Matthew 5:14-16

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14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:14-16

Today, we return to our study of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 which is about the inculcation of the culture of God into the believer's life. This is also known in the Bible as sanctification. In our last study, the Lord Jesus Christ noted that His disciples were the salt of the earth. In today's passage, He makes another comparison, He said that His followers are like "the light of the world." It is through our brokenness that the Light of the world shines best. And, it is most difficult to dim the light that shines from within.

In v.14-15 of today's passage we read, "14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house."

In Israel many cities are built on the tops of hills. In the evening these cities are seen from very far distances. So is the believer in Christ who is learning to give his heart to the Lord and the Lord is granting him His heart. The goal of our sanctification is that God be glorified and He is best glorified when those who once were in the darkness enter into the light through a personal relationship with Himself through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

On the heels of His teaching on the process of sanctification or the process of the change of the human heart toward God, the Lord Jesus used two metaphors to reveal the result of that process: salt and light. Having considered the first metaphor in our last study, today we consider the second, light. Believing the gospel is only the beginning of being a light in this fallen world. The fuel to make that light effective is found in our daily walk with the Lord whereby we are talking with Him and receiving from Him His instructions about life through the Bible. 

Here, the Lord Jesus also used another metaphor to get His point across, the lampstand. These little terracotta lamps provided an incredible amount of light in a house. It made absolutely no sense to hide such a useful tool while in the darkness. These lamps had a spout on one end, a little handle on the other end, and a little floating wick in the middle. They were filled up with oil, and they did what was expected, they burned throughout the night. These lamps were about three to four inches wide, two inches high, six inches long, and they lit everything up.

The phrase "You are the light" is written in the emphatic plural  meaning believers in Christ alone are the light of this world. No one else in this world has what the believer in Christ has. And, if people can't see Christ through our lives, guess what, they won't see Christ. God has so designed it that we are His living ambassadors in this dark world. And, God rarely blesses us with only us in mind. As is illustrated by the two bodies of water in Israel, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. If we make ourselves the center of our world we are in danger of becoming lifeless as the Dead Sea.

In Ephesians 5:8-11 we read, "8 In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. 9 Light brings every kind of goodness, right living, and truth. 10 Try to learn what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the things done in darkness, which are not worth anything. But show that they are wrong."

Once we have departed from the domain of darkness and have entered into the light of a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, we will naturally desire to see others leave the domain of Satan. Throughout the Bible God equates the light with the truth and the darkness with sin. Only in coming into a personal relationship with God do we become light. And, even though we have come into a personal relationship with God, we must work hard to walk in His light so that others benefit from our Spirit-filled existence. 

In v.16 of today's passage we read, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

In this verse the Lord Jesus personalized His teaching. The usage of the word "your" highlights the goal. The Greek word used here and translated "good" means good in terms of beauty being manifested. This beauty is to communicate an attractiveness, a winsomeness. In other words, we are to let people see the attraction of the application of the gospel to our lives. The Lord Jesus wasn’t just speaking of their good deeds, He was speaking of the beauty of God that is manifested through the broken and yielded life of the believer. The beauty is seen in the authentic nature of the believer's heart for God and for the lost. The believer in Christ never produces the light. It is the Lord Jesus who is the true light and as we allow Him to have His way in and through our lives, He will shine. We have just got to let Him shine through our broken and yielded lives. 

Living out of this new place where God defines us is what it means for us to be the light now. 
To daily be seen as we are in the light we must turn to the Lord in the midst of our trials and hearing His voice in that context. The problem comes when we try to avoid pain, pressure and problems. In so doing, we miss the opportunity to grow in faith or our heart's ability to see God. We rob ourselves of a deeper intimacy with the Lord. Darkness is the absence of light, it really doesn't exist. It is useful, though, because it magnifies the light. The light is the Lord Himself. Without the darkness, we do not know the Lord, we do not know His presence, we do not know His life. It is in the context of relationship with the Lord that we discover His expression to and through us because He is the only true Light. 

Matthew 5:13

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"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." ~ Matthew 5:13

Today, we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount where we are taught a new way of living contrary to the fallen way of living that we have always known. Today's verse was preceded by the Beatitudes which provide a description of how the God of the Bible changes us from the inside out. As a result of this change, the disciple of the Lord will take on a new disposition to others, even those who treat them in a wrong way.

Today's verse begins with, "You are the salt of the earth." In the New Testament "salt" is used metaphorically of Christians who have become the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a time when people were paid with salt. Salt, literally, is used by everyone. It has many great qualities, in particular, it preserves, it flavors and it heals. Here, the Lord Jesus used it to reiterate how when the believer is being defined by the Lord he will naturally spread the truth that he is learning from Him through his life and his lips. As salt enhances flavor and prevents corruption and aids healing, so the believer in Christ impacts those around him. 

In Exodus 30:34-35 we read, "34 Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Take these sweet-smelling spices: resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. Be sure that you have equal amounts of each. 35 Make incense as a person who makes perfume would do. Add salt to it to keep it pure and holy.'" The Lord told the priests to add salt to the ingredients that made up the incense, it was used as the base of the temple incense. When we get to the book of the Revelation we learn that the incense was analogous of the prayers of the saints.

In Number 18:19 we read, "Anything the Israelites present as holy gifts I, the Lord, give to you, your sons and daughters as your continual portion. This is a lasting agreement of salt before the Lord for you and your children forever."

In this verse salt was a symbol of covenant faithfulness. This covenant of salt was an agreement between God and man which lasted forever. As such, the believer in Christ who has confidence in the veracity of God's Word is to reflect the covenant promises God in our lives. The Lord Jesus equated all believers to salt to indicate how we should conduct ourselves as we live our lives while here on this earth. 

Salt benefits the earth by playing a crucial role in maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems, regulating climate patterns through its impact on ocean currents, and even acting as a source of minerals for plant growth, essentially acting as a natural fertilizer in specific soil conditions. The believer in the Lord Jesus, having experienced the process of a changed heart will benefit those around him by created in them a thirst for God. The unbeliever looks at the authentic believer who is doing his best to walk with the Lord and thinks to himself that he could benefit from what the believer has. Of course, what he has is a personal and growing and intimate relationship with the Lord.

Today's verse ends with the idea that if a believer isn't salty and thus benefitting the world around him, he is useless to God in the furtherance of His kingdom in this world. This is why the Lord Jesus went on to say, "It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." This, of course, is not referring to the believer losing his salvation because he never earned it in the first place. What a foolish thought when we think that the law is so low that we could measure up to it. Here, the Lord Jesus was referring to the believer's potential effectiveness in this world as a child of God. All of this underscores the utter necessity that we are growing closer to the Lord each day because without such intimacy we lose our saltiness or effectiveness for the Lord.

