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Sermon Text: John 1:29-41
Christian, You are Blessed!
In Time
For Eternity
Most importantly, in Christ
5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
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 be shown 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 because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been using as the theme for our worship services the title “Identity Revealed.” That’s because during the season of Epiphany, which we are currently in, the Christian Church has historically focused on the various ways that Jesus revealed his true identity as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And often, these divine revelations highlighted a contrast between what appeared to be true, and what actually was true. For example, during the season of Epiphany, we see that the baby born in a lowly manger was revealed to be the king of the Jews, by the Magi who came to worship him. And Jesus who stepped into the Jordan River to be baptized like any other sinner, was revealed to be the very son of God by the voice that came from heaven. And Jesus, the carpenter’s son, who people assumed could fix a broken chair, in fact revealed his true identity by fixing broken limbs and opening blind eyes and bringing dead people back to life. In all these cases, Jesus’ true identity is revealed in the pages of holy Scripture.
But the scriptures not only reveal Jesus’ true identity. They also reveal our true identity as followers of Jesus. But just as with Jesus, sometimes our true identity is not immediately obvious to us or the people around us. Or to put it another way, sometimes we don’t look like, sometimes we don’t feel like, we are the children of God—which is why, on a regular basis, we need to let God tell us who we are in Christ. That’s what our text for today is all about. Today we turn our attention to one of the most well-known, and maybe one of the most misunderstood passages in the whole Bible. You and I probably know these words by their Latin name. They are called the Beatitudes. That’s because, in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, each one of these verses begins with the word “beatus” which in English means “blessed.” That’s the word that Jesus uses to describe the true identity of Christians. And it brings us to our theme today, namely,
Christian, You are Blessed
You are blessed now; you are blessed in the future, and most importantly, you are blessed in Christ.
I said before that these words are often misunderstood. Why do I say that? Because it’s awfully easy to assume that what Jesus is saying here is how we should live our lives as Christians. And if we do live our lives as Jesus describes here, if we show the qualities that Jesus commands, then good things will happen to us. I mean, doesn’t that sound like what Jesus is saying in verse 7, for example? “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” In other words, it sounds like God wants you to show mercy to others, and if you do, he’ll show mercy to you. Or “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” God wants you to have pure thoughts, pure desires—and if you do, someday you will see God. Or maybe the most quoted beatitude “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.” Certainly, God must want us to live in harmony with one another. He wants us to try to bring an end to conflict. And if we do, then Jesus says we will be called sons of God. Seems pretty straightforward. God gives us this whole list of qualities that he wants us to display—this is the kind of people he wants us to be—and if we are, then good things will happen to us. We’ll be called children of God, we’ll be comforted, we’ll inherit the earth, etc. Isn’t that what the Bible teaches? If you’re good, you’ll go to a good place. And if you’re bad, well, then bad things will happen to you.
Actually, that’s what a lot of people think the Bible teaches. But they are only half right. Yes, the Law teaches us what God expects of us. The Law tells us that if we keep all of God’s commands, we’ll earn a reward from God. But the law also defines how good we need to be in order to receive those rewards. In fact, here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus defines how good we need to be when he says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). The trouble is, no one can be perfect. So, what hope does anyone have of receiving anything good from God? None—except one. And that hope is Jesus. Only Jesus could live the perfect life that God demands. And only Jesus would offer that perfect life in exchange for the sins of the world. And because of that perfect life that Jesus lived in our place, God now declares a world of sinners, including you and me, not guilty. What does Scripture say? God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in him, we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21). God sees us as holy, dressed in Jesus’ righteousness. In that sense, you and I as Christians, are described by God as “Blessed.”
My friends, that’s the lens that we need to look through to properly understand the words before us in the Beatitudes. Jesus is not telling you what you need to do to get right with God. He’s telling you who you are in him. And he’s telling you how it will show in your life now, and in the future. With that in mind let’s take a little closer look at each of these Beatitudes.
Jesus begins, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” Jesus is not saying, “If you were just a little more humble, if you were poor in spirit, then the kingdom would be yours.” That would be a statement of God’s law. And this is not law; it’s gospel. Jesus is actually saying, “Because, by nature, you are spiritually bankrupt, because you’ve got nothing to earn God’s favor, because you realize that you are a poor, miserable sinner, God has some incredibly good news for you. And the good news is, ‘The kingdom of God is yours.’” Not because you earned it, but because Jesus bought it for you with his blood. And he gave it to you as a free gift through faith in him.
