Beatitudes 5:6-9 SERMON
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 10 viewsNotes
Transcript
Beatitudes 5:6-9
Beatitudes 5:6-9
READ
English Standard Version Chapter 5
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
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.
Introduction
This is really a collaboration of what Jesus has been teaching in Galilee so Mathew is basically pausing in his narrative in ch 4 where he says that Jesus went through all of Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. Mathew has picked up on one episode where Jesus went to a particular hillside and started to teach.
This can be seen as an example of the kind of teaching Jesus was doing in Galilee at that time. This is not comprehensive but sampling of the most NB key things Jesus was teaching on.
In 4:23-25 he is proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and then healing every disease, we see healing after the sermon on the mountain.
In MARK 4 we have the same summary and then Mark proceeds to talk about the healing of the leper. In Mathew we have sermon Matt 5-7 and then the healing of the leper in ch 8. (interesting!)
So Mark goes right into it, he doesn’t give u much on Jesus' teaching. Mathew kind of pauses and takes us through a kind of example of the kind of teaching that Jesus was doing. Isn’t this AMAZING that we get to actually study Jesus’ sermon! In Mark we hear that Jesus was preaching but here we get to see what Jesus was saying!
WE SAID LAST TIME THAT A
Beatitudes are not exhortations. The beatitudes describe the condition or status of Christians. We saw that Jesus is primarily speaking to his disciples. This is not a general sermon for the whole world to take and apply in whatever ways they want.
Beatitude is a Latin derived word for blessedness or blessing. It doesn’t simply mean happy.
It shows the idea of some enjoying God’s favor and peace. We can definitely be happy as the result of knowing God’s favor and peace but the emphasis is God’s favor. The blessed person is a recipient of divine grace. And so blessed speaks of people that are privileged because they have received divine favor.
We looked at verses 1-5 last time and we saw that to be “poor in spirit” is to be in a condition of spiritual poverty, to be spiritually bankrupt, to be a spiritual beggar. The Christian who is at the end of their rope and has no solution within themselves gets blessed by Jesus in that Jesus grants to them the kingdom of heaven. Jesus with His kingly authority grants His kingdom to the poor in spirit.
The poor in spirit are not blessed with regards to their current condition- of course not, they are poor in spirit. But Jesus pronounces us to be something that we are not in ourselves. We have citizenship given to you. You have received a new passport, a kingdom passport to eternal life AND he gives it to you now. He is the king and he grants it to us.
We saw that when a person begins to acknowledge that he or she is poor in spirit, that acknowledgment produces the mourning of which 5:4 speaks. As Christians we mourn over our sinful condition and over our circumstances and Jesus grants to those who mourn the promise of future comfort.
We then saw how the first two beatitudes lead to the third beatitude which is to be meek, gentle, humble. Poverty in spirit and mourning produce the gentleness of the 3rd beatitude.
To be meek is to have an accurate assessment of oneself and this view of ourselves leads us to look at the world and say, “except for the grace of God, that’s me.” To be meek is to acknowledge to others that we are sinners too. We look at the world and see other people as being the same as us. Our spiritual poverty conditions our behavior towards people. This meekness also speaks of us placing our whole lives in God’s hands and waiting patiently for Him to act rather than taking matters into our own hands.
Jesus promises us the future inheritance of a new creation.
Today we are going to consider verses 6-9 and we will cover each of these blessings one at a time.
6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed = highly favored by God, are those/the disciples
who hunger, who hunger and thirst in a way that we do when we really need to eat or drink, who desire something strongly
who desire to attain some goal, who hunger or thirst for something that they obviously lack,…IF they had it they wouldn’t hunger and thirst. (here is a lack)
WHAT ARE THEY STRONGLY DESIRING?
Righteousness,
which means that they are those who
desire intensely to do what God requires’ or to see right prevail.
THIS IS A fervent desire for God’s righteousness, or salvation (Is 51:5–8; cf 3:15).
Righteousness characterizes the whole sermon on the Mount. The word appears 7 times in Mathew. Once at Jesus baptism we see that “he has to fulfill all righteousness” and then in ch 21 his righteousness is mentioned again BUT FIVE of them occur in the sermon on the mount.
We read in Mathew 3:13-15
English Standard Version Chapter 3
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
We read in 6:33
English Standard Version Chapter 6
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
And so the theme of the sermon on the mount is righteousness.
Stott points out that there are 3 kinds of righteousness.
Legal righteousness - justification, a right relationship with God.
This is probably not in view here because Jesus is addressing those who already belong to him.
Moral righteousness is that righteousness of character and conduct which pleases God.
It would be a mistake to suppose, however that the biblical word righteousness means only a right relationship with God or a moral righteousness of character.
