30 Days On The Mount

-Chapter 3- The Poor in Spirit, Those Who Mourn, The Meek (Mt. 5:3-6)

Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

(Lk 6:20 “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Lk 6: 25 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.)

W e must remember that the Beatitudes begin with the very upbeat and happy word blessed, fortunate in the highest degree, to be congratulated are the poor in spirit. The holiest thoughts are not somber but joyful: ‘Your blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.’ ( Mt 5:3 Mssg) The first thing Jesus was sent to do was ‘to bring good news to the poor’ (Isa 61:1). Upon the corner-stone of this first Beatitude rests all the others and the entire body of Jesus’ teaching. ‘The philosophers did not reckon humility among their moral virtues, but Christ puts it first…the foundation of all other graces is laid in humility.’ xiv

‘Poor’ the Greek ptochos- describes absolute and abject poverty, (crouching like beggars) the man who, because he has

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no earthly resources whatever, puts his whole trust in God. ’ xiv Every person is ‘poor spiritually’ but only the ‘poor in spirit’ have acknowledged this in their lives. The natural tendency of the human soul, whether one is rich or poor, is to be proud in spirit. ‘ He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit. ’ xiv We empty our imperfect selves to be filled with the love and sufficiency of Jesus Christ. David became great because he realized his own poverty of condition; This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.’ (Ps 34:6 NKJV) Both the rich and the poor have equal access to become poor in spirit. ‘There wa s a certain rich man who…lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores.’ At his death, the rich man went to Hades, a place of woe and torment, not because he was rich but because he did not believe the spiritual light of ‘Mos es and the proph ets’ that was available to him (17:29) . His riches had deceived him into thinking he was ‘rich and had need of nothing’ yet he didn’t realize he was ‘wretched… poor, blind an d naked.’ (Rev 3:17) Poor Lazarus died and was carried by angels to ‘Abraham’s bosom,’ the place of the righteous dead. His entrance into paradise was not because of his physical poverty, but in his great need he also realized his ‘ spiritual poverty ’ and placed his absolute trust in God. The process of becoming poor in spirit begins with the Holy Spirit revealing to us the true condition of our soul and need for God. We must be grateful and worship the risen Christ who has provided everything for us through his sacrificial act of salvation on the cross. True Christians will perpetually be ‘poor in spirit yet rich towards God.’

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4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Lk 6:21 “B lessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Lk 6:25 Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.) True happiness is obtained through mourning, ‘happy are those who mourn ’ , or ‘happy are the unhappy!’ In the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus reverses the natural order of experiencing happiness by means of amusement and entertainment. Here he teaches us to obtain happiness by means of godly sorrow that leads to a removal of sin, the cause of human discontent. The Beatitudes are a ‘chain of attitudes’ that build in a divine order. This 2 nd one is a result of the 1 st . “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” (2 Cor 7:10 NLT) God meets people in their spiritual brokenness and transforms their sorrows into joy. The first Beatitude of poor in spirit corresponds to Isaiah’s first job description of the Messiah who would ‘bring good news to the poor . ’ Now this second Beatitude is paralleled by Isaiah’s second priority of the Messiah; “He sent me to comfort the brokenhearted … to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come…to all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning …” (Isa 61:1-3) The emphasis is not on the mourning but on the consolation: comfort…favor…beauty…blessing . None of the desired benefits are obtainable without the quality of mourning. In David’s remorse for his own sin and failure he writes: The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. (Ps 51:17)

