- Lesson 1 in the Connect360 unit “Kingdom Power: The Sermon on the Mount” focuses on Matthew 5:1-12.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
Jesus began with the promise of the kingdom of heaven to those who are poor in spirit. In Luke’s account of the Beatitudes (Luke 6:20), he wrote, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Most of us have difficulty comprehending true poverty. However, many of those in the crowd listening to Jesus speak understood the challenge of finding daily food. Millions around the world and many in our own country suffer hunger and homelessness and cry out in desperation for the basic necessities of life.
Following Jesus is more than desiring an occasional moment of inspiration or a Sunday morning trip to church. Not even the legalistic Pharisees who kept the whole law were righteous enough to enter the kingdom of heaven on their own. Followers of Christ must recognize the poverty of their own righteousness and turn desperately to God’s amazing grace. To these Jesus promises the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
Almost nothing in life compares to the grief of the death of a loved one. Physical death is irreversible. Yet, Jesus reversed death by raising Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, and by his own resurrection. Our faith is challenged in those moments when we long to know our faith is true.
“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
In our culture the typical picture of the one who inherits the earth is the powerful, the warrior, or the shrewd. Yet Jesus said it is the gentle who shall inherit the earth.
This Beatitude is a restatement of Psalm 37:11, “The humble will inherit the land.” In Numbers 12:3, Moses is described as the most humble man on earth. Gentleness, meekness or humility can be confused with weakness, yet, with God’s help, Moses was powerful enough to stand up to the Pharaoh, and wise enough to lead a nation of undisciplined, complaining and ungrateful people to the brink of the promised land. The gentle are those who submit themselves to the will of God.
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