For biblical righteousness is more than a private and personal affair; it includes social righteousness as well.
But the important thing to remember is that this is kingdom righteousness. This is righteousness of Christ's disciples. This is flowing out of the grant of citizenship that the beatitudes convey.
this is kingdom teaching for disciples.
This is important because often this sermon is taken as generic ethics to improve the world.
These are only really beneficial for people if they follow Christ and receive the benefits of being his disciple and of his sacrifice on our behalf.
HOW do Christians get into the place of being people who hunger and thirst for righteousness?
THE ANSWER IS that all of the beatitudes are connected with one another. The beatitudes are a chain and we possess all of the beatitudes.
In v5- The status of meekness, being lowly and waiting patiently for the Lord in the midst of being treated unjustly is connected to hungering and thirsting for righteousness in that it leads to this hungering and thirsting.
Meekness is us waiting quietly and patiently and handing everything over to the Lord and over here in this beatitude we are positively hungering for righteousness.
The mourning in 5:4 naturally arises in those who have the status of poor in spirit v3.
Just, so, the status of "lowly, gentle, humble" in v5 produces a kind of longing, a hungering and thirsting for righteousness in those who know their true spiritual condition. This longing is for "righteousness"
To be "lowly" v5 is essentially to be powerless to help or save oneself.
Those who recognize that they are in that condition ("the lowly") long for God to act and to bring salvation.
Christians are committed to hunger for Biblical righteousness in the whole human community as something pleasing to a righteous God.
We are not passive but actively try to bring even a little righteousness in this world.
Martin Luther really emphasizes the fact that this hungering and thirsting is active. When we are hungry or thirsty we are active in finding something to eat or drink and in that sense Luther says:
It is painful to see how shamefully people behave, and to get no reward for pure kindness except ingratitude, contempt, hate, and persecution. For this reason, many people who could not stand the sight of such evil conduct finally despaired over it, ran away from human society into the desert, and became monks, so that the saying has repeatedly been verified: “Despair makes a man a monk.” A person may not trust himself to make his own living and run into the monastery for his belly’s sake, as the great crowd has done; otherwise a person may despair of the world and not trust himself in it, either to remain pious or to help people.
But this is not hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Anyone who tries to preach or rule in such a way that he lets himself become tired and impatient and be chased into a corner will not be of much help to other people. The command to you is not to crawl into a corner or into the desert, but to run out, if that is where you have been, and to offer your hands and your feet and your whole body, and to wager everything you have and can do. You should be the kind of man who is firm in the face of firmness, who will not let himself be frightened off or dumbfounded or overcome by the world’s ingratitude or malice, who will always hold on and push with all the might he can summon. In short, the ministry requires a hunger and thirst for righteousness that can never be curbed or stopped or sated, one that looks for nothing and cares for nothing except the accomplishment and maintenance of the right, despising everything that hinders this end. If you cannot make the world completely pious, then do what you can. It is enough that you have done your duty and have helped a few, even if there be only one or two.
The counterfeit saints are exactly the opposite. Because of their great sanctity they forsake the world and run into the desert, or they sneak away into a corner somewhere, to escape the trouble and worry that they would otherwise have to bear. They do not want to pay attention to what is going on in the world. Never once do they think of the fact that they should help or advise other people with teaching, instruction, warning, reproof, correction, or at least with prayers and sighs to God. Yes, it even disgusts and grieves them when other people become pious; for they want to be thought of as the only ones who are holy so that anyone who wants to get to heaven has to buy their good works and merits from them. In brief, they are so full of righteousness that they look down their noses at other poor sinners. Just so in Luke 18:11 the great St. Pharisee in his intoxication looks down at the poor publican and spits on him. He is so much in love with himself that he pays court to God and thanks Him that he alone is pious and other people are bad.
RT FRANCE -Righteousness is thus better understood here not of those who wish to see God's will prevail in the world in general or on their own behalf in particular, but of those who are eager themselves to live as God's creatures, those who can say, as Jesus himself says in John 4:34...my food is to do the will of my Father.
Ridderbos= this hungering and thirsting for righteousness is not a striving for personal moral perfection nor is it a longing for the righteousness or justice for which Romans 3:25-26 speaks. RATHER it is a yearning for the righteousness that God will uphold as King when he puts an end to all unjust power and lies and does justice to the oppressed. The word righteousness thus has the general sense of deliverance or rescue, they are not striving for this righteousness but are longing for that righteous intervention that only God can bring. (I think this is more than a passive longing. We know that only God can bring it but we don’t only sit and do nothing. We are a fishing boat not a cruise liner).
