Chapter Five - “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

Chapter Five

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

As Jesus continues to bring his teaching, His character becomes evident and His desire for us to become like Him is clear.      God has always presented Himself as a merciful God. Even in the times of the law, God’s intention was that by exposing mankind to the judgment that had befallen upon them by the disobedience of the law, He would have the opportunity to show us His kindness and mercy. God did not create us for destruction; it was never God’s intention to be cruel and unmerciful but to express the true essence of Him as a merciful God, a loving God. Let’s read Romans 9:14-16: “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him, who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. (NKJ)
It is God’s choice to show us His mercy, not because of us, not because we deserve, the fact that we may be a good person, never harming anyone in anyway does not entitle us to be receivers of His mercy; we were born out of sin, inherited by Adam’s fall, Romans 3:23 says: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..” We fell short of God’s glory, BUT by HIS mercy we have been given the opportunity to see His glory again. Why is so important to understand the Merciful side of God? Because by understanding HIS mercy towards us we get to see how important it is to not withhold mercy towards others like ourselves. We are no better than anyone else; God’s mercy is not available only to some who have “earned” HIS mercy but to all who are ready to recognize that it is not about us but about Him, becoming like Him and walking in His footsteps.
When we understand His mercy we see that we have no right not to forgive, for He has done something much greater than we could ever deserve. Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-5: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,      even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…”, He loved us before we loved Him! His mercy goes beyond the type of mercy the world preaches, His mercy is more than just simply sparing us from punishment but His mercy brings a restoration from our fallen nature; it’s God’s effort to bring us back to His original plan: Fellowship with Him!
The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 is a great example of showing mercy, demonstrating a compassionate heart even if the norm discouraged us to it.
The passage mentions about three men: A priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The first two men were very religious, passing by the wounded man, unwilling to involve themselves because they would get impure. The ritual for purification after touching such man would cost them time and effort and they apparently were not willing to go through all the “trouble of helping” someone in need.
The third man comes to the picture. A Samaritan man, who by so many Jews was regarded as an inferior race, not considered as honorable people as the Jews. But, the interesting turn of this little parable was the fact the Jesus turning the “table” around and presents an attitude different then the people would normally expect.
     Jesus wanted to show that the act of mercy would not necessarily come out of those who give the outward appearance, but from those who genuinely felt compassion regardless of the status and background of the one in need.
     He wanted us to learn that an act of mercy should be an impartial act, not to be avoided by malice and prejudice but must be done out of a servant’s heart!
Mercy is one of the facets of God’s love, just as grace is a part of love that moves His heart towards us forgiving us from our guilt, so is mercy, God’s effort to help us in our state of misery. The act of showing mercy is a demonstration of God’s character in our lives, by that, we show His love. The apostle John in his first letter chapter 4 and verse 8 describes the importance of love in the life of a Christian: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love”. (NKJ) Do we want to obtain love and mercy from God? Do we want to value His forgiveness, His love? Let us exercise Mercy, the more we show it the closer we get to the Heart of God. The world can not feel and be blessed through an act of mercy for they do not understand the concept of Grace. They need to know that only through Grace, the undeserved gift; we can feel the blessing of mercy, helping other in distress for we have also been helped without deserving to be helped!

Chapter Four - “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

According to Francis J. McConnell, in his commentary in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, there are two aspects of righteousness. One is permanent, like the bearings of a compass, to keep us in the right direction and the other in constant change. How do we define righteousness? How do we know that, in the decisions we take we are doing what’s right? As society evolves and is in constant change, so are the values in which society itself is governed by. We can define then, that righteousness is not merely the obedience of a set of rules but the very reason why we act the way we do, based on the permanent principles that guide us throughout life.
The set of commandments that God gave the people of Israel was in its core; to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as your self. These were the guidelines by which the nation would be known as a righteous among other nations.
Moses expresses very clear in Deuteronomy 6:25: “Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us”' (NKJ). The observance of the law was to become righteousness for the nation. God’s standard was to bring them into a higher level, a nation that had no guidelines in which to function as a society or even to become what God had intended for them: a Theocracy.
The permanent status of God’s righteousness was to be followed by the devotion to the principles that were implicit in the commandments given by Him.
In the other hand the changing status of righteousness was clearly understood by the apostle Paul as he writes in 2 Corinthians 1:12: “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you (NKJ).
Paul’s conduct was not only dictated by a set of rules, but by his very own consciousness, evolving in the application of God’s principles according to the time he lived in.
But how is that connected to the Kingdom of God? And where do we get the direction to guide us in the path that will bring us fulfillment as Jesus presented to us?
In order to understand righteousness, we need to understand its very essence, God!
Righteousness plays a strong role in God’s position as creator of the universe. Righteousness is one of the attributes of God’s character; it defines who He is and how He operates. Deuteronomy 32:4 says: “He is the Rock; His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.”(NKJ). No one could ever accuse God of being unrighteous or unfair. As the sun is to warmth so is God to righteousness, you can’t separate them, they are part of one thing, God’s righteousness is His essence.
Applying the physical reality to express a spiritual truth was one of the most effective ways of Jesus’ teaching. The idea of hunger and thirst brings to our minds the fact that these are very obvious signals from our bodies that something is missing and needs to be replenished. God designed us this way so the moment our bodies lack something to keep us processing and functioning correctly, we receive such signals.
In the same way in the kingdom of God the idea of being hungry and thirsty for righteousness is that just as we need food and water to sustain ourselves, also, in our spiritual lives we can not live without His righteousness, the very essence of God!
Jesus in Matthew 6:33 says: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.(NKJ).
Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for righteousness, they shall be filled… all these things shall be added to you. Prioritizing God in our lives will bring us where David says in his Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want! When God comes first in our lives, everything becomes fulfilled; our desires and needs are made complete. The more we want of Him, His righteousness, the less we will feel the need in the worldly realm. The superficial and perishable becomes unattractive; the more we want of Him, less we become of ourselves, getting closer and closer to His own image.
When we seek first God’s righteousness, we are giving Him the opportunity to make the decisions for us; we give Him control, the final answer. When we have a legal dispute, in the world we live in, we seek legal advice even to the point of seeking a final decision from a judge. Once that decision is made, the case is closed. Seeking God’s righteousness means seeking His final decision, we are saying that what ever God decides, we will abide by it.
Allowing God to take such control will show trust and faith in Him, that in no matter what the outcome may be, we will trust that He has the best way out. Proverbs 19:21 says: “There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the LORD'S counsel-- that will stand.”
Though we may have many plans and ideas, when we are thirsty and hungry of God’s righteousness, we will allow HIS counsel stand; His word will prevail, His will is fulfilled in us. The Psalmist gives us a good example of ones desiring God with thirst and hunger. There are several Psalms expressing such idea. Psalms expresses the longing of man’s heart to grow in fellowship with His creator and Lord.
Psalms 63:1 says: “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water”. Also Psalms 42:1-2 says: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” The intensity of our desire for God will determine the amount of time that we will prioritize to be with Him, as the psalmist says: “My soul thirsts for you! Are we longing for God? Are we hungry for more of Him? Are we satisfied with the little glimpses of God’s glory or do we want more of Him? The prophet Amos in chapter 8 and verse 11 says: "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” Let our famine for Him grow! We are blessed for He will satisfy us. He will not leave us in want but He will bring satisfaction to our souls. The more we want of Him, the more He will fill us and the more we are filled of Him the more we will want of Him!

