This Week’s Biblical Reflection – Mathew 5 :
1-16
The Sermon on the Mount
“An
outstanding guide in moral reflection is recorded by St. Matthew
in his first group of studies, a discourse which consists of
pronouncements and utterances of Jesus to His Disciples and to
every disciple henceforth.” It is commonly known as “the Sermon
on the Mount” (Matthew Chapters 5, 6, 7), which reminds us of
the Ten Commandments of old which were given on Mount
Sinai. This Sermon
has touched more
hearts and resulted in many more sermons than any other
sermons.
The Preface to the Sermon of the
Mount
“And seeing the multitudes, He
went up on a mountain, and when He was seated, His disciples
came unto Him. Then
He opened His mouth, and taught them.”
Matthew 5:1-2
Ø
There are a number of things in these
verses which call for careful consideration for
example:
·
The
place from
which this Sermon was preached: It is often noted that where a
particular utterance was made supplies a key to its
interpretation.
·
Jesus was seated when He delivered
this Sermon as sitting connotated authority, so rabbi's often
sat while teaching (see Matt 13:1-2; 23:2; 26:55; John 8:2).
·
Manner of
speaking,
“He opened His mount and taught them.” The teaching is to be
understood naturally and carefully as Jesus clearly articulated
to all of His hearers. Jesus spoke with
liberty and authority, with faithfulness and boldness in matters
of the greatest importance.
·
The
persons,
to whom Jesus addressed Himself, save or unsaved? We are told at
the beginning of chapter 5 that it was the “disciples” whom
Jesus taught here; however, it is equally clear from the closing
of chapter 7 that this Sermon was spoken in the hearing of the
multitudes. For the purpose of this
reflection and study, let us keep in mind that the Sermon
contains much instruction for believers in living a good,
honest, and blessed life as they seek the spiritual nature of
God’s kingdom and for the character of those who enter and enjoy
its privileges.
The Beatitudes
“Blessed are the poor in
spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they
that mourn: for they shall he comforted. Blessed are the meek:
for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do
hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the
peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men
shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of
evil against you falsely, for My sake.”
Matthew 5:3-11
In
these verses our Lord began to draw a picture of those
characters and conduct of the true believer and genuine
disciple. Each line
of this picture contains a spiritual feature and with the whole
we should honestly and carefully evaluate
ourselves.
The word “blessed” is the
translation of the original Greek word, “makarios”
which means much more than happy or fortunate. According to The
Webster’s Dictionary of Synonyms, “Blessedness implies a feeling
of being highly favored, especially by the Supreme Being, and
often a deep joy arising from the present domestic, benevolent
or religious affection.”
A Summary of The Beatitudes
The Beatitudes provide
the qualifications for the development of the Christian
character. “Accepted as a whole, they provide the ingredients
for the upright Christian character”:
- Blessed
are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. The poor in spirit are humble
and lowly in their own eyes, because humbleness is the gate
which leads to the kingdom of heaven.
- Blessed
are they that mourn: for they shall he comforted.
Those who mourn for sin shall be
comforted in confession. Those who mourn for the human anguish
of the lost shall be comforted by the compassion of God our
Father.
- Blessed
are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
The
meek are those who quietly submit to God, they will be rewarded with the
inheritance of the earth, which means through their
convictions and trust in God they will inherit the age to come
as well.
- Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for
they shall be filled. Those who hunger and thirst
after righteousness are happy. They feel the impulse and
desire to fulfill the Will of God by their worship of and
obedience to God.
- Blessed
are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. We must not only bear our
own affliction patiently, we must have compassion on the souls
of others, and help them. As we give ourselves to helping
others, we will obtain happiness.
- Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Here
holiness and happiness are fully described and put together.
The pure in heart, the
upright, the sincere, the honest in every thought and
activity. Their lives have been transformed by
the grace God.
- Blessed
are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of
God. The peacemakers, between
neighbors and between nations, who have a peaceful mind to
resolve human discrepancies. They are the ones who are
themselves at peace with God and live in peace with all men.
- Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. People who are armed
with virtues of the previous beatitudes are well shielded to
face persecutions for the establishment of divine principles
of life. The kingdom of God is expanded to their hearts.