And so some say we are only longing for it and not striving for it and others say we are to be active. I would say that we do need to be active but even when are are actively going after righteousness we won’t ever full obtain it and so the blessing here is in the future.
There is a larger context here of God bringing into the world a righteous kingdom that keeps being spoiled by human disobedience.
The ultimate goal of God's kingdom is that God wants righteousness in all the earth. Perfect righteousness. He wants the world, especially his image bearers to reflect his righteousness.
And so we longing for things to be done as they are supposed to be done. For the righteousness of God to be manifested in the world.
There is a sense here that as much as we hunger and thirst for this righteousness ONLY GOD CAN BRING IT. We are active as Christians but only God can bring this righteousness about.
The blessing is that we shall be satisfied = Jesus the king grants this future satisfaction
this speaks of eating or drinking one's fill of food. You are going to the righteousness buffet and you will experience complete inward satisfaction.
Jesus promises that those who "are hungering and thirsting for righteousness" will on the Last Day find themselves satisfied 5:6; everything you have longed for will have come in abundant fullness.
Your hunger and thirst will be fully satisfied: this is a graphic word used also for fattening animals, it implies being well filled; colloquially of being "stuffed."
One day we will be satisfied by seeing God’s righteousness fully realized everywhere. Everything will be done the right way!
Jesus blesses those who are looking for God to come with righteous deeds of salvation. The blessing and righteousness are already present, for Jesus is already present. Once again, however, it is the promise of God's future, complete, and final saving deeds of righteousness that provides the comfort and context for those who in this life continue to hunger and thirst for such righteousness.
Jesus’ blessing is for “the poor in spirit” those “who are mourning” over their own sin and the evil they suffer, “the lowly” who “are hungering and thirsting” for God to act.
Yet in this life our hunger will never be fully satisfied, nor our thirst be fully quenched. True, we receive the satisfaction that the beatitude promises but our hunger is satisfied only to break out again.
Not until we reach heaven will we hunger no more, and neither thirst any more, for only then will all be fulfilled by Jesus.
Also, God has promised a day of judgement, in which right will triumph and wrong be overthrown, and after which there will be 'new heavens and earth in which righteousness dwells.' For this final vindication of the right we also long, and we shall not be disappointed.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Hebrews 2:17.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Jesus is referring to an eschatological truth. There are people who show by their habitual merciful deeds that they have responded to God's love and are living by His mercy. They have received mercy and they will also on the last day.
Obviously, we already received mercy before we ever began to show mercy. The mercy that we display in our lives comes out of the mercy that we received.
We need to read this beatitude in light of the other beatitudes. When did we receive mercy? we as the poor in spirit had the kingdom of heaven granted to us!
All we were on our part was poor in spirit, spiritual beggars and despite our condition, even though we were done within ourselves Jesus pronounced blessings on us and it is God's mercy towards us that always makes us merciful.
RT FRANCE- MERCY = mercy sets aside societies assumption that it is honorable to demand revenge. This mercy is so different to what we see in the whole unforgiving cancel culture. The only one who has the power and right to cancel people is God for He is without sin.
Based on the mercy we have received, Christians have hearts filled with deep sympathy and sincere compassion for the temporal and spiritual need of their neighbors,
We are concerned for, and we really want to do good to, all men, especially such as are of the household of faith…this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
NB: In vs 7 however Jesus says, "The merciful are blessed" because they will be shown mercy." Is this not an exhortation? Be merciful so that you will be shown mercy? Gibbs argues that that is NOT the force of 5:7.
Rather, the adjective "merciful" describes Jesus' disciples - all of them.
It speaks of the transforming power of discipleship and of Jesus' call to faith.
Jesus Himself is mercy incarnate, perfect mercy. One simply cannot become his disciple without also beginning to exhibit mercy in a new way.
Mercy means that when we walk around we will be greatly concerned about people in need, we will have compassion/mercy/pity on people. We first and foremost want all people to know the gospel of Jesus Christ and to know God’s mercy through Christ.
Stott says that “It is ‘the meek’ who are also ‘the merciful’. For to be meek is to acknowledge to others that we are sinners; to be merciful is to have compassion on others, for they are sinners too” (Stott, p. 48, emphasis his).
Mercy is compassion for people in need. Lenski helpfully distinguishes it from 'grace': The noun for mercy always deals with what we see of pain, misery and distress, the results of sin; and grace always deals with the sin and guilt itself.
The one extends relief, the other pardon; the one cures, heals, helps, the other cleanses and reinstates.
There will be many times throughout our lives that we are not merciful people BUT the overall bend of our lives is that we are a merciful people because we have received such great mercy.
