The Upside-Down Kingdom
Passage:
“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt 5:1-12)
Prayer:
Intro: The Blessed Life
I think all of us want to live what we would call a blessed life.
A lot of us – we have a tendency to base our feeling of God’s blessing in our life off the things I wish God would give me – rather than basing it off what God wants to do in me.
- we are often much more content in the chasing of temporary fleeting feelings of happiness rather than the bottomless well of joy that God wants to give us in him.
This isn’t new – we aren’t the only people who get stuck here – it’s been a human problem for just about as long as people have been people.
In the passage before this – we see that Jesus officially kicks off his ministry –
- “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.” (Matt. 4:23-25)
This passage – gives us this montage scene of what began to happen as Jesus started his ministry.
- it says that he started teaching and healing and his fame went everywhere – we see people came from all corners of Israel to find this Jesus.
- they brought those who were paralyzed – those who were sick – those who were oppressed by demons – and it says he healed them
- but that’s not only thing that made him famous –
- the other thing this text says that he did – was he was going from synagogue to synagogue – which was their version of church – and he preached that the kingdom of God was coming.
- and that got everyone’s attention – probably just as much or more than the healings did.
Kingdom – was a word that was far more than just a word to the Jewish people – It was a word that has HISTORY and EXPECTATION and LONGING dragging behind it.
The Jewish longing of Kingdom:
A few months ago – we talked about the life of David – and how he was a man after God’s own heart – and a king that directed the people toward the Lord – he was very flawed man – made lots of mistakes – but he would always humble himself – repent and lead the people towards the Lord
- well we know from history that after he died the people didn’t keep seeking the Lord
within a couple generations, the people largely abandoned the Lord – and followed idols and sacrificed their children to Ba’al.
- They were stiff necked and unrepentant – and that brought judgment from God
- in 722 BC – the Assyrians came and conquered the northern half of Israel
- then in 586 BC – The Babylonians came and conquered the southern kingdom
- and all of the sudden these once free people – are led in chains to a foreign nation.
– The Babylonians are conquered by the Persians
- so the people of Israel are handed off to new management.
Alexander the Great -conquers Persia –
His kingdom falls apart – to his four generals – so Israel is taken again by someone else – then the generals fight and a general by the name of Selucid – destroys the general that owned Israel. So the people are passed off again
- and Selucid hates the Jews – and he seeks to eradicate their culture – he seeks to make them become greek in everything – greek culture, language, religion,
- and the Jews have enough – they fight back – they win some – lose some.
but eventually their rebellion is squashed because Rome comes in and conquers what’s left of the greeks
- and during all this time – as they are passed around from warlord to emperor to abuser to nation –
So as Jesus comes on the scene – and he’s going from synagogue to synagogue and preaching that the kingdom of God is near – and he is healing people
- everyone’s like God is with this guy – he’s gonna fix this – he’s going to destroy Rome – and be like David – He is going to make us blessed.
- that’s why everyone comes running from all corners of Israel – they’re like – It’s happening – Jesus is going to bring the good life of blessing.
So you can almost picture this scene in chapter 5 verse 1 – as all these people come around Jesus – take a look
- “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them
- It’s like everyone goes quiet – they crowd around him – and wait to hear how Jesus was going to deliver them
That’s when he opens his mouth and he says –
- “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- What Jesus does in a series of statements that we are going to spend the next several weeks unpacking – is that he flips what it means to blessed upside down
- What Jesus is saying here is that the kingdom doesn’t arrive by changing your circumstances – it begins by changing you.
Inside these eight beatitudes we see the portrait of who he is changing his children into by his grace.
The gospel has this beautiful truth. I love how pastor and author Matt Chandler put it. he says, Jesus didn’t come to find beatitude people. He came to make them.
- He came to make them.
Jesus didn’t come to find beatitude people. because we aren’t beatitude people.
- We aren’t poor in spirit. We aren’t naturally meek. We aren’t naturally pure in heart.
- We hunger and thirst for our selfishness- our own desires our lust and pride.
Jesus didn’t come to find Beatitude people because the reality is there aren’t any Beatitude people. He came to make them.
The beatitudes are not a religious call to grind yourself into the dirt and try harder.
- They also are not an sentimental fiction of what humanity could be like if we could just get along – and sing Disney tunes
the beatitudes are a portrait of who Jesus is forming his people to be by his grace
- through a process called sanctification.
And that’s the beauty of the gospel. Jesus doesn’t just forgive sinners…He transforms them.
- What Jesus gives us here is an invitation. It’s an invitation to let him change you.
- Will you let Him change you?