on this "poor in spirit" bit. Indeed our radars go off at the idea of someone being so not confident coz look, in society, you either express yourself or die off. No, let us not look at it thru that lens, instead, focus it into you in front of God. If u do not feel that you are entirely helpless and naked in spirit in the face of God, then it is safe to say that you have never realli faced him. To be poor in spirit is your attitude of yourself. So all those self assured, self confident, self beliefs of self. What to do wif them? Be poor in them. Now, that doesn't mean everyone should go around saying "I'm a vile sinner! I deserve to die!" or suppress their personalities and be one of them who lay themselves down across the road and get run over. No. It is to rid yourself of all prideful attitudes and admit that we are no better than anyone else, that we need God, that we are hopeless, helpless and are indeed poor in spirit.
That is what is meant by poor in spirit. It is a complete emptying one self's pride and self belief. It is the realization that we are nothing without God. However, if u look at it this way, you cannot be filled with a new self unless you empty your old self. And when you do come to this realization, then you are what our Lord calls "blessed" and that blessing carries along with it the strong promise God's heavenly kingdom. Not only do we get to be a part of it, but He states "..for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
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