SESSION 1 : THE BEATITUDES, PART 1

SESSION 1 : THE BEATITUDES, PART 1 SCRIPTURE MATTHEW 5:1 5 WELCOME Welcome to this study of the Sermon on the Mount! Together we will be challenged by Jesus teachings, and we will find in God and this supportive community the resources we need to let his teachings change our lives. The Sermon on the Mount (5:1 7:29), like the Ten Commandments, is one of the best-known passages in the Bible. Many people are at least somewhat familiar with the Beatitudes, the Lord s Prayer, and the parable about the two men who built their houses on sand and on rock. Yet the Sermon on the Mount is undoubtedly much better known than it is understood or practiced. Often people either minimize the radical nature of Jesus commands, or else they explain away the demands as being figurative or applying only to some ideal time in the future. But much of what is found in the Sermon on the Mount is also found elsewhere in the teachings of Jesus and Paul. One would have to dismiss the relevancy of much of the New Testament to evade the force of this sermon. The Sermon on the Mount is a picture of what the inner character should be like for a follower of Jesus in any age. It clearly makes people come face to face with the radical demands of the kingdom of God brought near by the coming of Jesus. It is important to note that the Sermon on the Mount is primarily given to Jesus disciples (5:1). The crowds are present (5:1; 7:28), but the immediate audience is those who professed allegiance to Jesus. This sermon, then, is not the program one must follow in order to become a disciple; it is the way of life that is pursued by those who are disciples. Like all the biblical writers, Matthew makes it clear that a relationship with God is a gift one receives by God s grace. Jesus is the light of all nations, calling upon people to receive the kingdom of God (4:17). He graciously invites people to become his disciples (4:18 22). He reaches out in love to all who call upon him in faith (8:2 3,5 7; 9:2,22,29). No one earns his or her way to God (19:16ff) salvation is a gift from God. The Sermon on the Mount is not meant to be a new law in the sense that Jesus was laying down new regulations for people to observe. People then, as now, did not need more rules to tell them how God wanted them to live. The problem, as illustrated by the history of Israel, was that people consistently minimized or bent the rules in order to fit their own interests. It was this approach to the Law that allowed the Pharisees to assume, for instance, that since they had not actually murdered anyone, they had fully kept the sixth commandment. It was this approach that allowed them to assume that if divorce was legally allowed, it must be in accord with God s desire for mankind. And so it should be said that 5:20 underscores the theme of the entire sermon:... unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The problem with the Pharisees style of righteousness was that they bent the law to fit their practice and then pretended they were successfully following it all. Jesus said that was not acceptable. What people needed to do was to truly see the full demands of the Law, keep it as the target for which they were always reaching, but then also realize that we all stand only through the grace of God. Scholars agree that hyperbole is used in this sermon, but they disagree strongly about where and when it is used. Most scholars would agree that hyperbole is involved in the command, don t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing when one gives to the needy (6:3). This would be impossible. Another 11

such hyperbolic statement is when Jesus says, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away (5:30). A literal application of this would leave us all maimed! However, Christians are deeply divided about whether the statements, whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (5:32) or don t resist an evildoer (5:39) are to be understood hyperbolically or literally. Important considerations in deciding whether or not something is to be taken as hyperbole or as literal teaching are: (1) How does a literal interpretation harmonize with other biblical teaching and examples related to the subject? For example, Jesus certainly resisted evil persons in the sense of strongly condemning certain actions of the Pharisees (Luke 11:39 54). (2) How does a literal interpretation relate to the general ethical tenor of the Bible that puts a stress on grace, human wholeness, love and justice? For example, the emphasis in Amos and other prophets on doing justice would seem to demand resisting people who are evil in the sense of acting unjustly. All of these considerations indicate that a study of the Sermon on the Mount is a challenging task. It will stretch us intellectually and spiritually. But, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and a supportive community to help us reflect, it will be a valuable experience indeed. ICE-BREAKER : CONNECT WITH YOUR GROUP 15 MINUTES LEADER:Be sure to read the introductory material in the front of this book prior to this first session. To help your group members get acquainted, have each person introduce him or herself and then take turns answering one or two of the Ice- Breaker questions. If time allows, you may want to discuss all three questions. 12 Today we are beginning our journey through the Sermon on the Mount with a look at some of the blessings that await those who follow Christ and live according to his teachings. Take some time to get to know one another better by sharing your responses to the following questions. 1. What kind of crowd were you part of when you were in high school? The in crowd. A sports crowd. A concert crowd. A crowded shopping mall. No crowd at all I was a loner. Other. 2. Who was the best teacher you had in high school? What lesson do you especially remember learning from this teacher? 3. What is something you have inherited from your parents or grandparents? What is something you would like to pass along to your kids?