In Colossians 4:6 we read, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt." 

Salt has antibacterial and antiseptic properties that can be used to aid healing. This is why we use warm salt water to rinse and to treat a sore throat. The Lord Jesus may also have had this medicinal use of salt in mind here when He shared these words. Although only the Lord Jesus can accomplish salvation, as His followers we can participate in healing the world from the effects of the Fall and holding back its corruption until this world is finally made new. 

The most salty among us are those who have experienced and understood God's grace the best. It is the nature of God's grace that causes the believer who has been seasoned by it to be winsome. Grace reminds us we are acceptable when we are actually not. Grace reminds us that God not only did the heavy lifting for our salvation, He does all of the lifting for us. He is the One who not only pronounced us right before Himself, He gave us His very righteousness. As a result, may we be used of the Lord at aiding those who hunger and thirst for more than this world has to offer. And, may our yielded and blessed lives point all who hunger and thirst for more to the Living Water Himself.

Matthew 5:11-12

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11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. ~ Matthew 5:11-12

Today, we close out our study of the Beatitudes found at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. The Beatitudes describe the process involved in the changing of the rebellious human heart toward God. The Beatitudes describe the process we know as sanctification that we entered into once we became believers in the Lord Jesus. Through this process we experience the Lord Jesus who informs us that true happiness comes into our lives as the result of letting Him clean us out from the inside out. This process begins with poverty of spirit or the understanding that we are totally bankrupt spiritually before God. This process takes us to the ultimate step where we find purpose even in the persecution that comes from those who know not the Lord for themselves. We find joy in persecution because through it we bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus who laid down His life for us. 

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake."

Unlike all the other beatitudes, the Lord Jesus elaborated upon this last beatitude because it demands further explanation. Since it is so very contrary to the human default mode, the Lord Jesus had to provide this further explanation. The key to it all is that it is done for His sake. The fact is the Lord Jesus has won our heart's allegiance by dying for us on the cross. Since He died to secure our eternity with Him apart from sin and death, we naturally, out of gratitude, desire to bring Him the greatest honor and glory.

The word translated "revile" means "to disgrace, mock, insult, or to cast blame upon." In context we learn that this ill-treatment is due to the fact that we are standing up for the Lord and His definition of things. The picture the Lord Jesus gave here was of someone continually being persecuted by those who are not being defined by Him. These persecutors continually defame us and their reviling is their means of persecuting us.

In 1 Peter 4:14 we read, "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you."

We do not appreciate and understand the power and the presence of God unless we see it displayed in our lives. We do not really experience God's power nor do we recognize His presence unless we go through suffering. Those who cut the process short, desiring comfort or relief from the pain, they miss out on the deepening of their hearts for the very pronounced power and presence of God in their lives. Our comfort, which is what our suffering disrupts, blinds us from the reality of God's presence and power. It is our fallen condition that almost always requires us to go through suffering in order to be made more intimate with God. And, we will not know the pronounced presence and power of God personally until we turn to Him in the midst of our suffering. 

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

The word translated "rejoice" literally means "to leap much." The reward of that which the Lord Jesus spoke of here is not the product of the suffering but the forerunner to the suffering. Knowing that we will spend eternity in heaven is what gives us this perspective that leads us to see the value in our suffering. In the same way that the prophets of the Old Testament were persecuted and endured such, so will the disciple of Christ. And the same lessons that they learned, we will realize with exceeding gladness. It is His joy that enables us to endure the unwanted discomfort.

When we have entered into a personal relationship with the God of all creation, we experience a change that will eventually render in us the ability to endure the ill-treatment from others and we will learn to see the world through the eyes of the God of the Bible because He is actively granting us His heart and eyes to see things as they truly are. It is from this posture that we will view this world for the King of heaven. We can endure persecution because we know that the purpose behind it is to bring glory to the God who made and redeemed us.

The Beatitudes describe the process whereby the believer in Christ is daily learning to submit ourselves to the rule of God in our lives. We do this with joyful willingness because we have come to know how good the Lord truly is. When our wills agree with God's, we will be rendered powerless and helpless to do our will. This is where we encounter the joy of God. It is always out of this context that the Lord reveals His power and His presence to us most profoundly. As a result, we will increasingly allow the very life of the Lord Jesus to be manifested in us, to us, and through our yielded lives. The very will of God will increasingly become ours. It is out of this posture that we truly discover that we were made to be completed by God and by God alone.

Matthew 5:10

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"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." ~ Matthew 5:10

In our last study the Lord Jesus Christ noted the blessings of those who have recognized their bankrupt spiritual state before God and have entered into a personal relationship with Him through believing the death of His Son on the cross paid the penalty that our sin created for us before God. Of course, it is only in the presence of God that we experience this type of bankruptcy because He is the arbiter of truth and what is right and it is in His presence it is easy to recognize our wretchedness. Today, we come to the eighth beatitude. 

The "persecuted" in today's verse are those who have experienced God's mercy and peace and now they desire to see others at peace with Him. The problem is, most do not recognize the fact that it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that we are pronounced forgiven by God and have therefore entered into a personal relationship with Him. And, due to the myopic nature of the gospel message that the Lord Jesus is the only way to God's forgiveness, many do not trust the message or the messenger. 

In 2 Timothy 3:12 we read, "All who will live godly in this present age will suffer persecution." 

This serves as a reminder that believers in Christ Jesus share in His reproach. We should expect to be persecuted by those who do not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, especially if we are increasing in Christlikeness. Christianity was never intended to be merely a creed that we recite on Sunday morning in the safety of the church building. Christianity is a person whom we relate to, rely upon and walk with day-by-day. Christianity is counter-cultural and it will often be against the grain of the norm in society. We who believe in the Lord Jesus enough to be defined by Him will be misunderstood, marginalized and persecuted. And, God knows this world is getting worse but He has seen fit for us to be on this earth at this moment to make a difference for His glory.

Throughout the Bible we see that those who represent the God of the Bible in this world will suffer in various ways. In many ways, persecution is a token of our relationship with God. In Philippians 1:29 we read, "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear to be in me." Since God has granted us the ability to believe in Him, we are grateful. Such gratitude causes us to be faithful to Him. This kind of grateful faithfulness will always be misunderstood by the world and we mustn't be surprised by their fear expressed in their persecution of us and the gospel message. We must never take the world's persecution personally for God has been known to use such to draw unbelievers to Himself.

