February 1, 2026

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus^[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² And he began to speak 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 will be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely^[b] on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you

Sermon 

Such well-known words.   

I want you to set everything you think you know about this very familiar passage aside for now.  Let’s look at Jesus’ words with fresh eyes.  

First, let’s look at the typical, everyday meaning of ‘blessed’ – by which we mean we got something good in our lives.  As in, “I am so blessed to have such a loving family.”  “I am so blessed to have my health.”  Rather, we need to think of ‘blessed’ as ‘God’s favor.’    

God favors those who….. 

We tend to look at the first four blessings as virtues, good habits to learn in order to please God  or earn God’s favor: ⁱ  

·                 poor in spirit are those who know they need God,   

·                 those who mourn are grieving over their sins or grieving a loss,   

·                 the meek are people who are humble,  

·                 people hungering and thirsting after righteousness are those who strive to do what God wants.  

By which we mean:  

God favors those who confess their need for God and their sins, and humbly try to follow God’s commandments.    

The Beatitudes have been interpreted as a road map to earn God’s favor.  If you just become poor in spirit, meek, a mourner, if you hunger for righteousness… then God will favor you.ⁱⁱ 

Read by themselves, it’s easy to make such an interpretation.  However, this isn’t a stand-alone teaching.   The Beatitudes are the opening illustration for the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is telling us what the values of the kingdom of heaven are, not giving us the entrance requirements.   

So what are the values of the kingdom of heaven?   

Just who is it that God favors?    

In the kingdom of heaven, God favors the poor in spirit:  

·                 those whose spirit is cast down,   

·                 who have been spiritually beaten up,    

·                 whose lives and situations are such that they have no hope.  

God favors those who mourn:  

·                 those who weep for their losses and for the things they never had,  

·                 who find their lot in life to be only misery,   

·                 who have no joy in life  

God favors the meek:  

·                 “Meek” doesn’t have the same connotation today as it did in Jesus’ time.  It’s not ‘meek’ as we mean it – timid or shy, or mild.  

·                 In Hebrew writings, it means to be humiliated.  The meek are the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the victims of injustice.    

·                 In Greek writings, meekness is a virtue for women, slaves, and children (humble, submissive, know your place).    

·                 God favors the downtrodden, the oppressed and the victims of injustice.  

God favors those who hunger and thirst for righteousness:  

·                 those who are starving for justice,  

·                 who earnestly desire to have what is right done to them,   

·                 who have been treated wrongly.   

In the next four Beatitudes, God favors those who work on behalf of the first four:  

·                 the merciful - who extend mercy to others,  

·                 those who are pure in heart – having honesty and integrity,  

·                 the peacemakers –who work to resolve conflict and restore, relationship,  

·                 Those who are persecuted for righteousness sake - who are persecuted because they took a stand against the evil forces in the world.   

This is the picture Jesus is painting:  Under God’s rule, there will be no one who is poor in spirit, no one who is mourning, no one who is oppressed and humiliated, no one who is longing for justice and righteousness.  Why?    

Because everyone in the kingdom of heaven is merciful to others, acts with honesty and integrity, works to resolve conflict and rebuild relationship and is so committed to righteousness and justice that they are willing to give up everything to pursue it.  

In the kingdom of heaven, everyone will do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.ⁱⁱⁱ  

And maybe that’s why the Beatitudes are so well known.  They offer a vision of life the way we want it to be – an alternative to the harsh realities of a world that fights the rule of God. The world works on a whole different value system where the strong prevail and the weak go without.  A blog I read several years ago sums up the world’s version of the beatitudes quite nicely:  

·                 Blessed are the self-reliant (not the poor in spirit),   

·                 the cheerful (not those who mourn),   

·                 the bold (not the meek),   

·                 the proactive and the ambitious (not those who hunger and thirst for righteousness),  

·                  those who demand to be treated fairly (not the merciful),   

·                 those with a single, driving ambition (not the pure in heart),   

·                 those who stand up for themselves (not the peacemakers),   

·                 those who have a high quality of life (not the persecuted),   

·                 those who have a good reputation (not those who are reviled and slandered).^iv  

The Beatitudes reveal the world’s values for the cheap deception they are.   It’s a complete and total reversal of the earthly status quo. It’s good news for those whom the world denies life abundant and for those who work on their behalf.   

Jesus offers a vision of life the way God intended it to be, the way we long for it to be. We pray for it each week, in the prayer Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: your kingdom come, your will be done.    

Our problem lies in figuring out our part in that vision.  

And here’s where Jesus surprises those listening to him.  So far, we’ve only talked about the first eight blessings.  Those are the ones that are so well known.  So far everything Jesus has said is in the third person:  blessed are those people, him, her, them.  Suddenly, Jesus turns to those around him and says, “Blessed are you!”    

Second person – Jesus is talking directly to us.    

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”  

It doesn’t sound like it, but this is good news too.  

It’s good news because when we live into Jesus’ vision of the kingdom of God, we will upset the powers of evil in the world.  

It’s good news because when we act with mercy, we undermine the heartlessness of the ways of the world.  

It’s good news because when we act with hearts full of honesty and integrity, we undermine all life-denying lies.  

It’s good news because when we work to bring peace and to resolve conflict and restore relationship, God’s love breaks through hatred.  

It’s good news because when we steadfastly work for justice and righteousness, we become the very hands of God at work in the world.