Chapter Three - “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

In the new thinking of the kingdom, the idea of meekness is a non-imposing and non-demanding attitude. The mentality of Jesus’ time was a mentality of force, demand, military power, either by the Romans who had already taken Judea by force, settling in with military force or by the political branch who constantly preached the idea that the Messiah would come with as a “conquering” military ruler, restoring the kingdom of Israel to the former glory of David. When Jesus came with a message of peace and meekness, it confronted that common thinking. How can we possess something if not by force? The Bible says that is not by power nor by might but by my Spirit, says the Lord! (Zechariah 4:6).
We read in Isaiah 61, a scripture that is fulfilled in the life of Jesus as the messiah, that Jesus came to bring a message of peace, hope and spiritual restoration for Israel. Jesus could not come to establish His physical kingdom if the very fabric of the kingdom had not yet been established. The bible says in Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth (NKJ).
In the same way, Jesus wanted to show us that, as we learn the concept of meekness, the battle is not ours but God’s. The idea of meekness in the kingdom is emptying us of our own independence and desire to take matters into our own hands and allow the Lord to take control. The Bible says in Psalms Ps 24:1”The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” Why should we then believe that we need to take control in order to receive something? The earth is the Lord’s! Our Blessing is already secured by the Father who has created all things! Jesus was actually quoting Psalms 37 verse 11: “But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” (NKJ)
What a joyous promise! So many times we get so eager and anxious to see things done, questions answered, requests fulfilled, we strive and fight, scream and demand, and eventually we lose our peace! Jesus says that blessed are the meek, already assuring us of that we are fortunate, happy in the moment we decide to take the path of the kingdom, going against the easy road of the flesh, the road of power in our own ability and strength.
The Bible gives us several examples of how blessed we are as we take the path of meekness. In Psalms 22:26 says that the meek shall eat and be satisfied. Greed and dissatisfaction will no longer be the way our lives are driven; rather we have the assurance from God that He will fulfill every need, without us having to impose ourselves, demanding from Him anything that we need.
In Psalms 25:9 we read that the meek shall be guided in justice. Unfairness and frustration are not part of who we are anymore and our attitude towards God changes. We won’t question God’s action, demanding an answer from Him. We will wait on Him, with patience and meekness, knowing that He will do everything according to His justice and will.
Also in Psalms 147 verse 6 says that God upholds the meek! We don’t need to “climb” the ladder of life, stepping on someone else’s shoulder in order to achieve our goals; there’s nothing to be ashamed when we are meek, pride is replaced by the promise of God that He will lift us up, not for our own glory but for His glory and honor, as He works in us and through us.
We as humans were born with a genetic signature, a coding that defines how we are going to look like. In the spiritual sense we have also received in our “spiritual genetic signature” the ability to do what the flesh wants. It doesn’t come naturally to us to be meek, we want to be powerful.
According to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, there is a difference between meekness and weakness. Even though they might give the same impression but there is a fundamental difference between the two of them. Weakness is the result of lack of strength or courage, but meekness comes from one’s own choice of allowing God to take control and trust Him completely without doubt or hesitation. Meekness is due to a person's conscious choice. It is strength and courage under control, coupled with kindness (From Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary).
The world acts on its own fleshly instincts, totally controlled by whatever they feel in the moment. In the kingdom we allow the Spirit of God to control us, guide us and instruct us in what we should do. Paul in his letter to the Galatians describes as a part of the fruit of the Spirit, self control, temperance, the ability to restrain ones impulses and allow the Holy Spirit to act on our stead. The world will see that we don’t need to act hastily but we show them that we depend on the Spirit of God. Our strength comes from Him, not from ourselves.