Mercy DOES emerge after mercy has entered in. v7 describes ALL who are Jesus' disciples; it reminds us of our identity and promises us final blessing and merciful forgiveness at the judgment. It is still a gospel statement, not an exhortation or a command. The force is this:
"Those who are mine, and who therefore have begun to be merciful, are eschatologically blessed, for on the Last Day they will receive my mercy in all its fullness."
A disciple who truly appreciates God’s blessings will be a merciful person and we have guaranteed mercy on the last day (cf 18:33). See p 1903.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The sense of pure here is to be guiltless, to be free of guilt and sin.
To be free from moral guilt.
And when we read “in heart” this is the center of the whole inner life, thinking feeling, volition, of moral decisions, the moral life, of vices and virtues.
Heart is the causative source of your pscycological life in its various aspects but with special emphasis on thoughts, 'heart, inner self, mind.'
GIBBS
THE POOR IN HEART ARE BLESSED
This exact phrase only occurs here and in Ps 24:4
English Standard Version Psalm 24
The King of Glory
24 A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
DO A QUICK STUDY OF THE PSALM
In the Pastoral Epistles, Paul twice speaks of believers having a "pure heart" which produces love for others 1 Tim 1:5 and a sincere dependence upon the true God 2 Tim 2:22.
In Ps 51:12 David prays that God would create in him a "pure heart" after he has confessed his great sin of adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah; here the phrase means " a heart that has been purified" by God's forgiveness. The result of this gift from God will be the proclamation of God's ways to transgressors and sinners Ps 51:15.
In summary, the phrase "in/with a pure heart" can refer to an innocent motive Gen 20:5-6, to one's standing before God as forgiven sinner Ps 51:12, 10, or more holistically to one who is in a right standing with God and therefore engaged in love for God and others 1 Tim 1:5; 2 Tim 2:22.
Commentators variously describe the force of "pure in heart" in the 6th Beatitude 5:8. Problematically, there seem to be few guiding data that determine how the phrase is understood.
MOST seem to agree that LXX Ps 23 is a helpful backdrop, and so it seems reasonable to allow the meaning of "pure in heart" there to guide the way we understand Mt 5:8.
vs 3 asks who will go up to the Lord's mountain, and who will stand in his holy place? referring to worship at the temple on Mt Zion.
Vs 4 provides the answer to the question.
The one innocent in hands and the one pure in heart who did not take his soul to a vain thing and did not swear on a deceitful thing to his neighbor.
The Psalm continues in vs 5-6 according to the LXX
"This one will receive blessing from the Lord
and mercy from God, his Savior
this is the generation of those who are seeking him,
of those who are seeking the face of the God of Jacob.
That is to say, someone who is "pure in heart" is defined by the two relative clauses as someone "who did not take his soul to a vain thing and did not swear on a deceitful thing to his neighbor."
Gibbs then compare the MT and the LXX on these verses
see page 249.
MT = the worshipper who is able to ascend to worship at Zion is precisely he who has not worshiped another god nor has engaed in syncretistic practices. Rather, he only worships and acknowledges the God of Israel and seeks blessing and mercy from him alone.
Both the LXX and MT then teach that the person who is innocent in hands and "pure in heart" - who is able to ascend Mt Zion and worship YHWH there - is precisely the person who has been taught that there is only one God to worship and only one Lord by whom a person is to swear.
People who approach with this purity of heart may go up to Zion and expect to receive blessing and mercy from the Lord. That is why, after all, ppl go up to Zion in the first place: they go up in need, confessing their sins and acknowledging that their help is in YHWH Israel's God and in him alone see Ps 121; 123; 130.
IF this is the meaning of "pure in heart" in Ps 24(LXX Ps 23) should it be used as guide for understanding Mt 5:8?
There are 4 reasons, indeed to let the teaching of Ps 24 thus guide our understanding of Jesus' words.
1- the 2 texts share the phrase common to them alone, "pure in heart."
2. 2nd they both involve contexts of ppl going up on mountains.
3. "mercy" is close at hand in the context of both - as a gift received in both LXX Ps 23:5 and MT 24:5 and in Matt 5:8.
4. Both Ps 24:6 and Mt 5:8 evoke the promise of seeing God. The Psalm envisions God's presence in the Jerusalem temple, to which the worshiper ascends. The Beatitude envisions the final, full benefit of face to face communion with God in the glory of the age's consummation in the new Jerusalem, where God's servants "shall see his face" Rev 22:4.
IF this theology of the psalm is allowed to guide the interpretation of Matt 5:8 the following emerges:
Jesus speaks Good News to those who know what it means to seek the true and living God, and to go up on his mountain to worship. He blesses, in the present time and for the Last Day, those to whom God has thus revealed himself.