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Matthew uses ‘the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language…used for mournin g for the dead, passionate lament for one who was loved.’ xiv Jesus, the ‘man of sorrows and acquainted with dee pest grief’ wept at Lazarus’ tomb and over the unrepentant city of Jerusalem yet he was the happiest person to have ever lived. Our mourning is not only for our own brokenness, but for the sins and failures of those we love and for the world we live in. ‘T he Christian life is spent in this way, mourning and joy, sorrow and happiness, and the one should lead to the other immediately.’ xiv God specializes in comforting those who are experiencing sorrow in any form; “God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort others.” (2 Cor 1:2,3 NLT) People often make the most significant changes in their lives during their time of mourning when we show them the comfort of God. I led my mother to faith in Christ the day following the death of my father. She spent the rest of her life pursuing God’s will and blessing for her. His Kingdom is to be a place of healing through the spiritual and emotional comfort expressed by his followers. The happiness increases with each succeeding Beatitude and cannot be experienced without embracing those that are before it. Meekness is a direct result of becoming poor in spirit and godly mourning. This Beatitude is taken directly from Psalm 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalm 37 is David’ s version of the Sermon on the Mount where he instructs us to develop our inner life of trust and humility before God. xiv 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

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Meekness praeis is ‘o ne of the great Greek ethical words…the regular word for an animal that has been domesticated, which has been trained to obey the word of command, which has learned to answer to the reins. ’ xiv If seen only in relationship to our fellowman, it would appear that the meek would always be taken advantage of, have no desire to stand for conviction and yet the opposite is true. ‘ The Christian word, on the contrary, describes an inward quality, and that as related primarily to God . ’ xiv It is first our attitude of humility towards the Lord and secondly manifested in our relationships to people. We are ‘tamed’ and domesticate d by the Master because of his love. The opposite qualities in human nature are violence, aggression, assertion, wildness and oppression. “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble (meek) and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Mt 11:30 NLT) Jesus graciously offers to teach us the way of humility but we first must be yoked with him, committed to follow his guidance as the ‘lead ox.’ Under the yoke of his direction we react to life’s difficulties in a different way than those who lead t hemselves. ‘ The meek man is not proud of himself…does not assert himself…does not dem and for himself…is not even sensitive about himself…no longer protects himself…never pities himself…to be meek means that you have finished with yourself altogether.’ xiv Meekness is compatible with strength. ‘ It is the power and influence of our gifts, knowledge and abilities placed under the control of another ’ . xiv The meek get out of the way of God so he can move into the situation with his perfect knowledge and wisdom. It was said of Moses, the great leader

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of t he Exodus… (Now the man Moses was very humble, [ meek ] more than all men who were on the face of the earth. Num 12:3 NLT) And yet this same meekness causes Moses to stand boldly before the Pharaoh of Egypt: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go …” (Ex 5:1) The meek become the most courageous people on the earth. As a young pastor, I had a member of my church come to me and read a list of grievances and accusations against my character. They listed selfishness, pride and a host of other negatives. My first reaction was one of anger, but I waited for the Holy Spirit to give me his response. To my own surprise and the accusers as well I answer ed; ‘ Y ou are wrong.’ They stiffened, ready to be mo re forceful; ‘I am much , much worse than all of this you have said, but I am under the grace and love of Jesus and he is helping me to become more like him!’ My accuser left, completely disarmed without anything to say. We later became close friends. Under his yoke, God helped me, for one shining moment, to be meek. The reward is both “ temporal ,” with blessings of peace and happiness in this life, as well as “eternal.” The Jews of Jesus day had hoped to rid themselves of Roman tyranny by a political Messiah who would lead them in a violent insurrection and regain the land. Through meekness Jesus was instructing all of humanity how to obtain that which God has in store for them. In Psalm 37, David further instructs us as to how the meek will inherit the earth …

o V 9 …those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

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o V 22- …those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth o V 29 …the righteous shall inherit the land,

o V 34…keep his way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land.

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-Chapter 17- Prayer (Mt. 6:5-8)

J esus now addresses prayer: the most intimate relationship between God and man. In verse 5 he comments on the Hypocrite ’ s Prayer ; Hidden Prayer in verse 6; the Heathen ’ s Prayer in verse 7 and 8 and Heavenly Prayer (The Lord’s Prayer) in verses 9-13. He deals with the proper motivation for prayer, where to pray, the reward of prayer and futile methods to avoid while speaking with God. He then gives us a ‘prayer’ that will always be heard in heaven and is a model for all our communication with the Father. Prayer is the ‘universal human instinct’ xiv common to people of all faiths; we were made to live in a continual relationship with God. ‘ Only through Jesus can we find the Father in prayer. ’ xiv Jesus confronted the highly-systematized world of Jewish prayer with his much simpler and relational approach to the Father in Heaven. • Prayer was formalized in the Jewish world: The devout Jews were required to pray the Shema three times per day. This is passage is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 … ”Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord…” In addition to the Shema, they were required to pray the Shemoneh ‘esreh - The Eighteen prayers three times a day as well. For many, prayer Jewish Prayer Life

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became a mere repetition of words to be completed as quickly as possible.

