The book of Matthew records the words of Jesus relating to a variety of moral and ethical teachings. We find these words in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. The words in the first 12 verses of Matthew 5 will be the subject of future lessons, but we need to get a little background before we start.
Matthew was a tax collector, probably one of the most hated of professions during the time of Jesus’ life on earth. His other name was Levi. He may have adopted the name, “Matthew” (means “a reward”) because of his newfound friend, Jesus. Or Jesus may have changed his name as He did with others of the disciples.
Matthew wrote this book after the death of the Lord. He was writing about the things he saw and heard, and he was writing by direction of the Holy Spirit.
Each of the writers of the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, wrote to different groups of people and for different reasons. Matthew wrote to the Jews, those chosen people of God who had traveled from the land of Egypt across the wilderness into the Promised Land of Canaan. They had endured all kinds of trials on their journey. They had also corrupted the commands of God by worshiping idols and changing the laws handed down by God Himself.
The Pharisees wanted to follow the letter of the Law without consideration for the individual. They didn’t like it that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. They didn’t like that the disciples ate without first washing their hands.
The Pharisees believed there were 613 laws, and they believed in a very strict interpretation of the laws regarding the Sabbath, divorce, oaths, wearing phylacteries, tithing, and ritual purity.
They would not eat with a non-Pharisee, and they were concerned more about the praise of men than the praise of God. Jesus had a difficult time trying to teach with this group of people who were asking questions to trick Him and plotting to kill Him.
Matthew begins the book by tracing the generations of Jesus back through David and to Abraham. This was very important to the Jews because they were proud of their heritage, and they used every opportunity to refer to their being descendants of Abraham.
Jesus often stole away to a deserted place, often a mountain, to be alone with God. More often than not, His prayer time was disrupted by the people wanting Him to heal them, teach them, feed them, or answer their questions.
When He had a large group of people following Him, He needed an area where He could be seen and heard by those people. He would find a place, sometimes boarding a boat and teaching from there as the people stood or sat on the shore.
This time he went up into a mountain, a place where the people would have a place to sit; and He began to teach them.
The word, “blessed”, used in these promises conveys the idea of having spiritual well-being and prosperity. It means “happy”. It is a word that is found in both the Old and New Testaments. We can find the word “blessed” in Psalms 1:1; Psalms 34:8; Psalms 65:4; Psalms 128:1; John 20:29; Romans 14:22; James 1:12; and Revelation 14:13.
The theme of this series of promises, and possibly the entire sermon, is found in Matthew 5:48. Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (KJV). This is a striving to perfection, since no one can be perfect like God.
Each of these promises carries with it conditions. They carry the promise of: having the kingdom of heaven, being comforted, inheriting the earth, being filled, obtaining mercy, seeing God, being called the children of God, and the promise of a great reward in heaven.
With these promises, we should want to know what we have to do to obtain them. I hope you will join me in a study of the Beatitudes and the promises we have in store through our obedience to His Word.
Sandra Oliver