In John 15:18 we read, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you’re not of the world but I chose you out of the world, therefore, the world hates you." The world hates our association with the Lord Jesus because they live under the control of the evil one. When we are being defined by God, indirectly we will aggravate the world because God's righteousness will be seen in and through our yielded lives. Note that it's God's righteousness, not ours.

In today's verse the Lord Jesus wasn't describing those who are persecuted for being arrogantly offensive to others. He was describing those who have entered into a personal relationship with the true and living God. He spoke of those who have experienced poverty of spirit for themselves which leads to mourning over their sin. He spoke of those who were being changed from the inside out, those who have come to appreciate meekness and righteousness. These are those who hunger and thirst for the God and His righteousness. 

The word "persecuted" literally means "to pursue." The phrase, "Blessed are those who are persecuted," is a passive participle which gives the idea of permissiveness. Literally, it reads, "Blessed are those who have allowed themselves to be persecuted." The structure of these words clearly indicate the idea that these willingly endure persecution as their persecutors pursue them. This means they don’t run from the persecution, they accept it when it comes.

In addition to being a passive participle, this word translated "persecuted" is written in the perfect tense indicating continuous persecution. "Blessed are those who have willingly allowed themselves to suffer continuously." You see, willingness is the issue here. We could say, "blessed are the willing." Persecution isn’t always going to be there to the same degree, but these are those who are willing to take the persecution for the sake of righteousness or the right way of doing something. The right way is realized in our lives when God is defining us and we know that God is defining us when we are obeying His Word. This is what the Lord Jesus meant when He ended this verse with "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." To be given the kingdom of heaven is to be defined by the King of heaven.

Matthew 5:9

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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. ~ Matthew 5:9

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 5 which is commonly referred to as the Beatitudes. In actuality, in these verses the Lord Jesus gave us the process involved in our hearts growing more amiable toward God. This process begins with the realization that we are bankrupt before God spiritually. This condition naturally leads us to mourn over our sin which leads to our willingness to begin to give up control to God over our lives. As we experience God for ourselves, we naturally find ourselves hungering and thirsting for Him more and more. The more of God we experience the more we find ourselves becoming more like Him. One way we express His likeness is that we will become more merciful toward others. With this increased interaction with God, we will begin to see that our hearts are being changed enabling us to see God's hand at work in our lives even through the unwanted moments of our lives. This positions us for the next beatitude which is found in today's verse.

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

The word "peacemakers" is an adjective which means to promote peace. Since we live in a world of conflict and broken relationships, peacemakers are desperately needed. There is no peace until we are brought back into a personal relationship with God and those who work to bring peace between God and man are in focus here. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden there has been a state of enmity between God and man. Without addressing this enmity through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross which earned the needed forgiveness from God, there can be no peace in the presence of God for any human. Those who work to reconcile others by sharing the gospel message of forgiveness through the cross of the Lord Jesus are the true peacemakers. 

We tend to think that peace is the absence of conflict but this isn't quite what the Lord Jesus was getting at here because God’s definition of peace is not the absence of something. Throughout the Bible, peace is not the absence of anything, peace is the presence of all that is blessed, all that is good, and all that is truly satisfying. Peace is a creative force producing goodness and well-being. When the power of love overcomes the love of power, it is then that we will know peace.

The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." The Lord Jesus said these words because before peace can come, the sword must fall. The Lord Jesus came to this earth to deal a final death blow to sin and death. He did this through His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. Once we believe in His finished work on the cross and we enter into a personal relationship with God, we will find ourselves incongruent with those who do not know the Lord. This incongruence will always rob the peace that we all long for because this peace only comes from the Prince of Peace. 

In James 3:17 we read, "The wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable." Peace comes from the truth and wisdom of God. Peace is never sought at the price of truth. Peace is never sought at the price of error. Peace is never sought at the price of sin or unrighteousness. In Hebrews 12:14 we read, "Follow peace with all men and holiness." Peace naturally follows holiness or completeness. We are only made complete through the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not possess true peace if we do not confront our sin which is what keeps us from God. We only become hosts to the peace of God only after we are at peace with God. This is why true peace will always be associated with holiness. We must follow the peace that is first pure and reflects the wisdom that is from God where truth prevails. If we are going to be at peace with all men, it’s because we all are being defined by God. True peace only comes after we have entered into a personal relationship with God. 

Those who invest themselves at making peace through reconciling men to God's will, indeed, these will be called the sons of God. True peace is only truly enjoyed by the child of truth. That’s the only real peace that God recognizes. With false peace nothing is resolved because it ignores that which is true and righteous. And so we may have to endure temporary trouble in order to bring real peace. That’s what the Lord Jesus did and He was the greatest peacemaker that ever walked the face of this earth. He offers all those humble enough to see and embrace their need for peace with God. 

So, in order to be a peacemaker, we must have gone through this Beatitude process. A peacemaker, then, is one whose sins have been dealt with in Christ. He has been given a new nature, a pure heart. He has a whole new perspective on life now that he has entered into a personal relationship with God through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. He now views life through the eyes of the Lord. As a result the peacemaker sees himself as humbled, and he is dependent upon God. Most people think well of themselves because they have been taught that in order to be whole and healthy, they have to have high self-esteem. But, this is not the way of the God of the Bible. According to the Lord Jesus, we are most blessed when we recognize that we need God more than anything else. And, once we are at peace with Him, we can be at peace with everyone else.

Matthew 5:8

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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ~ Matthew 5:8

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 5 which is the Lord Jesus' teaching on the process of the changing of the human heart in reference to God. As we have seen, this change of heart begins with coming to the place where we recognize  ourselves as being poor in spirit which means we are bankrupt spiritually before God. This understanding naturally leads to a state of mourning over our bankrupt status before God. This, in turn, leads to our willingness to give up control to God over our lives because we know that we are helpless and hopeless on our own. As we experience the person and goodness of God for ourselves, we naturally find ourselves hungering and thirsting for Him for He truly is our sustenance. The more of God we experience the more we find ourselves becoming more like Him. One way we express likeness to God is that we will become more merciful to others.

The next step involved in this process of a changed heart is seen in the words "Blessed are the pure in heart." This is the first use of the word "heart" in the New Testament. The heart is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible, and in today's verse it is used figuratively to refer to the essence of our being that grants us our moral code. The heart is used in Scripture really most commonly to refer to our soul which is made up of our minds, wills and emotions. We are trichotomous beings with a body, a soul and a spirit. It is in our spirit that we are born again and it is in our souls that we are being changed from one degree of glory to another. We know this as sanctification. As we think in our heart, the Bible says, so are we. In Proverbs 4:23 we read, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." That’s the best Old Testament definition of the heart. The heart is that part of us from which all the issues of life arise. 