• There were set times for prayer: The hours were 9 AM, 12 noon and 3 PM. Whatever place a man found himself he was bound to pray. • There were designated places of prayer: Jews would go to the synagogue for prayer and for those living in Jerusalem the location was the Temple. In the first days of Christianity, the disciples carried on this tradition: “Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service.” (Acts 3:1) • There was a tendency towards lengthy prayers: Rabbi Levi is quoted as saying: ‘whoever is long in prayer is heard.’ Piling up man y adjectives in addressing God was viewed as a virtue; ‘O Most High, Omnipotent, Benevolent, Lord of Hosts, Majesty…etc.’ xiv

Nothing was more revolutionary than Jesus’ warnings and instructions concerning the act of prayer.

HYPOCRITE’S PRAYE R

5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.

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Jesus assumes that his followers will pray; when you pray. He knows that this is the most important factor to the growth of his spiritual kingdom and its methods cannot be left to anyone’s private interpretation. In the spiritual realm the more faithfully we pray, the more the Lord will work; the less we pray, the more we will have to work. We again are introduced to the hypocrites, religious actors who are putting on a splendid performance using prayer as their stage. ‘They love to pray’…unfortunately it is not prayer which they love, nor God… but the opportunity which public praying gives them to parade themselves. ’ xiv They want everyone to see how devout they are, so they make sure that they can be found ‘on the corners of the widest streets’ xiv during the designated hours of prayer. The motivation is all wrong, to be seen by others. Something so holy as talking with God is used to adore oneself. ‘This tendency on our part to self - adulation is something that follows us even into the very presence of God.’ xiv In our fallen state, we even want to use God for our own glory. Jesus does not like this. There is a reward for the hypocrite ’ s prayer; it is a greater admiration of oneself and pride that others are so impressed with their devotion to God. The problem with this fleeting reward is that it has no benefit in heaven and has no lasting spiritual accomplish ment. ‘If I turn my self into a spectator of my own prayer performance, if I am giving a show for my own benefit…since we have heard ourselves, God will not hear us. xiv Jesus illustrates this in the story of the self- congratulatory Pharisee: “The Pharisee stood and prayed this Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

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prayer to himself. I thank you God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else.” (Lk 18:11)

HIDDEN PRAYER

9 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Jesus is referring here to the private prayer life of his followers in contrast to the corporate prayer of the church. This is something he did often: “One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone.” (Lk 9:18) He does not put a time requirement on his instruction to pray knowing that such external demands will cause it to become a mechanical duty rather than a delight. The word for prayer is prosuche, used exclusively for both worship and petitioning God. Hidden prayer is filled with the incense of adoration, thanksgiving and love as well as requests. He does not demand that we pray in a specific place. The room is a tameion, ‘ store-house, a s eparate apartment, one’s private ch amber, closet, or “den” where he can withdraw from the world. ’ xiv One meaning is ‘treasure - house’ where we can discover the hidden riches of God’s purpose and pathway for our life. Your ‘room’ may be on top of a hill or a walk alone on the beach or in the forest as well as a private quarter. The Father himself is ‘hidden’ from the view of th e world where so much busy activity takes place; he is accessed wherever we steal away to a ‘ secret place’ with him.

Jesus does not demand beautiful, professional prayers. In using the term Father, he shows us that our hearts must be

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child-like and sincere, trusting in his love and care for us.

‘ Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference. ’ xiv We will never know the rewards of a relationship with the Father unless we spend time in his ‘treasure room.’

