Matthew 5 ~ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

 

 

 

Matthew 5

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible   

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

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

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹  “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

¹⁴  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that  they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

¹⁷  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Anger

²¹  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother^{[without cause]} will be liable to judgment; whoever insults ^{[a term of abuse]} his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵  Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶ Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Lust

²⁷  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. ³⁰  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Divorce

³¹  “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²  But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

³³ “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Retaliation

³⁸  “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹ And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²  Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Love Your Enemies

⁴³  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers,^{[brothers and sister]} what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

It would seem reading Matthew 5, Jesus expects life to be difficult, people deceitful, and mercy something we will need to get by.  We are placed far down the path from the Holiness of GOD. 

I knew a very smart, brash, and fearful young boy. He was on the path to recovery from general abuse from the world. He was in 7th grade and a young girl on the bus to school discovered he was verbal, interesting and handsome. Enter in the trouble Jesus told us we could expect. Jealousy in the form of a spitter. Another young boy who resorted to the most awful expectorant he could spray on my son. Just because he wanted to spoil something sweet and precious.

And this expectorant would find Cal in the hallways, any place he could. And we consulted our Godly friends, and they are, and they advised it was past the forgiveness portion. Go for clocking the spitter in the nose and if an school suspension should result - then so be it. My elder son and the younger son practiced what a nose punch would look like. A moment of comedy erupted when the older son asked the younger son - how do you punch. Total shocked silence. Then laughter. You should know that. Cal raised his thin wrists. And made a very feeble motion.  Alexander showed him the direct, meaty wrist puuuunch. With the comment, "You know this."

How did it go? Cal defied the Godly friends, the Godly Mom and all the non-Matthew 5 advice. By giving mercy in the form of -  Grabbing the expectorant, looking him directly in the eye and pushing the expectorant boy back with a huge thunk into the lockers. God made sure it made a ferocious noise. The expectorant saw:

poor in spirit - abuse recoverer

mournful - the girl had lost interest

meek - took the abuse for a long time

pure in heart -wasn't cleaning the expectorant's face with the floor

persecuted for righteously learning to date 

The expectorant never looked my son in the eye again. Or spat at him. God loves that boy too.

Cal was the Salt that defied the Christian advice. The Light that looked dark in the face for its misdeeds. The Light that didn't tell us for years that he didn't really clock the spitter. 

But Cal did love the people who were enemies of the Matthew 5 advice. Knowing the rain advice was from people who were both just and unjust.

 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

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