Morality and spirituality are not the same. As is clearly being spelled out here by the Lord Jesus, spirituality comes before morality. There are many moral people in this world. The question is according to whose morality because God's morality is not the same as this world's nor does it prioritize in the same way. God always values the weak and the poor and the helpless. The key to it all is "purity of heart" which isn't about perfection, it is about disposition and motive.

In Ezekiel 36:25-26 we read, "25 I will sprinkle you with pure water, and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh." 

This is God's promise of the new covenant that the Lord Jesus procured for us at His cross. The kingdom of God has always belonged to those hearts that are being cleaned. A sinner is naturally totally unacceptable before God, no matter how religious, altruistic, or moral he may be. If God has not granted us the righteousness of His Son, we will never see God. God requires holiness and this is why the Lord Jesus had to die on our behalf as He did.

This process of getting a more and more purified heart is the product of regeneration or new birth. It is our regeneration that gets us into heaven and it is God's purifying work in our hearts that gets heaven into us now. Once we have come into a personal relationship with God by believing that His Son's sacrifice paid the penalty for our sin, it is then that God begins His work of sanctification in our hearts. Essentially, to be pure of heart is to be undergoing the reality of God cleaning out our heart for His glory.

Once again, today's verse reads, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." For those who are experiencing the purifying presence of God in their heart, they shall see God. This is not only a reference to the fact that we will one day see God with our very own eyes, this also speaks of the everyday occurrences in our lives where we see God at work in our lives. As God is cleaning us out from the inside out, we will see His work in our lives. Through the good and the bad, we will see that He is at work. So often, I have discovered that disappointments are His appointments. When I go through a trial of some sort, if I give God enough time, He will show me that I went through that trial not only for my benefit but for the benefit of others. Trials are essential for the growth of our faith in God which is essentially our heart's ability to see God.

As a result, instead of questioning God or getting mad at Him for allowing this trial in my life, I have discovered that He will show up in and through my life through the trial that I have experienced. For example, several years ago my middle son died three separate times on a Wednesday night. The doctors told us that he had a ten percent chance to live. To make a long story short, eight days later, my son walked out of the hospital. Eight days later. Let me remind you that the number eight in the Bible is analogous of new beginnings. Through that most difficult trial, I witnessed three people make a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, I have been able to empathize with many, especially those who have lost a son or a daughter. My pain isn't the same as theirs because my son lived, but I've an idea about their pain and having gone through that intense trial I have been able to enter into their pain with them. Purity of heart is what enables us to see that the Lord is really good even through those most difficult moments of our lives. This is what it means to see God.

Matthew 5:7

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Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. ~ Matthew 5:7

Today, we return to our study of the Beatitudes which is a description of the process involved in the changing of the sinful human heart in reference to God. As we have seen when we get to poverty of spirit, we recognize our need for mourning over our sin. This, in turn, leads to our willingness to give up control to God over our lives because we know that we are helpless and hopeless. This understanding of this life renders a desire within us to hunger and thirst for God for He truly is our sustenance. Today, we come to the next step in this process which renders a desire within us to be merciful.

God always works in our lives from the inside out. Throughout the three year earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus through His teaching and healing ministry, He went right for the heart of the people. In doing so, He identified for us the fact that salvation is something that happens to us at the very center of our being. The Lord Jesus was never interested in external religion, He was not interested in superficial works with wrong motives. He is always interested in sincere, transformed hearts that are honest and humble. This is what brings Him pleasure.

In today's verse the Lord Jesus, essentially, said to His hearers, "Blessed are the compassionate." The word translated "merciful" is best translated compassionate. It can also be translated as "being full of pity." This word is only used one other time in the New Testament. It is found in Hebrews 2:17 which reads, "For this reason Jesus had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way so he could be their merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. Then Jesus could die in their place to take away their sins."  

The Lord Jesus Christ was motivated to go to the cross and die a gruesome death on the behalf of sinful man so that we could enter into a personal relationship with Him. In that context then, the Lord Jesus gradually grants His heart for sinners to the believer. As we give our hearts to God, He grants to us His heart for the lost. This must never be the basis upon which we find our hope for eternal life but it is a clear sign that we have been made alive to God. As a result of experiencing God's heart for ourselves, we extent it to others. God says, "Happy with a deep seated joy are those who have experienced the compassion of God for themselves for they will be compassionated." 

Mercy and grace are throughout the Bible inseparable but they differ from one another. While God's mercy rescues us from God's judgement, His grace grants us an intimate and personal relationship with Him. Similarly, God's mercy and His justice goes together. They have to because God could not be merciful if in some way His justice were violated. God's mercy is not some shallow sentimentality which disregards sin and ignores justice. That’s a false and unholy mercy which wants to conceal justice and undermine the truth.

A great example of God's mercy is found in the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18 where the point was for the Apostle Peter to forgive others up to seventy times seven. This type of forgiveness is directly connected to our experience with God's merciful compassion. If we have experienced His mercy, we will extend it to others in an unlimited way. By the way, this doesn't means God's justice is ignored, it just means we continue loving those who have violated us in some way. Henri Nouwen once aptly said, "Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken."

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we, like all humans, stood at odds with God. We stood in a state of eternal condemnation as a result. Our rebellion against God forever separated us from Him. Hell was our sure destination until the Lord Jesus decided to pay our penalty and uphold the justice of God. The fact is, God, in order to be merciful and to show us mercy, had to express His justice, so He poured out His justice on Christ while on the cross, satisfying the requirement of a just and holy law. So mercy fits together with forgiveness, though it’s different. It fits together with grace, though it’s different. It fits together with justice perfectly, though it is also distinct.

God took the first step, a step that did not need to be taken but He took it by sending His only begotten Son to rescue us from our sure damnation. Our understanding of this truth should create in us a heart for others, especially the least. The late theologian, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, once said, "We are not meant to control our Christianity but, rather, our Christianity is meant to control us."  This is why it is so essential that we daily walk with the Lord, making it our habit of giving our heart to Him. And the whole point of the Beatitudes is that He gives His heart to us.