HEATHEN’S PRAYER

10 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans (heathens), for they think they will be heard because of their many words. This is the third-time Jesus mentions when you pray, strongly advocating that his disciples must pray. He warns us to not keep on babbling (battalogeo) a unique word that is not found anywhere else in the bible or in ancient literature. It is translated as “to heap up empty phrases” in the RSV and thought by some to mean ‘to stammer.’ Jesus further expands its meaning in the next sentence when he explains it as many words (polulogia) ‘a torre nt of mechanical and mindless words.’ xiv ‘A noisy flow of sound without meaning…values quantity (and perhaps volume) rather than quality. It is not necessarily purely mechanical, but rather busy and unnecessary. ’ xiv The prophets of Baal in the OT illustrate this point so well: “Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no reply of any kind …So they shouted louder…They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.” (1 Kgs 18:26, 28)

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Any mindless activity that does not engage the heart and spirit of the worshiper is equated with the empty practices of pagan prayer. Praying through prescribed regimens, lists, the written prayers of others as well as the prayers found in the Bible can be helpful only if the one praying realizes that they are in a conversation with a living, compassionate God. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His wil l, He hears us.” (1 Jn 5:14) It is implied in this passag e from Jesus’ teaching that there is a place for silence in the Lord’s presence. “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” (Ps 62:5 NKJV) Prayer and communion with God can take place in the sanctuary of our conscience without spoken words; this side of prayer concentrates on waiting and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us in impressions, thoughts and verses of Scripture. When Mother Theresa was ask ed; “When you pray, what do you say to God?” …” I don’t say anything”…she replied. When a Christian prays in an “unknown language,” the Scriptures tell us that we are “talking only to God… speaking by the power of the Spirit” and that we are being “st rengthened personally…” (1 Cor 14:2,4) God is divinely bypassing our natural understanding that we may pray in perfect harmony with the Holy Spirit. These words will be heard by our Father in heaven, the person engaged in such prayer is not babbling.

11 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

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Jesus asks us to lay down any similarities our current prayer life has with the practices of the hypocrites and the faithless begging of the pagans . He then reminds us that God ‘ is neither ignorant, so that we need to instruct him, nor hesitant, so that we need to persuade him. ’ xiv Our needs are a signal to draw us to our Father to see how they can be fulfilled in relationship to His will. “And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” (1 Jn 5:15) Prayer becomes an expression of trust and growing love for God.

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-Chapter 25- Do Unto Others (Mt. 7:12)

T his is the most universally recognized saying of Jesus. It had never been said before in all the history of mankind. It is the corner- stone of the newly introduced ‘Kingdom of God’ and has revolutionized civilization and the course of the world. It is ‘the topmost peak of social ethics and the Mou nt Everest of all ethical teaching.’ xiv This small saying was a paradigm shift in the conscience of humanity and when embraced, displays the power of the world to come and the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law and Prophets. ‘The common description of this saying as the “Golden Rule” is tradition ally traced to the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus (A. D. 22 — 35), who, though not a Christian, was reputedly so impressed by the comprehensiveness of this maxim of Jesus as a guide to good living that he had it inscribed in gold on the wall of his chamber. ’ xiv

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Negative Parallels:

The c oncept of negative reciprocity, ‘not doing to others as you would not have them do to you’ was strong in the ancient world of religion and philosophy. The weakness of this point of view is that it simply rest s on ‘not doing certain things;

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it means refraining from certain actions. It is never very difficult not to do things.’ xiv It was actually focused on self-love and self-interest not on the needs of others.