That’s why Jesus can say that you are blessed. Because yours is the kingdom of God. Notice the present tense there. It’s not, the kingdom of heaven will be yours someday. No, you are already in God’s kingdom. You are living in a kingdom where God is ruling all things for your good. You’re living in a kingdom where God is allowing you to live under this umbrella of his undeserved love.
Jesus goes on, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Here again, Jesus is not saying, the more mourning you do, the better off you’ll be. Rather, he simply acknowledging that even as Christians, we’re going to experience pain and sorrow in our lives. Sometimes that sorrow is created by our own sins. Other times it’s created by the sins of others. Sometimes it’s just part of living in a broken world. But through it all, God promises that in Christ we will be comforted. On this side of the grave, we take comfort in the promise that God is not holding our sins against us. We take comfort in the fact that he will never leave us or forsake us but instead will lift us up and carry us as on eagle’s wings. On the other side of the grave, we take comfort in his promise to wipe away every tear from our eyes and bring us to a place where, as St. John puts it, “There will be no more death or mourning or sorrow or pain. (Revelation 21:4). What a blessing!
Jesus continues, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” In a world where it seems that violence is celebrated, where people are demanding their rights even if it means stepping on the rights of others, where it seems that power reigns supreme, Jesus states that it won’t be the loud and proud, it won’t be the high and mighty who will inherit the earth. It will be the meek and the lowly. And what does it mean that they will “inherit the earth”? On the one hand, it’s a reminder that we don’t earn anything good from God. We receive it as an inheritance. We have it because God has adopted us into his family and has written us into his will. And what does it mean that we will inherit the earth? Well, think of the words of 2 Peter 3:10, where the apostle writes, And keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. When Jesus returns in glory, we’ll inherit a world more like the one God originally created than like the one that’s sin has currently messed up.
Beatitude #4: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Even though, as Christians, we know that Christ has made us right in the eyes of God, that doesn’t mean that we always live lives that are righteous. Sometimes we are tripped up and dragged down by our old sinful nature. That leaves us feeling frustrated, longing for the day when the good we want to do we can keep on doing. But that day when we can fully live like the holy people God has declared us to be—that will have to wait until the Final Day. That’s when we will be completely satisfied.
You might say that those first four beatitudes have one thing in common. They all focus on the deficiencies we endure in life. We’re poor and powerless; we hunger and mourn. But in Jesus every one of those needs is met.
From there, Jesus goes on to describe how our relationship to Jesus impacts our everyday life. For example, Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Now again, this might sound like Jesus is saying that we if we are merciful, God will be merciful to us. But it’s really the other way around. Because God has been merciful to us, we can be merciful to others. And when we are, they may reciprocate that mercy back to us. But even if they don’t we can be sure that in the end, God will show us mercy that knows no limits.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Is Jesus referring to people who have never had a sinful thought or impure desire in their lives. Such people do not exist. No, Jesus is talking about people like you and me, people whose secret sins, even the impure thoughts and hidden desires—even those have all been washed away by the blood of the Lamb. We know that God answers our prayer when we say with the psalmist, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:7,10)
And in that state of forgiveness, when we breathe our last breath, we can be sure that we will see God face to face. We can say with Job of old, “After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see him with my own eyes—I and not another. How my heart yearns within me. (Job 19:26-27).
Beatitude #7:“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Once again, Jesus is not saying, “This is what I expect of you. Be peacemakers or else!” Rather, he’s saying, “Christian, this is who you are. You already know what true peace is. When the sins that separated you from God and each other are taken away, it puts your heart at peace.” And when you take that peace and you share with others, then Jesus says, “people will see you for what you really are, namely, the sons and daughters of God.”
Now, does that always happen? No, sometimes when we try to be peacemakers, when we share a message of God’s love in Christ, people don’t want to hear it. They oppose us, they ridicule us or try to silence our voices. But what does Jesus say about that? “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.”
As you look at these beatitudes, do you see the pattern here? Jesus is describing what life as a Christian often looks like. And to be honest, some of it doesn’t look very appealing. I mean, to be persecuted, insulted and falsely accused, to endure sorrow and mourning caused by our failings and the sins of others, to realize that by nature, we are spiritually bankrupt, as Paul said, I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature. (Romans 7:18)
And yet, in spite of all those deficiencies, or maybe I should say, because of all those deficiencies, what has Jesus done? He’s met our every need. He’s given us an identity which the world cannot appreciate or even understand. But you can. By God’s grace, you know who you are in Christ. You are the redeemed, the forgiven, the beloved children of God. That means that you are truly blessed. And it’s that Identity Revealed in the pages of Holy Scripture that empowers us to live our lives to God’s glory, until that day when he brings us to himself in heaven. God keep us in his grace until that glorious day. Amen.