What Do The Beatitudes Really Mean?

Tom:

This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in the gospel of Matthew.We are going to start chapter 5, Dave, and I want to go back and read the last verse in chapter 4, because it just seems to lead into what we are going to do.So, this is Matthew 4, verse 25, and then we will pick up with Matthew chapter 5.“And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.”Matthew 5, verse 1:“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him.And He opened His mouth, and taught them saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit:for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Now Dave, these are obviously, the Beatitudes, let’s take a look at them one by one.

Dave:

Well, before we get there—“seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain.”I don’t know what you can make of that, but you had to put some effort into it if you are going to follow Jesus, if you are going to hear what He is going to say.And I don’t want to make too much of this, but you have to put a little effort into it, and is that one reason why He went up there? I don’t know.Or to find out who was really serious? I don’t know if that would be a good way of finding out either.Some people are out for a nice walk, but apparently it was quite a little ways, because there is no way to get food that far away.But it says, “His disciples came unto him.”Now that gives me the idea that possibly He was separating himself from the multitudes.And He went up to the Sermon on the Mount so that only his disciples and he told his disciples where he was going.I think everybody understood this is for those on the inside, the true disciples, and so they remained down below, which could be interesting, Tom.Before we get into what He says, if you go to Luke 6—If I can find it in this Bible of mine that is falling apart—this is terrible--I am so reluctant to give up this Bible, because I’ve got all the—

Tom:

When the pages fly away, Dave that might be a motivation.

Dave:

All the high lighting and the notes and things that I’ve written in here—it’s really dangerous to turn the pages now.Okay, by comparison, because some people say this is also the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes.And, in fact, I learn these things from atheists.They criticize the Bible, You’ve got a contradiction, I mean, you’ve got two different Sermons on the Mount; you’ve got one in Matthew and one in Luke.And I said, Well, I really never noticed there were some big differences, but maybe there are, so then I would get it, and I would say, These guys are right.So then we look at it a little closer, and notice verse 17, “He came down.” He’s just named His disciples.So I think that’s what it’s talking about, his disciples came to Him, that must be where He named them, and the Sermon on the Mount is what He said to them.

Tom:

It indicates that in Matthew.

Dave:

Now He comes down with them, verse 17, in Luke 17, He came down with them and stood in the plain.So this is not the sermon on the mount, this is the sermon on the plain, and it is a bit different.He said different things to his disciples who He expects would have more spiritual insight and understanding. —“and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea” and so forth, and the sea coast came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases.So, I just want to point that out.

Tom:

That’s an important point, Dave.

Dave:

Otherwise, knock you for a loop, you’ve got two different—it’s a contradiction in the Bible.No it’s not.

Tom:

Dave, that is so important, because we get e-mails all the time.I just got one this morning where somebody was trying to explain something to some atheists and they were taking them to task.Many of these things can be dealt with just by reading the Scripture.

Dave:

Right.

Tom:

Bu we get excited.How many people, when Dan Brown’s book came out The DaVinci Code, the say, oh wait a minute, this is undermining my faith, this is pulling the rug out from under my belief.Come on! read the Scriptures, you know, read the Word of God.It will blow that right off the table.

Dave:

And read that book, it’s pitiful, and I won’t go into those details.

Tom:

Yeah, you don’t need to read it, but for Christians to get worried, because they are not into the Word of God, they are not thinking, they’re just being chased about by every wind of doctrine, every idea.

Dave:

Thank you, Tom, because I was not contending to recommend the book, recommend that anybody read it.I should have said, If you read the book.It’s pitiful!

Tom:

Sometimes we have to read these things just to be able to respond to them and to say that we had read it, it’snot a fun deal.We just went through a book called The Shack. Boy, is that bad news!And if you have just heard this for the first time, we did a review of it in the August newsletter, The Berean Call, and get that.Okay.So let’s pick up with what Jesus said to his disciples.Verse 3:“Blessed are the poor in spirit:for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Poor in spirit, Dave?I thought we needed to build up our self-esteem, we need to be self-confident, we need to—

Dave:

Well, you’re not going to enter into the kingdom of heaven as a person who is building up his self-esteem, and yet that is a weakness.We didn’t need Dr. Dobson to tell us about self-esteem, we didn’t need Carl Rogers or Abraham Maslow.

Tom:

Eric Fromm.

Dave:

This was already in the heart of man, and you don’t come into the kingdom of God as a proud person.

Tom:

God resists the proud.

Dave:

He hates pride, yeah.

Tom:

But He gives grace.

Dave:

Grace to the humble.

Tom:

To the poor in spirit.

Dave:

Right.So you might say that this is kind of a gateway; this is a beginning.You want to be in this kingdom? Then you’re going to have to come humbly.See, that was one of the problems.I won’t name the organization but there’s an organization out there, they have thousands of staff members now around the world.But one of their big goals is: We want to reach key people.Let’s try to get the athletes, try to get the entertainers, and they even have a group meeting at the United Nations in New York because we want key people.See, look at this person, wouldn’t this person make a great addition to the team, God’s team, couldn’t He really use this person?You don’t get that idea here—blessed are the poor in spirit.

Tom:

Dave, we referred to Rick Warren earlier, one of his goals, he stated this that he wants to restore the credibility to the evangelical believers.Credibility?Come on!

Dave:

How are you going to do that?Well, we want academic respectability, okay.So you’re going to have to cater to the academic world.You want credibility?Credibility in whose eyes, Tom? a good point.

Tom:

Yeah, so, Blessed are the poor in spirit:for theirs is the kingdom of God.As you said, Dave, this is the doorway.God resists the proud, He gives grace to the humble.And you quoted from Galatians, “I’m crucified with Christ.”That’s emptying me, I’m crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.That’s what Christianity is all about.Dave, we’re going to pick up, we’re out of time right now, but we are in Matthew chapter 5.Let’s encourage our readers to go over the Beatitudes for themselves, and we’re going to pick up next week, the Lord willing, with Matthew chapter 5, verse 4.