Matthew 5:6

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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. ~ Matthew 5:6

Today, we return to our study of the Beatitudes which is in essence the Lord Jesus description of the process involved in the changing of the human heart toward Him. All of us were born antagonistic to God due to the fact that we were influenced by the author sin. Once Eve availed herself to the cunning devil, there was no stopping the influence of the evil one in the human existence. 

In Psalm 51:5 King David said it well when he wrote, "Behold, in iniquity was I brought forth, and in sin did my mother conceive me." Like our mothers and fathers, David’s mother was a sinner. Our moms inherited this sinful nature from their parents, and they from theirs, and so on throughout the genealogical line all the way back to Adam and Eve. Of course, this disposition was introduced to us through the most powerful thing that God has ever created, the devil himself. He wasn't created as such, no, God created him righteous and he distorted God's plans for himself.

As we have pointed out in our previous studies, this changing of the human heart from hardheartedness toward God to submission to Him is a process. This process leads us to being broken of our waywardness with reference to God. This brokenness renders a true happy joy despite our circumstances. The Lord Jesus used the word "blessed" to describe the inward, happy, joyful, and contented state of those who are in and being defined by God's definition of things.

Today's verse reads, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness."

The verbs "hunger" and "thirst" are present participles meaning "craving and longing." These words describe those who truly desire something more than what this world has to offer. It is a longing for what is right in a situation where it is obviously lacking. We find ourselves in the realm where the evil one rules and there is therefore wickedness all around. We find ourselves in a place where righteousness is not practiced. We are like those in a desert who desperately search for food and water but our search is for that which is far more substantive than the temporal.

When we face hunger, it can be quelled temporarily with a few morsels. But when that is lacking, there is nothing to take away the agony found in the human body. The Lord Jesus combined hungering and thirsting with a fervent intensity to reveal how desperate our situation truly is. This is why He preceded today's beatitude with poverty of spirit and mourning which leads to surrendering control to God. So, the Lord Jesus compared our real need for righteousness with our felt needs of hungering and thirsting.

The Lord Jesus was fully informed having come out of forty days and forty nights where He was deprived of the needs of His human body. He was famished for food and drink, however, despite this, He craved something far more substantive. Our longings in this world whatever they may be are mere echoes of our longing for God and His righteousness. While our physical life depends on food and water, our spiritual life depends on God and His righteousness.

As indicated in the remainder of today's verse, the result of such a pursuit is fulfillment or satisfaction. The word translated "filled" is a word that actually means the satisfying grazing of an animal. The Lord Jesus says that as a cow dines in an open field, so those who learn to be fed by God are satisfied with His continuous supply of righteousness. And, we can only truly hunger and thirst after these things when we have gained faith that God not only exists but that He is good. The beatitudes describe the process whereby we are led by God to the open terrain of His definition of things are He intended them to be.

Those who are not preview to this process that leads us to the Lord Jesus Himself hunger but they hunger and thirst for the physical. They can't see beyond the material and temporal. They have a hunger and a thirst for happiness and fulfillment, but they look for it in the wrong place. Every human heart was created by God with a hunger for Him. The problem is we live in a world which has stunted that hunger. The man or woman who has not entered into a relationship with God tries to satisfy their longings in the lesser things of this world. How many times have we all experienced something that we thought would totally fulfill us only to discover that it didn't deliver as we expected?

The Lord Jesus, on the other hand, offers something different. He offers us Himself as the living water. In Jeremiah 2:13 we read, "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewed them out broken cisterns that can hold no water."  In other words, God has made man with a thirst and a hunger for Him, but man refuses the well of living water and makes himself broken wells that can’t even hold water. Even believers hunger and thirst for happiness and meaning and fulfillment and inevitably try to fill themselves up with self-indulgent pleasures, possessions, power, and the praise this world offers but to no avail. 

The prodigal son is a great example of this. He longed for the pleasures of this world and the world didn't deliver as he thought it would. In fact, when he returned home broken he realized satisfaction was only found at home with his father. He longed to possess, he longed for the popularity of a party life, but he went hungry in his soul and finally he had the sense to come to himself and say, "How many of my father’s servants have bread enough and to spare?" It was at that point that the prodigal went back to his father’s house and was given a feast. 

The feast that the prodigal arrived home for pictures for us that which God created us for in the first place. The world, in its distracted living, tries to satisfy itself with the husks of the swine and it comes up absolutely empty every time. We have all been there, and those who respond to the leading of the Spirit of God come running back to Him only to discover a feast that satisfies the longings of his hungry and thirsty soul. Our hunger and thirst is actually for the One who created us, the Lord Jesus Himself. It is His righteousness that satisfies our hollowed out souls. This is what prompted the words of Blaise Paschal who said, "God has created us with a god-shaped vacuum which only God can fill."

Matthew 5:5

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Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ~ Matthew 5:5

Today, we return to our study of the Beatitudes which describe the process involved in the changing of the human heart with reference to God. This process renders in us true happy joy despite our circumstances. This concept of "blessed" or "true happy joy" is referenced 56 times in the Bible. The way to true happiness comes from giving host to the holiness of God. It is that set apart for God condition that produces this settled peaceful disposition that concludes all is well in my soul. In order to describe this state of being the Lord Jesus used the word "blessed" which is the inward, spiritually, prosperous, joyful, contented state of those who are in and being defined by the Kingdom of God.

As we go further into the beatitudes, it is becoming more and more obvious that the kingdom of the Lord Jesus is not of this world. In the previous verses, the Lord Jesus noted the poor in spirit, those who have come to the realization that they cannot earn the favor of God in any way. He also pointed out that for those who embrace poverty of spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That means those who come to the end of themselves and are utterly hopeless, these are positioned best to know the rule of God in their lives. From this the Lord Jesus taught that poverty of spirit leads to mourning which in turn will attract the comfort of God which primarily comes from knowing that He has forgiven our sin through His Son's cross. 

In today's verse the Lord Jesus points us to the characteristic of meekness, a characteristic that most do not expect out of a king and his kingdom. The word "meek" actually describes strength under His control. When we remember that He was speaking to Israel under the law, it helps us in understanding what the Lord Jesus was actually getting at here. The promise to Abraham was that of the land of Israel. In fact, the Jews to this day look for their own possession in the land of Israel, all 300,000 square miles of it. And this is what will be portioned out to them in the millennium. Thus, the word "land," rather than the commonly translated "earth," appears to make much more sense.

The Lord Jesus came to reveal the utter uselessness of self-sufficiency which is self-righteousness, the idea that I do not need God's help. This is why the Lord Jesus highlighted meekness which is not weakness. Meekness is the disposition of the person who has yielded up control to God. All the strength is there, all the power is there, it’s just not self-asserted. Wherever we possess a broken heart, wherever we have a sense of spiritual bankruptcy, wherever we have a sense of mourning over our sinfulness, we will naturally give safe haven to submission to God.