- Blessed
are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My
sake. All disciples who
resist evil and undergo persecutions by words and acts for the
sake of the kingdom, they will be blessed.
The blessedness of God
is the source of men’s rejoicing and gladness not only in
themselves but also for the reward in heaven, as it happened to
the persecuted prophets (cf 23:20; Luke 11:33-38).
An Example of the
Suffering of Obedience
- Abel
obeyed God and was killed by Cain (Genesis 4)
- Joseph was obeying his father and was
thrown into a pit by his brothers. (Genesis 37-45)
- John
the Baptist obeys God and is beheaded (Matthew 14)
- Jesus obeyed and was crucified (Luke
24:26-27)
- Stephen speaks the very words of Jesus
from the cross and he is stoned (Acts 7)
- James obeys God and is killed by Herod
(Act 12:2)
- Paul obeys
God and is stoned and left for dead (Act 9:16,
21-28)
Points of Fact
Thought
The Ministerial
Office
“Ye are the salt of the
earth but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it
he salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast
out, and to he trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of
the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither
do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.”
Matthew
5:13-16
In Matthew
Henry’s commentary of these verses, he begins by pointing out,
“Christ had lately called His disciples and told them they
should be ‘fishers of men’ (4:19); here He tells them further
what He designed them to be—the salt of the earth and light of
the world: that they might be indeed what it was expected they
should be.”
The two
symbols in verse 12 which Christ referred to that are striking,
and their order significant: “He resembles His ministers
to ‘salt’ to humble them, for salt is common, and
insignificant; to “light” to encourage them, for light is
illuminating, conspicuous, elevated.
Summary
There are
four terms used in this passage to illustrate the Christian
character, for example: salt, light, lamp and lamp stand.”
“Ye
are the salt of the earth” (verse
12)
·
“Ye” is referring to
those whom Jesus has called to be apostles and set apart for the
work of ministry.
·
Jesus used “salt” to illustrate the
function of the Christian character, to give brightness to life
and to preserve from the forces of decay. For example: Salt is
an indispensable necessity of life; salt is wrought into the
rocks and soil of the earth in order to purify the waters
filtering through them; salt is use to purify and preserve fool;
the Jewish people used salt to sprinkle on oil to give
brightness to the lamps.
“Ye
are the light of the world” (verse
14)
·
Christ presented Himself
as the “Light” in order to illuminate the Apostles and the
disciples as they present the Light of the Gospel to the world,
shining before man to show God’s good works and to guide man in
glorifying the True
God.
·
Therefore, Christ likens
His ministers unto “light” and ministers of the Word today must
carry with them a Lamp of Truth, and by the illuminate of their
ministry, they are to shine upon the benighted souls of
men.
Lamp
and lamp stand
·
Jesus was referring to a
small lamp which was designed to be placed on a lamp stand in
order to provide light in a room.
·
This was a typical
illustration for the everyday life of the Jewish home which was
built with a one room building. When the lamp was placed
on the lamp stand, it would give light to everyone in the
home.
An Example of
Light
Jesus
- “Light shines in darkness” (John 1:9)
- “I
am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5)
- “I came as
light into the world” (John
12:46)
Disciples
- “Sons of light” (John 12:35-36)
- “Has
the light of life” (John 8:12)
- “Lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15)
- “Guides to the blind” (Rom. 2:19)
- “Put
on armor of light” (Rom. 13:12)
- “Walk in the light” (1 John 1:5-7)
- “Not
understood by darkness” (John
1:5-7)
Points of Fact
“Let
your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven” (vs. 16).
-
‘“So shine’ signified
ministerial teaching, whereby God’s will and grace are made
known to His people, backed up by a godly example. Seeing that
by your calling you are so conspicuous in the world, look well
to the holiness of your lives and the fruits of your labors,
so that God’s people may not only hear your doctrine but also
perceive your good works, and thereby be moved to follow the
same, and thus bring honor and praise to the Lord. These two
things must never be separated: sound doctrine and holy
deportment are ever to be conjoined in a minister” (cf. 1 Tim.
4:12).
Our Prayer
May
God richly bless you as you read and study His Word this
week. Let us be
more and more decided and earnest, making some one or other of
those blessedness and Christian graces the main subject of our
thoughts, even for weeks together.
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