Reading With the People of God #11 Blessed预览

Focus of the month: (The Beatitudes)

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 satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive 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 others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

- Matthew 5:3-12

Jesus teaches about the Law

In today’s walk through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is teaching his disciples about the relationship between keeping the Law and a righteous standing before a holy God. In these two verses, He is particularly pointed when discussing obedience to the whole Law as a pathway to righteousness as the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law held. Here, Jesus clarifies what utter compliance with every nuance of the Law requires;

“So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:19 NLT).

Jesus was framing this teaching in a way that his disciples and the attending Pharisees would be utterly shocked at. The Pharisees spent their entire earthly lives striving for high office in service to the Temple and were confident they were going to serve in high office in the coming Kingdom. To hear that their adherence to the Law of Moses would not bring them elevated status with God in his Kingdom was shattering. The people understood quite well, as they have witnessed the occasional moral failure and departures from the Law of the Pharisees and religious leaders regularly. The shocking part for the people was Jesus was speaking a long-held truth in a public sermon.

Our OT reference verse today is in 1 Kings, where God gave a message directly to Solomon (we’re not told exactly how), repeating the provisions of the covenant He made with Solomon’s father, David. Scholars and commentaries mention the odd placement of this reiteration. At this time, during the days of Solomon, he was a world-renowned intellect, incredibly handsome, a designer/builder of civilizations, a songwriter, and a fountain of wisdom. In today’s text, the writer mentions the utter splendor and majesty of the construction details that Solomon used to build God’s residence. It is thought the text of the covenant is placed here as Solomon began to stray from the Law and married foreign women and began to follow the practices of their gods. The connection here is that even the wisest and most accomplished of us will eventually stumble on even the tiniest point of the holy standard. We all need Jesus as the perfect Lamb to wash us white as snow.

* Devotional primer contributed by Matt Harry, Elder Emeritus, Cornerstone Community Church