A horse under control is a great example of this. The powerful horse can be harnessed and controlled by a 100 pound boy. It is this power under control that is essentially the best description of meekness which is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Meekness, as indicated here is the product of the process which is found in the soil of spiritual poverty and mourning ver sin. On the one hand, we see our own utter ruin, our own unworthiness and misery. But, on the other, we contemplate the kindness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. The internal characteristic is a disposition of heart which through the keen perception of its own misery and the abounding mercy of God, has become so pliable that no traces of its original ruggedness, of its wild and untamed, independent nature remains.

Meekness is the absence of confidence in the self. It is from that posture that we are enabled to see the utter strength and goodness of God. When we get to the place where we know only God can do something we have arrived at meekness. In Philippians 3:3, we discover, we cannot trust our flesh. Yet, in Philippians 4:13 we learn, we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. This is meekness, a total lack of confidence in oneself to accomplish anything eternal and a total confidence in God to accomplish everything.

Interestingly, the word "inherit" means to receive that which is apportioned or allotted. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." So, if anyone wants an allotted place in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, that person will embrace the process of the change that only God can bring about. This process leads to brokenness which is necessary for any of us to realize our utter wickedness. Most want to blame God for the discomfort that comes into their lives and when they do this, they miss out on the process that renders so much happy joy. For those who embrace this expression of the flesh, they eliminate the possibility of the necessary brokenness. But, for those who allow their pain to drive them to the Lord, He will in no way turn them away.

Matthew 5:4

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Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Today, we return to our study of the Sermon on the Mount. Specifically, the first twelve verses of Matthew 5 are known as the Beatitudes while Matthew 5-7 are known as the Sermon on the Mount. Beatitude means blessed. The word blessed describes those who are being granted the ability to see the futility of the deception levied upon man in the Garden of Eden. It also grants the believer in Christ the ability to see the wisdom of God's description of things. This is transcendent because the greatest temptation of all is to try to look good without being good.

In the previous verse, in Matthew 5:3, we read, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The Beatitudes describe the process involved in the changing of the human heart with reference to God. When we recognize that our sin is the result of being deceived by the enemy of God and that it is a violation of what God has said is true, we naturally mourn over our sinful condition. This is the content of today's second step involved in the changing of our hearts in reference to God. 

This blessed condition enables the believer in Christ to recognize the waywardness of the way of the evil one. The word translated "mourn," speaks of grieving over our spiritual poverty with reference to God. This is the type of grief that takes hold of a person and it cannot be ignored. This is why in Matthew 4:17 the Lord Jesus told the people to "repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand."

Mourning over our sin is not natural for fallen man. It is, in fact, contrary to the whole structure of the fallen human expectation. The pleasure madness, the drive for amusement, entertainment, thrills, the mania that seeks the next high, the love of money, the energy and enthusiasm expanded in living it up are all products of the deception of the evil one. All of those things are an expression of the world’s aim to avoid mourning over their sin. This mourning over sin condemns the shallow and superficial approach to this life that was offered to us through the serpent in the Garden of Eden. This mourning introduces us to real life, the kind of life that transcends this world. When we get to the point of recognizing our utter bankruptcy before God due to the fact that we are under the rule of the devil, we will naturally mourn the fact that we are hopeless and that we desperately need God's help.

There are nine different Greek words used in the New Testament to describe mourning. Man’s history is a story of tears and sorrows. Here, the Lord Jesus taught those gathered on that mountain of Godly sorrow. According to 2 Corinthians 7 this is the sorrow that produces repentance which ushers in blessing and comfort into our soul from God. Those who mourn over their sin are those who are shamed beggars before God because they have absolutely no capacity to help themselves, and they know it. They are absolutely destitute spiritually, and they can only beg God for His grace and His mercy. These are the only ones who enter the kingdom, those who enjoy the comfort of God. Entrance to the kingdom begins with an overwhelmingly helpless feeling of spiritual poverty and bankruptcy of soul. And, friends, that never changes. We never get past this feeling of helplessness apart from God.

The only right and acceptable response to God when we realize that we are hopeless before Him is to admit it and repent from the self life that got us into this mess in the first place. The Prodigal Son in Luke 15 did it right. After he had left his father and wasted all of his blessing, he ended up working as a feeder of pigs. Since he had no food to eat, he ate what he fed the pigs. He was the son of a preeminent and wealthy father, yet he ate pig slop. This, of course, was the result of having lived a destructive life of rebellion. When he came to himself and saw what his rebellion produced in his life, he went home and said to his father, "I have sinned against you and I am not even worthy to be called a son." The Prodigal Son came back home bankrupt spiritually. He came back as a humbled and repentant failure. And, that was when his father embraced him, took him in, and blessed him.

In Psalm 51:17 King David wrote, "A broken and a contrite heart you will not despise, O God." God never rejects the broken who cry out to Him for help. This is how we come into the kingdom when we are ready to stop believing the lie of the devil and we mourn over our deceived condition and we reach out to God for help. And, this isn’t a momentary phase, this is our way of life. We come into God's kingdom mourning over our sin, and for the rest of our time on this earth we mourn over our sinfulness not to gain God's acceptance but because we have His acceptance through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once we get to this place in our lives where we mourn in this manner, God promises that we will be comforted. Mourners are not joyfully happy because they mourn, they’re joyfully happy because their mourning has been comforted. There’s no happiness in the sorrow of this world. This world mourns but they never get any real comfort because this type of comfort is the product of God's forgiveness. Having confessed our sin, we have come to know God's complete forgiveness. Only those who mourn over sin know true forgiveness. And, the most comforting reality of all realities is to know that all our sin is forgiven in Christ. 

When we improvised to the sound of the destructiveness of our sin and we do not mourn our sin, we missed out on God's forgiveness. It is only from the posture of mourning that we begin to understand that sin tramples on God’s law, that it slights His love, and it robs us of God’s image. The answer, of course, is the ability to see that our sin is against God and to get to the place that we mourn over this condition. This is the soil that produces good fruit. God invites such to come with our brokenness, realizing we can bring nothing to the judgment seat of God. Such mourning directly leads to the comfort of believing. Since the Lord Jesus has fulfilled the law and we have believed that His death on the cross procured our forgiveness before God, we now know the ultimate comfort, the forgiveness of God that renders His comfort.