Moreover, we can even be more precise in the context of this Gospel in general and of the Beatitudes in particular, where "the Lord 3:3 is speaking authoritative blessing from his seat on the mountain 5:1.
The "pure in heart" v8 are those who believe that the God of Israel can be found in this Jesus, who is "Immanuel," "God with us" 1:3. They are "pure in heart" because Jesus has called them 4:18-22, because the realities of the reign of heaven in Jesus are being revealed to them. They are not pure in heart because they understand everything. Nevertheless they have begun to repent and believe 4:17; they have been given pure hearts Ps 51:12; 51:10; LXX 50:12.
Moreover we can posit an NB connection between the 5th Beatitude 5:7 and the 6th 5:8. Those who have received mercy (Ps 23:5 lxx; MT 24:5) through Jesus and thus have become themselves "the merciful" 5:7 are such because they have been given pure hearts to know the face of the God of Israel in Jesus Christ.
As disciples they have come to Jesus, "seeking the face of the God of Jacob". Jesus promises that on the "last day they will see God."
vs 8- The Pure in Heart
It is immediately obvious that the words 'in heart' shows the kind of purity Jesus means. Just like poor 'in spirit' showed the kind of poverty he meant.
The popular interpretation is to regard purity of heart as an expression for inward purity, for the quality of those who have been cleansed from moral defilement.
We certainly see this in the Psalms- Ps 24:3,4; 51:6, 10.
Luthers emphasis on the inward and moral, whether contrasted with the outward and ceremonial or the outward and physical, is certainly consistent with the whole sermon which requires heart righteousness rather than mere rule righteousness.
NEVERTHELESS- in the context of the other beatitudes, 'purity of heart' seems to refer in some sense to our relationships.
Professor Tasker defines the 'pure in heart' as 'the single minded, who are free from the tyranny of a divided self. In this case the pure in heart is the single heart and prepares the way for the 'single eye' which Jesus mentions in the next chapter. 6:22. (this is Gibb's interpretation.)
In the same light as Gibb's interpretation Stott says
The primary reference is to sincerity. In Ps 24- the person with clean hands and a pure heart is one 'who does not lift his soul to what is false (an idol), and does not swear deceitfully vs 4.
That is in his relations with God and man he is free from falsehood. So the pure in heart are utterly sincere.
Their whole life, public and private is transparent before God and men.
Rowan: this makes sense because we admit our bankrupcy before God and we admit before people that we are sinners.
Hypocrisy is abhorrent to us.
Yet how few of us live one life and live it in the open. hmm. We are tempted to wear a different mask and play a different role according to the occasion.
That is not reality but acting and it is the essence of hypocrisy.
ALONE among men Jesus was absolutely pure in heart, being entirely guileless.
Only the pure in heart will see God, we see him now with the eye of faith and see his glory in the hereafter, for only the utterly sincere can bear the dazzling vision in whose light all shams are burned up.
Rowan: to put this in poker terms you have a royal flush in Jesus Christ and so go all in! Why hold back.
PURE IN HEART= this is more than just good motives, at the deepest level that is something that God does require but he provides it in the gospel. He gives a new heart.
The heart is incurably wicked above all things and who can know it.
It is very hard for a proud person to embrace the gospel coz it is an answer to a question that you dont have. This is the sort of place that you have to be brought to.
Not the kind of characteristic that you have in your personality and trying to increase. You have to be brought to the end of your rope so that you are totally crushed in spirit, you have no hope, you are not lifting up your eyes like the pharisee in the parable saying , thank you that I am not like this sinner.
SHALL SEE GOD
Rowan: summarize the beatific vision
Rowan: Now we are a hearing people. See chapter 1 of Luther's theology of the cross. It talks about not speculating etc. We don't see fully now but one day we will see face to face.
They shall see God= Because God is a spirit, His divine essence is invisible Col 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17; 6:16. Nevertheless, believers will "see" God through the insight of faith, and Jesus assured His disciples that in seeing Him they had "seen the father" John 14:9. In the glorified state, God's children will "see him as he is" 1 John 3:2.
Lenski- Pure in Heart = the greatest joy of heaven will be the vision of God. 1 John 3:2,3.
We need not think of looking into the unfathomable essence of God; for as God's presence delights the angel hosts and fills them with ineffable blessedness, so his presence will be made manifest to the pure in heart.
shall see: sense: to see- to perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight.
BDAG: to see = to perceive by the eye, catch sight of, notice.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
peacemakers = sense: a mediator who tries to bring about harmonious relations (between two opposing parties).
BDAG: to endeavor to reconcile persons who have disagreements, making peace.