Jewish

The great Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus, famously answered a man who asked him to explain the entire Old Testament Law while he stood on one leg; ‘What is hateful to yourself, do to no other; that is the whole Law, and the rest is commentary. Go and learn.’ In the Book of Tobit, Tobias told his son; ‘What you yourself hate, to no man do’. xiv

Far Eastern

176 King Nicolas laid down this principle for his subjects; ’Do not do to others the things which make you angry when you experience them at the hands of other people. ’ The philosopher Epictetus said; ‘What you avoid suffering yourselves, seek not to inflict upon others.’ The Stoics taught; ‘What you do not wish to be done to you, do not do to anyone else.’ Tsze-Kung, a disciple of the religious philosopher Confucius, asked him, ‘Is there one word whic h may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?’ Confucius said, ‘Is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. ” One of the Buddhist Hymns of Faith recites : “Put ting oneself in the place of others, kill not, nor cause to kill… Doing as one would be done by, kill not nor cause to kill. ” Greek

Roman

Seneca, in teaching about leadership said; “Behave toward your inferior as you would like your superior to behave to you.”

Early Christian

Some of the early Christian writers continued the negative focus of the teaching. It is written in The Didache (Christian instruction which was dependent on Matthew ’s Gospel) ‘ Whatever you would like not to be done to you, you also must not do to others. ’ xiv The Gospel of Thomas states; ‘ Do not do what you hate ’.

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

The Positive Teaching of Jesus:

14 So…(therefore)… is an important ‘hinge’ word in the Golden Rule. It tells us that the compact saying is a summation of all that has been previously taught in the Sermon concerning Jesus’ demands for a better righteousness . “… unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Mt 5:20) The Golden Rule ‘…is a remarkably flex ible ethical principle…All we have to do is use our imagination, put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, and ask, “ How would I like to be treated in that situation? ”’ xiv Bishop Ryle of England

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observed, ‘It settles a hundred difficult points…It prevents t he necessity of laying down endless little rules for our conduct in specific cases.’ Jesus was the master at capsulizing complex ideas into memorable sayings. The Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke best illustrates this saying of Jesus. The priest and the Levite representing the Law, were repelled by the condition of the unfortunate Jewish man who was beaten, robbed and left for dead and did nothing to help him. The Samaritan felt compassion for him…soothed his wounds…and bandaged them. He put the man o n his own donkey…took him to an inn…took ca re of him. He even offered to pay the innkeeper any additional costs, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here. (Lk 10:33 -35) All inequities and costs will be repaid at Christ’s return. The Samaritan did what you would have them do to you, had he been the victim. This pro-active principle of love is the most powerful force in the world. ‘The negative confines us to the region of justice; the positive takes us into the region of generosity or grace, and so embraces bot h law and prophets.’ xiv The Old Testament focused on the balance of justice in human relationships: “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for and eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’” (Mt 5:38) Jesus takes his disciples into the positive realm of divine love, the power of the Kingdom of God. If the two poles of a magnet are the same (negative to negative) the two magnets will push away, or repel, from each other. The law, though pure and spiritual, was like the negatively charged end of a magnet that is placed next to the

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negative hearts of sinful humanity pushing them away. The Kingdom of God reverses this polarity of the Old Testament and introduces a new, revolutionary positive attraction, do to others what you would have them do to you. This Golden Rule ‘… is a principle so all-embracing that he can declare not so much that it is the greatest commandment but that it actually “is” the law and the prophets. ’ xiv It sums up the second table of Moses’ law that deals with huma n relationships and fulfills Jesus’ second command ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself ’ (Lev 19:18) . This positive love underlies all the teaching of the Law and the Prophets. What once was an outward command in the Old Testament, is now an inward impulse of the heart because of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The ‘new commandment’ to love was contained in the Old Covenant yet restrained by our selfish human nature. It is now activated and made possible by the new nature of Christ living within the believer. This is the central teaching of the Apostles of the New Covenant: • James- Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (James 2:8) • John- “And this is his commandment; we must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.’ (1 Jn 3:22) • Paul- “Owe nothing to anyone– except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God ’s law. Fo r the commandments say, ‘You must not commi t adultery. You

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must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.’ These– and other such commandments – are summed up in this one commandment: ‘L ove your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s l aw. (Rom 13:8-10) The Kingdom of God has come to reign in the hearts of those who follow Jesus, are filled with the Holy Spirit and do to others what you would have them do to you. God is the new center and purpose for living that frees mankind from the tyranny of self.

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