Matthew 5:1-3

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1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." ~ Matthew 5:1-3

Today, we transition into Matthew 5 where we find the Lord Jesus up on a mountain with His disciples. Although the previous chapter ended with a great multitude following the Lord Jesus from all over the region, today's passage didn't happen immediately after the events of Matthew 4. As mentioned earlier, Matthew is not always chronological. There is perhaps a four month period of time between Matthew 4 and Matthew 5. Matthew 5-7 is known as the Sermon on the Mount, whereas Matthew 5:1-12 is known as the Beatitudes. 

This first sermon of the Lord Jesus gives us the process whereby our hearts find allegiance with the Lord Jesus. Then we must understand the difference between our relationship with God and our fellowship with God. Our relationship with God is based solely and only upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. It is only the Lord Jesus who makes us and maintains us right in the eyes of God. Our fellowship with God speaks of our intimacy with Him. The Bible refers to this as “walking in the Spirit." There is no fellowship when the heart isn't engaged. This is where this process of a changed heart comes into the equation.

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him." 

Once atop the mountain, the Lord Jesus sat down and assumed the standard form of teaching at that time. After the Lord Jesus seated Himself, His disciples came to Him to hear His teachings which had become their practice. This is the first usage of the word "disciples" in the New Testament. It speaks of someone who is becoming skilled at learning. This is why the Lord Jesus makes the truth sometimes hard for us to discover. He knows that when we are easily given things and we have no skin in the game we will take it for granted and it will not mean that much to us. So, He commands us to seek with all of our hearts for when we do we will become skilled at learning and then we will discover treasure that we had no idea existed.

Here, the Lord Jesus saw this mass of humanity coming up the mountain. When He saw them, as always, His heart was moved for them. When He saw them hungry, He gave them food. When He saw them spiritually hungry, He fed them with the truth. Later in Matthew 9:36 we will see that "When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

In v.2-3 of today’s passage we read, "2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'"

Nine times in this chapter we see the word "blessed” employed. This word was used of the Lord to teach us about that which brings us true happiness and joy. He wasn’t teaching about the world’s type of happiness which is conditional and based upon circumstances. The Lord Jesus was teaching about true happiness which is determined by being made right with Him. This type of happy joy is an inner settled joy that reminds us that everything will be alright no matter the circumstances. It is a gift sent from God to the one who desires to be defined by Him.

The very last message given by God at the end of the Old Testament is found in Malachi 4:6 which reads, "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." The Old Testament ends with the word curse. 

When the Lord Jesus came on the scene He came to confront among many other things a society that was full of religion. The Lord Jesus came to dismantle religion which to this day emphases the external. The Lord Jesus came to tell us that it is about God gaining control of our heart. This is the whole basis of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s inside, not outside. It’s not about outside rituals, it's not about philosophy, it’s not a building, it’s not about activism, it's about what is going on inside of our hearts.

When the Lord Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,"  He was getting at the idea that His inner happy joy would rule the heart of the one who has come to the end of himself. This idea of "poor" describes one who understands that He is bankrupt before God. In the financial world there is chapter seven bankruptcy and there is chapter eleven bankruptcy. When one declares chapter seven bankruptcy, it means his business, as it has been known, is over, it is dead never to be reopened. Whereas chapter eleven bankruptcy the business is able to pay some of its debt but it will stay in business, although weakened. When the Lord used this word "poor" He was describing those who see themselves as chapter seven bankrupt. Those who declard chapter seven bankruptcy have come to the realization that they have absolutely no assets before the Lord. They understand that there is no hope unless God be merciful.

So, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, we have to come humbly. We cannot discover the rule of God in our hearts if we remain proud because the word "poor" literally means poverty-stricken. It speaks of abject poverty. Destitute would be a better term. In the classical Greek, this word described a person who had one hand over his face not to be recognized by the crowd and the other hand would have been held out for help. This one thinks to himself, "I'm so bankrupt, I have no resources in and of myself."  That's how we enter the kingdom. Nobody enters into a personal relationship with God if he proudly asserts that he has somehow earned it. The poor understand that old hymn, "Rock of Ages” which says, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling." 

Matthew 4:23-25

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23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. ~ Matthew 4:23-25

Today, we conclude our study of Matthew 4 where the Lord Jesus Christ has begun His ministry and has begun to call His disciples to follow Him. The previous passage included the note that Andrew and Peter had not only responded to the call of the Lord Jesus to be saved, they also responded to His call to be His disciples. Two others, James and John joined them. There is a clear difference between the call to believe unto salvation and that of the call to be a disciple. 

In v.23 of today's passage we read, "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people."

Five times in today's passage the word "all" is used. We have often heard those who would ask the question, "What about all those who have never heard of the Lord Jesus?" This question assumes that God is much smaller than He truly is. It also assumes that God is unfair. But, a careful study of the Word of God reveals that everyone has heard of the God of the Bible through His creation and their conscience. For those who respond to the general revelation of God through creation will be given more revelation and that additional revelation may usher them into a personal relationship with God. This will happen only when they repent of themselves and they believe on the Lord Jesus for salvation.

The words "teaching" and "preaching" and "healing" in v.23 describe the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word "teaching" is used almost one hundred times throughout the Bible. It literally means "to cause to learn." I've heard it said, "Never let your education get in the way of your learning." While learning is a lifelong process of gaining knowledge, skills, and behaviors through experience and information, education involves a structured approach to learning that involves the passing down of knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to another. All too often education lacks the heart needed to utilize the learning that has taken place. Although the Lord Jesus went to the synagogues to teach many, His teaching was more about learning than it was about educating. Like the synagogue, education can be so sterile that it prevents the truth from impacting the heart. This is a large reason why the Lord Jesus taught predominantly using metaphors and parables. He knew that one must seek in order to find.

In the synagogue, the Lord Jesus preached or "proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom." The word "gospel" found 76 times in the New Testament means the announcing of the good news. The good news means the Messiah had arrived and He was going to usher in His kingdom which is what brings true freedom to our souls. As we will see, Matthew expanded the information delivered in v.23 in chapters 5-9 of his gospel account.

"Galilee," you will remember means "roll away." As such, it signifies freedom, as if a burden has been rolled away from us. Thus, Galilee means "freedom." It was at this point in time that the Lord Jesus delivered His good news of His victory over sin. As a demonstration of His victory "the Lord Jesus healed all kinds of sicknesses and all kinds of diseases among the people." The word translated "healed" literally means "therapy." It gives the idea of restoring a person to a better condition. 

In v.24 of today's passage we read, "Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them."