Louw & Nida - a person who restores peace between people - 'peacemaker, one who works for peace, 'happy are those who work for peace among people.' Though in 6:9 the cessation of war is no means excluded,
NB:the focus of meaning of peace here is reconciliation between persons and not primarily to cause wars to cease.
SHALL BE CALLED = sense: to be or become designated with a quality or the name of a common noun that reflects a quality.
BDAG: to identify by name or attribute, call, call by name, name.
Very often the emphasis is to be placed less on the fact that names are such and such, than on the fact that the bearers of the name actually are what the name says about them.
sons = sense: child.
BDAG- of one who identity is defined in terms of a relationship with a person or thing.
peacemakers - spiritual peace, not the cessation of physical violence between nations, is in view.
Although the term is used to help others find peace with God, this peace can also be understood as those who have made their own peace with God and are called his children.The principle is extended in vs 44,45 - the children of God make peace, even with their enemies.
v9 - peacemakers - those who promote God's messianic peace (total well being both personally and communally) will receive the ultimate reward of being called sons of God see Gal 3:26 as they reflect the character of their heavenly Father.
5:9 peacemakers.Jesus would send out His disciples to bring peace to those who were worthy (10:13). called sons of God. The Son of God is named the Prince of Peace (Is 9:6). Those who trust in Him are blessed by being God’s sons and daughters (Gal 3:26–28).
A third positive Christian virtue, reflecting the perfection of Christ Himself: V. 9. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God. The disciples of Jesus are children of peace: they not merely have peace in their own souls through purity, they are not merely peace-loving, but they are active, strenuous promoters of peace in the midst of a world torn asunder by hatred, party interest, and every form of alienation, Rom. 12, 18; Ps. 34, 15; Mark 9, 50; 2 Tim. 2. 22; Heb. 12, 14, In using their best offices in the interest of assuaging passions, of settling sectional strife, they prove themselves true children of God, who has only thoughts of peace toward all men. This is their reward of grace: God is their Father, Christ is their Brother, heaven is their heritage, their home, 1 Pet. 3, 10. 11; Is. 57, 2.
Lenski- PEACEMAKERS = This is not unionistic peacemakers who combine contrary doctrines by agreeing to disagree. Truth of God comes first, peace with men 2nd. Friends are dear, the Word of our greatest Friend dearest. No 'blessed' was spoken by Jesus upon the disrupters of the church who insist on their false views...
He who sent his Son to make peace between God and man will acknowledge as his sons those who in the spirit of his Son also make peace.
v9- It is a characteristic of God's true ppl to seek peace and pursue it. Ps 34:14.
This beatitude goes beyonf a merely peaceful disposition to an active attempt to "make" peace, perhaps by seeking reconciliation with one's own enemies, but also more generally by bringing together those who are estranged from one another.
Such costly peacemaking which involves overcoming the natural desire for advantage and/or retribution, will be illustrated in the extraordinary demands of 5:39-42 which overturn the natural human principle of the lex talionis.
In 10:34 we are reminded that not all conflict should be avoided in these verses the issue is faithfulness to God's cause in the face of opposition.
France mentions that the discourse 'recognizes war, persecution and injustice as part of the evil world...peacemaking is a means of involvement in the human predicament of warlike conditions which implies assuming responsibility against all the odds, risking peacemaking out of a situation of powerlessness and demonstrating the conviction that in the end God's kingdom will prevail.
Peacemakers will be called "God's children" - the passive probably implies that God himself will recognize them as his true children on teh basis that God's children reflect God's character 5:44-45 and God is the ultimate peacemaker.
France notes that the semitic idiom "sons of..." often indicates those who share a certain character or status see Matt 8:12, 'sons of the kingdom' 9:15 'sons of the wedding hall' 13:38 'sons of the evil one 23:31 ' sons of those who killed the prophets.'
Here in vs 9 and in 5:45 "sons of God" similarly expresses the idea of sharing God's character, but a more relational sense is probably also implied since, while Mathew generally reserves "son of God" language for Jesus and does not elsewhere reflect the Pauline language of "becoming sons of God" as a term for salvation eg: Rom 8:14-17, he will frequently record Jesus as speaking to his disciples of "your Father in heaven" 5:16, 45, 48, etc).
God is the supreme peacemaker Eph 2:14-18; Col 1:20) and this quality marks disciples out as his sons, for the son shares the characteristics of the father.
GIBBS
THE PEACEMAKERS ARE BLESSED 5:9
In this Beatitude Jesus continues to bless them. "The peacemakers are blessed because they will be called sons of God v9.
Closest we have is James 3:18 where the context indicates that the peacemaking is occuring within the Christian assembly.
The language of peace is not absent from the rest of Mathew's gospel. It occurs in ch 10 in some striking ways that match up remarkably well with 5;9 if, as I have argued for the first 6 Beatitudes, Jesus' blessings come in pairs.
