Having set apart twelve of His disciples to be trained as His Apostolic representatives, we saw last time, that our Lord Jesus Christ then took them to a mountain, where He began to teach them about the nature of His Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the quality of citizenship that would make up this kingdom. And as He taught them to this end, great multitudes watched and listened along to this sermon, which, we have come to label, "The Sermon on the Mount."
Keeping in mind then, once again, that our Lord will be describing the very nature of all who are truly part of His kingdom, this morning, we move into the first portion of the message,
what we call, "the Beatitudes," which contain the famous "Blessed" statements, which describe the blessings that belong to those who truly contain and exhibit the inner qualities that are described in this list. And again, while we will be seeking to work through one beatitude each week, it is important that we remember that these beatitudes are a unit, providing a general description of the heart that must and will govern the lives of all who are truly part of the
Kingdom of Heaven.
As we have seen already, we ought to expect to find something radically different (here) than the outward, self-justifying, religious system that makes up the very essence of Pharisaical Judaism, which has sadly twisted and distorted the true design of God's Kingdom and will. Indeed, in many ways, our Lord's sermon will be organized as a direct contrast to the religion of the Pharisees. This will be most evident, even now, as we consider the very first of our Lord's Beatitudes. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." |
