Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon on the Mount
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 11:5-6
Jesus Heals and Brings Us the Good News
5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
When I read the four gospels and Sermon on the Mount, I see that the way we see our world is different than the way God sees the world and the Way He thinks about our earthly world...The Sermon on the Mount is one of Jesus' Great Sermons...In this Sermon we see that Jesus blesses those in trouble, the meek, those who mourn, and those who are peacemakers...
Man seeks out the famous, those who succeed, and those in power, the celebrity, those in power, those who have wealth, and those who have many material things...Jesus did not teach these things...Jesus seeks out the one who is not famous...He looks for those who have trouble succeeding...He looks for those not in power to help, but to the crippled, the blind, and the lame and offers them His help...He looks for the sick people of this world...He seeks the poor in this world...
Jesus is seeking and searching for the lost sinner...This world, however, is for the rich, the powerful, the celebrity, and the famous, and looks up to them...While Jesus taught and talked about the lost, the unknown, and those in need...How did the world get this way and out of sync with the One who will save us?...Why aren't we in harmony with our Savior?...When Jesus went out looking for the least, this world looks up to the greatest...When did the world start seeking the first, Jesus sought out the last...
Jesus gave the blind the ability to see...Jesus healed and cleansed the lepers...He helped the deaf hear...He raised the dead...And He preached the good news to the poor...Blessed are those who follow Him and do not stumble on account of Him...
Some people will tell us that we got out of harmony with Jesus, at the time of the fall of man, when we were disobedient with God in the Garden of Eden...And these broken times seem to have persisted and lingered on generation after generation...We have failed to make our way out of this broken world to follow His wisdom in the Sermon on the Mount...We have failed to make it back to the Garden...But we need to get back to the Garden with God...