WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday June 30, 2019
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JESUS
TEACHES ABOUT HAVING THE CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE
(Kingdom
living will always be counter-cultural)
(Matthew
5:1-12)
JESUS’,
now famous, “Sermon on the Mount” demonstrates the “standard of righteousness”
that GOD demands from each of us who profess to be interested in dedicating our
lives in service to HIM. Some of these standards are laid out to us in general
terms, while others are very specific. There are also others that are apocalyptic
in nature, as they refer to eschatological events in future times.
In Matthew chapters 5-7, the Apostles
Matthew highlights JESUS’ most well-known sermon. It is a discourse which took
place on a mountaintop, somewhere in Galilee, and probably near Capernaum,
around 2000 years ago. There JESUS begins HIS sermon with a series of
statements that serve to gradually shape the attitude of those who desired to
follow HIM.
In the New Testament Greek, the word used
for “blessed” is “makarios” (mak-ar-ree-os), and it describes a “joy” which
finds its secret within itself. It is a feeling of security that is serene and
untouchable. It is “self-contained” and is “totally independent and immune” to
the oppressions of this world. It is an attitude that is not affected by “the
chances and changes” of everyday life, and is, in fact, “a Heavenly state of
being” that JESUS is speaking of here in this passage of verses 1-12. Here, for
the first time ever, JESUS introduces to the world, HIS list of “beatitudes”,
which are designed to shape the character of the Christian, from within.
The word “beatitudes” comes from the Latin
word “beatus” (be-at-us), and here it concerns “one’s Christian character,
which, as I said, has to flow from within”. Here in this passage, if one looks
closely, he or she can clearly see the difference between “happiness” and “joy”.
We already know, through our many life
experiences, that happiness is “a very temporal state of being”. In fact, it
tends to leave us every time that something goes wrong in our lives. Every time
we experience problems and adversity, happiness is the first thing out the
door. That is why GOD does not promise us happiness, but rather, HE assures us
that, with HIM, we will always have a “joy” that will transcend the sorrows and
trials of this world.
Only satan
wants us to be “happy” with the things of this world, which with, through our
sins, we have given him control over our lives. GOD, on the other hand, wants
to bless us by giving us a joy that cannot be found in our pursuit of the
people, places, and things of this world, but rather, can only be found in
CHRIST JESUS, WHO strengthens us from within.
In JESUS, we will be able to experience the
bliss of “a permanent joy” that nothing in this world can change, or take away
from us. However, reading through this list of “beatitudes”, one can envision a
mountain of “self” that one has to first “get over”, in order to reach the
state of mind, or, obtain the attitude, of a person who desires to be pleasing
to GOD, and who can experience the comforts that only CHRIST can give us.
Picture yourself at the foot of a mountain,
ready to begin your ascent to the top, and beyond to the bottom of the other
side. The first beatitude JESUS gives us is “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven”.
A person who is “poor in spirit” is a person who “realizes and admits their need
for GOD”. This is the first step that a person must make in order to come to
GOD. One must first “come to the end of oneself, where JESUS is waiting to
receive us into HIS glorious protection and salvation.
JESUS then says, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted”. To “mourn”,
in this sense, is to “earnestly repent” for having lived a life that is not
pleasing to GOD. This is when your “heart” (“kardia”- the way we think) tells
GOD that you are now ready to “change your mind” about the way you’ve lived so
far, and now, wish to begin living by the “human examples” of CHRIST JESUS, WHO
is now, because of HIS “perfect” life example here on earth, our LORD.
“Blessed
are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth”, is the next beatitude that
is uttered by JESUS. The step that one must now take is the step into “humbleness”,
as GOD always blesses those who are gentle and lowly, and divested of “pride
and “arrogance”. Meekness, from the Greek, “praus” (“prah-ooce), is “power
under control”, not weakness. Pride and arrogance fuels “human ingenuity”, and
there is no room for human ingenuity in the Church of CHRIST, there is only
room for “obedience to GOD’s Word”, which is already written, and does NOT need
to be tweaked by man with his human thoughts and ideas.
“Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be
filled”. At this step we can now begin to see over the top of the mountain that
is “one’s self”, as we now seek to learn more about how we can walk in the
righteousness of CHRIST JESUS. We begin to hunger and thirst after fairness, to,
and for others, and we seek to live “a just life” with others at all times.
“Blessed
are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy”. It is here that we begin
our descent down the other side of the mountain. We begin to show mercy to
others, and in turn, GOD begins to show more mercy towards us. We are now, in effect,
actively more and more reflecting HIS image to others, through our own
behavior.
“Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see GOD”. At this point we are now
manifesting a “heart” (“kardia” – the way we think) for GOD, and can see more
clearly what GOD is like. We begin to “share the mind of CHRIST” in our
thinking, and we look at the human life of JESUS with greater understanding.
“Blessed
are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of GOD”. The person
who has “a heart for GOD” also has “a mind for “peace”. They actively seek
peace through their positive actions and attitude toward others, in and outside
their homes. He or she works for peace in the home, the Church, and, in the
community, using their knowledge of GOD, and their faith in GOD, as their “moral
compass”. A person who has reached this stage can now handle, quite
efficiently, the three battles that every human being must engage in, in life; “the battle within themselves between “reason”
and “passion”; “our battles with each
other”; and, “our war with GOD
HIMSELF”, by way of our personal disobedience and sins against HIM.
And finally, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs
is the Kingdom of Heaven”. Now that we are over “the mountain of self”, it
is time to go to work serving “the GOD WHO sees us”, and, WHO saves us from
ourselves. We are now fully equipped spiritually, to triumph over the
persecutions that will surely follow us, because we now live lives that are “adverse
to the world”.
And those
persecutions will continue to beset us, because the SPIRIT of GOD now lives within
us, and we have been made right with GOD, because of our belief in, and
practice of, HIS Holy Word and disciplines. We are no longer compatible with “the
world way of thinking”, being controlled by our “sin nature”, but rather, we
have fully “repented” (“metanoia” – “changed our minds”), and now “share the
mind of CHRIST”, in our thinking (Romans 8:9-11). And JESUS says that we should
be “Be joyous about it! Be very glad! For
a great reward awaits you in Heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were
persecuted too” (Matthew 5:12).
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
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