The Hands and Feet of Jesus

Matthew 5: 6-

“The Great Sermon from the Great King”

Part 3

I. Introduction

A. Opening Illustration

1. Jesus began His sermon with the Beatitudes, I think largely for SHOCK value.

a) When He said these thing, it was like Janet Jackson … at the super bowl.

b) These twelve or so beatitudes were so contrary to what the natural Jewish mindset was of that day.

2. The content presented in this “Great Sermon by the Great King,” remain today to be contrary to our natural way of thinking.

a) Reflection from last night – people struggling – people praying, etc.

b) At some point this crosses over from fun companionship to hard work but that is what life is all about.

3. I think this is the value of a new book I have just completed, QBQ: The Question Behind the Question, by John G. Miller. –

a) Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

b) We often ask incorrect questions. Questions which remove the responsibility away from ourselves or contain no action, etc.

c) One of the guiding principles of the QBQ is, “The answers are in the questions,” which speaks to the same truth: If we ask a better question, we get a better answer. So the QBQ is about asking better questions. But how can we tell a good question from a bad one? What does a “better” question look like?

(1) Begin with “What” or “How” (not “Why,” “When” or “Who”)

(2) Contain an “I” (not “they,” “them,” “we” or “you”)

(3) Focus on action

4. Jesus often asked questions when He was trying to make a point. (who among you is perfect? He can cast the first stone).

B. Review of Material

C. Pick up the missed points from last week: Happy are the Meek (5:5)

1. Like the first two beatitudes, this one must have been shocking and perplexing to Jesus’ hearers. He taught principles that were totally foreign to their thinking.

2. Jesus’ audience knew how to act spiritually proud and spiritually self-sufficient – because they were the chosen of God.

3. They eagerly anticipated that the Messiah would deal gently with them and harshly with their oppressors, who for nearly a hundred years had been Romans.

a) The Jews so despised Roman oppression that sometimes they even refused to admit it existed.

b) One day as He taught on the Mount of Olives, Jesus had one of His strongest exchanges with the Pharisees. When He said, “to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,’” the Pharisees’ response was strange.

c) “We are Abraham’s offspring,” they said, “and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You shall become free?’” (Jn. 8: 31-33)

d) The fact was, of course, that Israel’s history was one of repeated conquest and oppression – by Egypt, Assyria, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks, and at that very time, Rome.

e) Apparently pride would not allow those Pharisees to acknowledge one of the most obvious facts of their nation’s history and of their present situation.

4. Pride kept many of the Jews of that day blind to the Messiah.

a) They had an idea (paradigm) in their mind of who the Messiah would be and what he would do so that they rejected the True Messiah.

b) Spiritual pride can be seen among many Christians today.

(1) Calvinist / Arminian debate

(2) Eschatology

(3) “That is not how my god operates.”

(4) Pastors often develop a “my way or no way,” mentality.

5. The meaning of Meekness

a) Gentle is from praos, which basically means mild or soft.

b) The essential difference between being poor in spirit and being meek, or gentle, may be that poverty in spirit focuses on our sinfulness, whereas meekness focuses on God’s holiness. The basic attitude of humility underlies both virtues.

c) We again can see logical sequence and progression in the Beatitudes.

(1) Poverty of spirit (the first) is negative, and results in mourning (the second).

(2) Meekness (the third) is positive, and results in seeking righteousness (the fourth).

(3) Being poor in spirit causes us to turn away from ourselves in mourning, and meekness causes us to turn toward God in seeking His righteousness.

d) The blessings of the Beatitudes are for those who are realistic about their sinfulness, who are repentant of their sins, and who are responsive to God in His righteousness.

e) Those who are unblessed, unhappy, and shut out of the kingdom are the proud, the arrogant, the unrepentant – the self-sufficient and self-righteous who see in themselves no unworthiness and feel no need for God’s help and God’s righteousness.

f) Meekness does not connote weakness.

(1) The word was used in much extrabiblical literature to refer to the breaking of an animal.

(2) Meekness means power put under control. Meekness uses it resources responsibly.

g) Meekness is not cowardice or emotional flabbiness.

(1) It is not the lack of conviction or mere human niceness.

(2) But it is courage, its strength, its conviction, and its pleasantness come from God, not from self.

(3) The spirit of meekness is the spirit of Christ, who defended the glory of His Father, but gave Himself in sacrifice for others.

(4) Leaving an example for us to follow, He “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2: 21-23).

6. The Manifestation of Meekness

a) Perhaps, the best way to describe meekness is to illustrate it, to see it in action.

(1) Joseph was abused by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery.