IF reading vs9-10 together they provide a remarkable parallel to the only other use of "peace" language in the 1st gospel: the "peace" language in the Missionary Discourse of ch 10.
See Gibb's description of the parable on pg 252.
I would propose that in the first place, the phrase "the peacemakers" in 5:9 refers to Jesus' disciples as they bring the message of the reign of heaven in Jesus into the world.
Not all of them will bring the Gospel in the same ways, for 12 of his disciples will be chosen to be unique apostles 10:1-4, while others will be missionaries, evangelists, or pastors, and still others will be disciples of Jesus in their ordinary vocations in life.
Christ's church has many different callings and offices. All, however, in their own way have the same calling to be salt and light for the world see later verses.
The peacemaking should not be limited to Pastors. Jesus' disciples will be active as peacemakers in any number of ways. As James 3:!8 shows, even after disciples are made, there is opportunity for peace to come again into their midst.
Further, in their worldly and godly callings Jesus' disciples will have opportunity to work for the restoration of wholeness in many ways.
Firstly, and primarily, however, blessed are the peacemakers whom God uses to bring the message of the reign of heaven, so that others may have the peace that Jesus brings. At the fulfillment of all things, Jesus' peacemaking disciples will be called the "sons of God v9.
CARSON
9 Jesus’ concern in this beatitude is not with the peaceful but with the peacemakers. Peace is of constant concern in both testaments (e.g., Prov 15:1; Isa 52:7; Luke 24:36; Rom 10:15; 12:18; 1 Cor 7:15; Eph 2:11–22; Heb 12:14; 1 Peter 3:11). But as some of these and other passages show, the making of peace can itself have messianic overtones. The Promised Son is called the “Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6–7); and Isaiah 52:7—“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ ”—linking as it does peace, salvation, and God’s reign, was interpreted messianically in the Judaism of Jesus’ day.
Jesus does not limit the peacemaking to only one kind, and neither will his disciples. In the light of the gospel, Jesus himself is the supreme peacemaker, making peace between God and man, and man and man. Our peacemaking will include the promulgation of that gospel. It must also extend to seeking all kinds of reconciliation. Instead of delighting in division, bitterness, strife, or some petty “divide-and-conquer” mentality, disciples of Jesus delight to make peace wherever possible. Making peace is not appeasement: the true model is God’s costly peacemaking (Eph 2:15–17; Col 1:20). Those who undertake this work are acknowledged as God’s sons. In the OT, Israel has the title sons (Deut 14:1; Hos 1:10; cf. Pss Sol 17:30; Wisdom 2:13–18). Now it belongs to the heirs of the kingdom who, meek and poor in spirit, loving righteousness yet merciful, are especially equipped for peacemaking and so reflect something of their heavenly Father’s character. “There is no more godlike work to be done in this world than peacemaking” (Broadus). This beatitude must have been shocking to Zealots when Jesus preached it, when political passions were inflamed (Morison).
vs 9 PEACEMAKERS - Stott
The sequence of thought from purity of heart to peacemaking is natural, because one of the most frequent causes of conflict is intrique, while openness and sincerity are essential to all true reconciliation.
Every Christian is a peacemaker both in the community and in the church.
True, Jesus did say Mat 10:34-36.
But by this he meant that conflict would be an inevitable result of his coming, even in one's own family, and that, if we are to be worthy of him, we must love him best and put him first, above even our nearest and dearest relatives.
NB: It is clear though that we should never seek ourselves conflict or be responsible for it. On the contrary, we are called to peace with all men, and so far as depends on us, we are to 'live peaceably with all.' 1 Cor 7:15; 1 Pet 3:11. Heb 12:14; Rom 12:18.
Now peacemaking is a divine work for peace means reconciliation, and God is the author of peace and reconciliation.
Indeed the very same verb which is used in this beatitude of us is applied by Paul to what God has done through Christ. Col 1:20 and Eph 2:15 - create in himself one new man in place of the 2, so making peace.
It is hardly surprising then that the particular blessing pronounced is that 'they shall be called sons of God."
We are like our Lord.
Peace and appeasement are not the same.
For the peace of God is not peace at any price.
He made peace with us at immense cost, even at the price of the life-blood of his only Son.
Many examples could be given of peace through pain. When we ourselves are involved in a quarrel, there will be either the pain of saying sorry to the person we hurt or the pain of rebuking the person that hurt us.
Sometimes there is the nagging pain of refusing to forgive the guilty party until they repent. Of course a cheap peace and true forgiveness are costly treasures. God forgives us only when we repent. Jesus told us to do the same: "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.' How can we forgive an injury when it is neither admitted nor regretted?
