Chapter 6 - The
Beatitudes
Mat 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a
mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
Mat 5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them,
saying,
Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall
be comforted.
Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit
the earth.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall
obtain mercy.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see God.
Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall
be called the children of God.
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you.
Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus
sees his disciples. They have publicly left the crowd to join him. He has
called them, every one, and they have renounced everything at his call. Now
they are living in want and privation, the poorest of the poor, the sorest
afflicted, and the hungriest of the hungry. They have only him, and with him
they have nothing, literally nothing in the world, but everything with and
through God.'
My thoughts-
It's true, the
disciples left all they had, even if it wasn’t much, to follow Jesus who had
NOTHING. Jesus wasn't offering them a life of prosperity, of wealth, of
happiness, of freedom from want. Jesus
didn't have a place to sleep, let alone anything else.
Luk 9:57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in
the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest.
Luk 9:58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes,
and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his
head.
Foxes have holes.
Birds have nests.
These animals have
homes, Jesus did not.
Think about that for
a moment, a long moment. It's easy for us to gloss over the fact that Jesus
didn't have a home, but then we have to stop and think realizing He had HUMAN
needs like we all do. He had to sleep, He had to eat, He had to use the bathroom,
He had to bathe, He had to have clean clothes, didn't He? We talk about the
homeless today with great pity because we can't really imagine being homeless.
I have a sister who in her youth set out on her own with her husband and they
had nothing. They left New York to go to Texas, hoping to find work and for a
while they had to live out of their car, she still talks about that today many,
many years later. She tells us she knows what it's like to have nothing, no
possessions, no food, no real shelter with conveniences like a bath and toilet.
This was an experience etched into her mind because it wasn't something
pleasant at all it was great deprivation, and probably a bit of despair. I've
never been homeless, by the grace of God. I've never gone more than a few meals
in a row for lack of money or means to get food, by the grace of God. I may
have worn, and still wear worn out clothes, but I've never had absolutely
nothing but the clothes on my back. I've always had access to a bathroom
(outside of various normal situations- being in a car etc) and all its
facilities, by the grace of God.
The disciples all
had their lives situated. Most of them
were working when they were called to follow Jesus. They were working- earning
a living, a means to pay/barter for whatever they needed. No, none were called from
rich mansions, but they had their homes they went to every night, they had
their families they mingled with every night, they had a life- none were mere
nomads wandering about aimlessly here and there. These men were called to leave every comfort
however small or great that they knew, all in order to follow Jesus and Jesus
didn't promise them comfort when He called them.
Mat 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw
two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into
the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will
make you fishers of men.
Mat 4:20 And they straightway left their nets, and
followed him.
Mat 4:21 And going on from thence, he saw other two
brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with
Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
Mat 4:22 And they immediately left the ship and their
father, and followed him.
Joh 1:43 The day following Jesus would go forth into
Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
Joh 1:44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of
Andrew and Peter.
Joh 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him,
We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Joh 1:46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any
good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Joh 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith
of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Joh 1:48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou
me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou
wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Joh 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi,
thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
Joh 1:50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I
said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see
greater things than these.
Joh 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of man.
Mat 9:9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw
a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him,
Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
Thomas- no mention
of his calling.
James the son of
Alphaeus- no mention of his calling.
Simon the Canaanite-
no mention of his calling.
Thaddaeus- no
mention of his calling.
Judas- no mention of
his calling.
Jesus did NOT offer
them material things.
If a man came up to
you as you worked at your job and said, 'Follow me.' What are the chances of your doing that? Slim
to NONE, right? Of course they wouldn't be Jesus Christ the Son of God, you
say. And that's true, but Jesus didn't
use special powers to compel them to follow Him. Jesus didn't hypnotize them,
He didn't use any underhanded means to force them to leave all and follow Him.
So, why did they go with Him?
They'd heard of John
the Baptist. The one who would go before
Jesus.
Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a
highway for our God.
Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist,
preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.
Mat 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the
prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Mat 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all
Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan
Luk 7:24 And when the messengers of John were
departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out
into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
Luk 7:25 But what went ye out for to see? A man
clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live
delicately, are in kings' courts.
Luk 7:26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet?
Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
Luk 7:27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I
send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Luk 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born
of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is
least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Luk 7:29 And all the people that heard him, and the
publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
Luk 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the
counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
Luk 7:31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I
liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
Luk 7:32 They are like unto children sitting in the
marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you,
and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
Luk 7:33 For John the Baptist came neither eating
bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
Luk 7:34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking;
and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans
and sinners!
Luk 7:35 But wisdom is justified of all her children.
John the Baptist was
well known. John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus. These disciples more than likely had at the
very least heard of John the Baptist, if not personally through others that
had. John had his own following, but John said this..
Joh 3:26 And they came unto John, and said unto him,
Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness,
behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
Joh 3:27 John answered and said, A man can receive
nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Joh 3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I
am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
Joh 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but
the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly
because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Joh 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he
that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from
heaven is above all.
Joh 3:32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he
testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
Joh 3:33 He that hath received his testimony hath set
to his seal that God is true.
Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words
of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
Joh 3:35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all
things into his hand.
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
God abideth on him.
John said those
words magnifying Jesus, testifying that Jesus would INCREASE, while he, John,
decreased.
The disciples knew
there was something in the wind, so to speak. They'd more than likely heard
about John, he'd been at his ministry in the wilderness for at least six months
or so and word of him had to have spread, like the word of things strange and unusual,
the things that are out of place, often do. No, they didn't have the internet
to spread the news, but word of mouth worked just fine. Afterall, John was baptizing and to baptize
you had to have people to baptize. Those people didn't remain quiet about their
baptism, John didn't remain quiet. He was calling on people to REPENT and be
baptized, and it wasn't a whisper cry but a loud one. With this strange baptizing man going about
and then Jesus comes on the picture, Jesus whom John said this--
Joh 3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I
am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
Joh 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but
the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly
because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
--was now on the
scene, and truly the way had been prepared for Him by John. I imagine that the disciples had all heard of
John's teachings about the one coming after Him so when Jesus came and told
them to follow Him, they had to have been ready, they had to have been prepared
for this in some manner because otherwise it would have been Jesus using a
power of compulsion and Jesus would NEVER do that! NEVER.
Bottom line- the disciples were told to follow and they
left ALL to follow. They went with Jesus who had NOTHING material to offer them
at all. Come follow me and sleep outside
wherever we can. Come follow me and we'll eat as opportunity provides. Come
follow me and have no pay. Come to this
life of poverty and be RICHER than all spiritually.
The things that
matter are HEAVENLY, not earthly, yet Satan has corrupted us to believe the
opposite-worry about heaven later, and live for now.
Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus
sees his disciples. They have publicly left the crowd to join him. He has
called them, every one, and they have renounced everything at his call. Now
they are living in want and privation, the poorest of the poor, the sorest
afflicted, and the hungriest of the hungry. They have only him, and with him
they have nothing, literally nothing in the world, but everything with and
through God.'
How do we view our
own discipleship? Are we expecting to be
called to a life of riches? A life of contentment? A life of ease even if it's
not in what we'd call excess? Are we called to a life of self-denial no matter
our wealth or lack thereof?
More tomorrow from
this book by Bonhoeffer- The Cost of Discipleship.
All by the GRACE of
our LORD and SAVIOR Jesus Christ and His LOVE.
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