(2) When by God’s gracious plan, he came to be second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, he was in a position to take severe vengeance on his brothers.

b) You can demonstrate meekness by having a spirit of love and understanding when someone offends you.

Series: The Hands and Feet of Jesus

I. Introduction

A. Opening Illustration

1. Jesus began His sermon with the Beatitudes, I think largely for SHOCK value.

a) When He said these thing, it was like Janet Jackson … at the super bowl.

b) These twelve or so beatitudes were so contrary to what the natural Jewish mindset was of that day.

2. The content presented in this “Great Sermon by the Great King,” remain today to be contrary to our natural way of thinking.

a) Reflection from last night – people struggling – people praying, etc.

b) At some point this crosses over from fun companionship to hard work but that is what life is all about.

3. I think this is the value of a new book I have just completed, QBQ: The Question Behind the Question, by John G. Miller. –

a) Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

b) We often ask incorrect questions. Questions which remove the responsibility away from ourselves or contain no action, etc.

(1) Begin with “What” or “How” (not “Why,” “When” or “Who”)

(2) Contain an “I” (not “they,” “them,” “we” or “you”)

(3) Focus on action

4. Jesus often asked questions when He was trying to make a point. (who among you is perfect? He can cast the first stone).

B. Review of Material

C. Pick up the missed points from last week: Happy are the Meek (5:5)

1. Like the first two beatitudes, this one must have been shocking and perplexing to Jesus’ hearers. He taught principles that were totally foreign to their thinking.

2. Jesus’ audience knew how to act spiritually proud and spiritually self-sufficient – because they were the chosen of God.

3. They eagerly anticipated that the Messiah would deal gently with them and harshly with their oppressors, who for nearly a hundred years had been Romans.

a) The Jews so despised Roman oppression that sometimes they even refused to admit it existed.

c) “We are Abraham’s offspring,” they said, “and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You shall become free?’” (Jn. 8: 31-33)

d) The fact was, of course, that Israel’s history was one of repeated conquest and oppression – by Egypt, Assyria, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks, and at that very time, Rome.

e) Apparently pride would not allow those Pharisees to acknowledge one of the most obvious facts of their nation’s history and of their present situation.

4. Pride kept many of the Jews of that day blind to the Messiah.

a) They had an idea (paradigm) in their mind of who the Messiah would be and what he would do so that they rejected the True Messiah.

b) Spiritual pride can be seen among many Christians today.

(1) Calvinist / Arminian debate

(2) Eschatology

(3) “That is not how my god operates.”

(4) Pastors often develop a “my way or no way,” mentality.

5. The meaning of Meekness

a) Gentle is from praos, which basically means mild or soft.

b) The essential difference between being poor in spirit and being meek, or gentle, may be that poverty in spirit focuses on our sinfulness, whereas meekness focuses on God’s holiness. The basic attitude of humility underlies both virtues.

c) We again can see logical sequence and progression in the Beatitudes.

(1) Poverty of spirit (the first) is negative, and results in mourning (the second).

(2) Meekness (the third) is positive, and results in seeking righteousness (the fourth).

(3) Being poor in spirit causes us to turn away from ourselves in mourning, and meekness causes us to turn toward God in seeking His righteousness.

d) The blessings of the Beatitudes are for those who are realistic about their sinfulness, who are repentant of their sins, and who are responsive to God in His righteousness.

e) Those who are unblessed, unhappy, and shut out of the kingdom are the proud, the arrogant, the unrepentant – the self-sufficient and self-righteous who see in themselves no unworthiness and feel no need for God’s help and God’s righteousness.

f) Meekness does not connote weakness.

(1) The word was used in much extrabiblical literature to refer to the breaking of an animal.

(2) Meekness means power put under control. Meekness uses it resources responsibly.

g) Meekness is not cowardice or emotional flabbiness.

(1) It is not the lack of conviction or mere human niceness.

(2) But it is courage, its strength, its conviction, and its pleasantness come from God, not from self.

(3) The spirit of meekness is the spirit of Christ, who defended the glory of His Father, but gave Himself in sacrifice for others.

(4) Leaving an example for us to follow, He “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2: 21-23).

6. The Manifestation of Meekness

a) Perhaps, the best way to describe meekness is to illustrate it, to see it in action.

(1) Joseph was abused by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery.

(2) When by God’s gracious plan, he came to be second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, he was in a position to take severe vengeance on his brothers.

b) You can demonstrate meekness by having a spirit of love and understanding when someone offends you.

(1) Your spouse.

(2) Your children.

(3) Someone you work with.

(4) Church family (love and diplomacy)

II. Body

A. Happy are the Hungry (5:6)

B. Happy are the Merciful (5:7)

C. Happy are the Holy (5:8)

III. Conclusion