Rowan: but what about 70 times 7? study more but maybe it is that we say, I am willing to forgive you and reconcile if you apologize. Maybe 70 times 7 = willing to forgive if the person says sorry?
Other Examples of peacemaking are the work of reunion and the work of evangelism, that is, seeking on the one hand to unite churches and on the other to bring sinners to Christ.
The visible entity of the church is a proper Christian quest, but only if unity is not sought at the expense of doctrine. Jesus prayed for the oneness of his people. He also prayed that they might be kept from evil and in truth.
We have no mandate from Christ to seek unity without purity, purity of both doctrine and conduct.
Peacemaker - if we know the OT ...well what is God's way of peace? God is pronouncing in Christ the shalom, his word of peace on his people. The gospel.
In 2 Cor 5Paul speaks of the ministry of reconciliation. And that ministry of reconcilitation is given to Paul to reconcile sinners to God through Jesus by the proclamation of the gospel. We are his ambassadors, God making his appeal through us, be reconciled to God.
That is not to say that peacemakers does not have any horizontal dimension to it where instead of being quarelsome we are to settle quarells. Be salt and light as we will see later.
But this is not the primary meaning.
These are not moral lessons primarily. And it is the pietists who read it that way.
Pure in heart - in Jeremiah- a delusion can be that maybe I am not all I am meant to be but my heart is pure, my heart is in the right place.
Or meek, "well, sometimes I am meek." That isnt what the text is for.
Not the kind of characteristic that you have in your personality and trying to increase. You have to be brought to the end of your rope so that you are totally crushed in spirit, you have no hope, you are not lifting up your eyes like the pharisee in the parable saying , thank you that I am not like this sinner.
There is a horizontal dimension- blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy= the same person who is crushed doesnt want the person on the bus sitting next to them to go to hell either.
There is a kind of solidarity here with the other poor. He who is given much loves much.
Whereas the religious leaders were going around breaking off candles and breaking off reeds. They want to weed God's garden, they want it to be a pure and clean garden thinking that they are among the most lovely flowers in the garden. That is all out Jesus is saying.
Ps 51- David is seeking a purified heart but he says in sin my mother conceived me.
You are right when you judge me but cleanse me.
We see ourselves as under the law, broken, bankrupt...they are honest with God whereas the religious leaders are total hyprocrites.
Paul in Rom 7Paul is a Christian. Actually prior to his conversion in Phil 3Paul thought he was perfect concerning the law. Now being brought low, being made pure in spirit he is able to see that even the good that he would do is what he doesnt do and the evil that he doesnt do he finds himself doing.
This is who they are- they are peacemakers. This doesnt mean that they are always at peace of course otherwise you dont need all the commands in the epistles and all of the exhortations and the rebukes.
Rod: but it is closer to I have peacemakered you in the gospel. This is who you are.
It is wrapped up first in the gospel of peace as Paul calls it in Ephesians, we are peacemakers. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, that is Gods pronouncement and proclamation of the gospel. And there is a horizontal dimension, there is a sense in which those who proclaim and pronounce the gospel with peace, they do seek on a secondary level, they do seek to be peaceful individuals.
We have been justified freely by the blood of Christ and somehow it spills over and actually we can see a piece of it as Christians operate horizontally.
Not perfection but it is nice to see some of it.
Even though this sermon is FOR the ppl of God NOT for world governments and so forth, it is for the ppl of God and it includes not just their public gathering on the Lord's day for word and sacrament but it also involves their being scattered out there in the world.
It does involve our activity in the world it is just not that activity in the world turning the kingdoms of the world into the kingdom of Christ.
they will be called sons of God= not that they will be "be called" it is that they will BE the children of God. This is what they are. He is describing them.
Yes, all of this is moral, there are moral characteristics involved here but the important thing is that first of all it is based on the gospel.
the 2nd thing is that even these moral characteristics are a part of the new heart that he gives because of forgiveness and justification and thirdly that it is a reflection of the Father's generosity, the Fathers benevolence and they are the moon not the sun, they are reflecting his generosity. Rather than attaining a status of "children of God."They will be called the children of God, they will be peacemakers. (we ARE these things and do them coz it is who we are)
They will be merciful coz I have shown mercy on them. I have given them peace.
Luther- active out in the world with our neighbor but passive totally not just in justification but in regeneration and in receiving the benefits of our union with Christ even in sanctification. Our activities in sanctification isnt just towards God our activity in sanctification is towards the world/neighbor.
The promise comes before the command- the indicative preceding the imperative, it is as good news as you can get. Think of the guy who walked very far to get there, he will say, "what?! what did he just say??"