BIBLE STUDY : READ SCRIPTURE AND DISCUSS 30 MINUTES LEADER: Select a member of the group ahead of time to read aloud the Scripture passage. Then discuss the Questions for Interaction, dividing into subgroups of three to six. Be sure to save time at the end for the Caring Time. LEADER: Refer to the Summary and Study Notes at the end of this session as needed. If 30 minutes is not enough time to answer all of the questions in this section, conclude the Bible Study by answering questions 6 and 7. The Beatitudes are among Jesus best-known teachings. They promote eight qualities in persons who want to be part of the kingdom that Christ is ushering in. Read Matthew 5:1 5, and note the reward that comes with each blessing. The Beatitudes 5When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He began to teach them, saying: 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the gentle, because they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:1 5 QUESTIONS FOR INTERACTION 1. Who was most likely to comfort you when you were a child and things went wrong? What loss or hurt do you especially remember this person comforting you about? 2. Define in your own words what it means to be poor in spirit. Why does Jesus promise a reward for those who have that state of mind? 3. What kind of mourning do you think Jesus is talking about in verse 4 (see note)? What causes you to mourn? 4. How is being gentle different than being a spineless doormat? Who do you know who models a healthy kind of humility? 5. By which of these first three Beatitudes do you feel most challenged? 6. This past week, have you felt more blessed or stressed? What can you do to be more focused on God s blessings in your life? Spend more time in prayer and Bible study. Help those who are less fortunate than I. Keep a list of all my blessings and review them daily. Begin my prayer time by thanking God for my blessings. Other. 13

7. What are you mourning at in this stage of your life? What can this group do to help bring you comfort? GOING DEEPER: If your group has time and/or wants a challenge, go on to this question. 8. If the gentle shall inherit the earth, why does the world seem to have so many power-hungry egotists in charge right now? What role, if any, should a truly gentle person take in challenging the way the world is run by the not-sogentle right now? CARING TIME : APPLY THE LESSON AND PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER 15 MIN. LEADER: Take some extra time in this first session to go over the group covenant found at the front of this book. At the close, pass around your books and have everyone sign the Group Directory. This very important time is for developing and expressing your concern for each other as group members by praying for one another. 1. Agree on the group covenant and ground rules that are described in the introduction to this book. 2. Share a blessing in your life for which you would like to thank God. 3. Share any other prayer requests and praises, and then close in prayer. Pray specifically for God to lead you to someone to bring next week to fill the empty chair. 14 NEXT WEEK Today we explored the first three Beatitudes and the blessings that await those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, and those who are gentle. We were reminded of the blessings that God gives us every day of our lives. In the coming week, make a list of all of your blessings and post them somewhere as a reminder of God s goodness and kindness in your life. Next week we will look at the rest of the Beatitudes and see what it means to take a stand in the midst of adversity.

NOTES ON MATTHEW 5:1 5 Summary: The Sermon on the Mount is the first and longest of five major teaching sections in Matthew. Here, Jesus focuses on the subject of the kingdom of heaven and what is involved in living as part of it. The Beatitudes, as a section of that sermon, is one of its best-known sections. Actually, a beatitude is a saying denoting who is to be blessed. They are so named because in Latin each statement begins with the word hiatus. There are many of these beatitudes throughout Scripture (Ps. 1:1; 32:1 2; 40:4; Prov. 28:14; Isa. 56:2). Jesus here pronounces as blessed those who others would not think were blessed at all: the poor in spirit, the ones who mourn, and the gentle. Each of Jesus beatitudes begins by defining the character (spiritual state) of those who are members of the kingdom of God; it then moves to the reward such a person can expect. The essential point is that those who have little now will, with faith and obedience, have much when the kingdom comes to fruition. 5:1 the mountain. It is not the topography but the theology that is important here. To the original Jewish readers, this would have been an inescapable allusion to the time long before when Moses climbed Mount Sinai and delivered the Law to Israel. Jesus is being portrayed as the prophet like Moses to whom the people are to listen (Deut. 18:15). sat down. Typically when rabbis taught in the synagogue, they would sit rather than stand the way modern preachers do. This also accents Jesus authoritative position. disciples. This teaching is for all followers of Jesus. 5:3 Blessed are. The Greek word makarios refers to those who are to be congratulated or who are fortunate or well-off. It does not mean that they are happy or prospering. Instead, whether or not they know or feel it, they are fortunate because their condition reflects that they are in a right relationship to God. poor in spirit. This phrase does not refer to those who are poor in the material sense, but to those who acknowledge their need of God. Luke s version omits the words in spirit. Quite often, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the poor in spirit were literally poor as well, because their insistence on being faithful to God made them targets of oppression and exploitation by those who compromised God s standards for their own material gain. For instance, Isaiah 61:1ff, which serves as a background for the Beatitudes, announces the coming of God s deliverance to the Jewish exiles who were lowly (poor), brokenhearted (mourning), and captives in a hostile land (the meek). It is not an idealistic notion of the supposed simplicity of poverty, but rather a reflection of the inner character of the person who would be a follower of Jesus. the kingdom of heaven is theirs. This pronouncement ushers in a new order. Traditionally, Jews assumed that the reign of God meant the exaltation and leadership of Israel over all the nations. In one brief sentence, Jesus undermines such nationalistic ideas. God s kingdom, conceived as a state of peace, fullness, justice, and abundance (Isa. 42; 49; 51; 65:17 25), is promised to anyone recognizing his or her need for God. Whether or not one was an Israelite was no longer the defining issue. The Beatitudes assert that in Jesus this deliverance has come for all types of people who acknowledge their need and dependence on God. 15

16 5:4 those who mourn. This does not refer to those bereaved by the common tragedies that come upon all people, but to those who are in touch with the pain of the world caused by the pride, arrogance, and evil of people who do not recognize their bankruptcy before God. In short, this is a mourning over sin, both that which is intensely personal and that which is broadly social. they will be comforted. They will receive words of hope from the ultimate Comforter. 5:5 the gentle. This is similar in meaning to the phrase poor in spirit. It involves a lifestyle marked by gentleness, humility, and courteousness. The word used here for gentleness is the same one used of Jesus himself in 11:28 30, in which he is called gentle and humble in heart. they will inherit the earth. The irony of God s reign is that, despite the efforts of those who grasp for the world, it will one day be given over to those who have demonstrated a life of gentleness.