The ministry of the Lord Jesus was being carried out throughout all Galilee and He during that time cured all who came to Him who had some kind of a physical or spiritual malady. Because of this, His fame became known beyond all Galilee. So convinced were the people of His power for healing that they brought Him all those who were sick. How striking this must have been, especially due to the fact that all of the people brought to Him those who were broken in body or in mind and He were restored through His healing touch. The power of the Lord Jesus to accomplish these things validated His power over the diseases that the people struggled with.

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan."

Great multitudes followed the Lord Jesus from Syria to Jerusalem to beyond the Jordan River, a distance of over 120 miles. The people who followed Him were not just a crowd, as if from the local village, but from all over the area. The travels of these who followed the Lord Jesus included a very long walk through some of the most arduous areas. These people followed the Lord Jesus tirelessly because they saw Him as their only hope. The Lord Jesus came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. This means He voluntarily placed Himself under the law and He lived it out perfectly, sustaining the truth every day that He was on this earth. And, He did all of this having never violated the truth, He never sinned. The Lord Jesus fulfilled the law on the behalf of all who were unable to do so on their own. And as the Scriptures tell us over and over, "Everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved."

Matthew 4:18-22

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18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. ~ Matthew 4:18-22

Today, we continue our study in the gospel according to Matthew where the Lord Jesus is beginning His ministry. With this, in today's passage, the Lord called four men to be His disciples. I find it most interesting that the first four disciples of the Lord Jesus were fishermen. As we will see, being the disciple of the Lord Jesus radically changes our lives. This change only comes about as we choose daily to render control of our lives to the Holy Spirit. It is one thing to know the truth in our minds, but it is quite another to know it in our hearts. The late Howard Hendricks once said, "We teach what we know, but we reproduce what we are."

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen."

It was at the Sea of Galilee that the Lord Jesus began His ministry. If the committee on evangelism at that time would have made a recommendation to the Lord Jesus as to where He should have started His ministry, they would have undoubtedly suggested Jerusalem. But, not so with the Lord Jesus whose ways are often the exact opposite of ours. When the Lord Jesus began His ministry, He told the people to reconsider their ways because the kingdom of heaven had come to visit them. It was also at that same time, the Lord Jesus called two other brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew to follow Him as His disciples. This was their second call from the Lord Jesus. The first call was issued to them in John 1. His initial call to these two was for salvation. This call in today's passage was for discipleship. Having said that, there is a clear difference between our call to believe on the Lord Jesus for salvation and the call of the Lord Jesus to be His disciple.

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "Then He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'"

To be the disciple of the Lord Jesus is to be a fisher of men. The choice of the Lord Jesus had been made, and the disciples were given the opportunity to respond to the call of the Lord Jesus to be "fishers of men." This idea of fishers of men is not first found here in this passage. Rather, it goes back to Jeremiah 16 where the Lord judged Israel for its sin and then promised restoration. Even in the Old Testament, the idea of Gentiles coming to the Lord was clearly stated. The Lord Jesus used the fishers of men terminology as a metaphor for what these men would eventually do. 

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "They immediately left their nets and followed Him."

The first four disciples responded rather immediately at the request of the Lord Jesus for them to leave their nets and to follow Him. This is the first use of the word translated "nets" in the Bible. According to John 1:35-42, these four men heard the teachings of the Lord Jesus and they followed Him after He called them to do so.

In v.21-22 of today's passage we read, "21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him."

After the call of Peter and Andrew came the call to James and his brother John. Then, according to Luke 5, the Lord Jesus came along when the disciples had finished fishing, which was another call to them to follow Him as disciples. This call was made when the Lord Jesus stood by the Lake of Genessaret which is a lake on the Sea of Galilee. The Lord Jesus saw two boats by the lake, and the fishermen were gone out of them. He entered into Simon’s boat. It was then that He said to them, "If you want fish put your nets down where I say, and you’ll get fish." Of course, they caught so many fish they had a hard time pulling their nets ashore. The point was this: Without the Lord Jesus, we cannot catch men. 

Here, we are introduced to two more disciples, James and John. The name James comes from the name Jacob which is derived from the word "heel." The name "James" was based on the birth of Jacob in Genesis 25 where he grabbed the heel of his brother during birth. The name John means "to show favor" or "grace." James and John were in a boat with their father and they were "mending their nets." Every person who has ever believed in the Lord Jesus had a calling. Once we believed, God saved us. Our calling, initially, was to enter into a personal relationship with God. Then we are to get to know Him and in time we will make Him known to others. 

By the way, this James was the son of Zebedee. There was another disciple named James, the son of Alphaeus, also known as James the Less. Later on, James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, became a believer after His resurrection. He wrote the book of James and he became one of the leaders in the church at Jerusalem. So, there are three James we have to keep in mind as we study the Bible. In today's passage, this was James the fisherman, the brother of John who wrote the Gospel of John, the epistles of John and the Book of the Revelation. 

James and John were the sons of Zebedee. Later, the Lord Jesus referred to them as the sons of Thunder, because they were hot heads. There was a point in time during the ministry of the Lord Jesus while on this earth that these two suggested to Him that He let them call fire down from heaven and destroy all the Samaritans because they were unbelieving and wicked. James and John grew up as the tough kids on the block. These two were miraculously changed over time as they followed the Lord Jesus and they became effective makers of disciples over time.

Matthew 4:12-17

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12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned." 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." ~ Matthew 4:12-17

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 4 where we last saw the Lord Jesus being ministered to by angels after His temptation at the hands of the devil. Having embraced the humility needed to obey the Father and the Holy Spirit through His baptism and His temptation, the Lord Jesus illustrated for us the rest that is only found by you and me in Him. He said in Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The rest is literally coming to the end of ourselves and relying upon Him similar to how He was dependent upon the Father and the Holy Spirit.

In v.12-15 of today's passage we read, "12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles."

It appears that it was at the time that John the Baptist was arrested that the Lord Jesus traveled back to Galilee. But, a chronological study of the four Gospels reveals it didn't happen exactly as Matthew presents it. After the Lord Jesus had ministered for some amount of time in Judea, and after he had called Peter, Andrew, Philip and Nathanael to be His disciples and after the wedding at Cana and after meeting the woman at Jacob's well and after meeting with Nicodemus, and after many other happenings, it was then that John the Baptist was imprisoned that the Lord Jesus returned to Galilee. 

Some believe the Lord Jesus made two visits to Galilee while others believe this visit corresponds with the visits He made in Luke 4, Mark 6, and Matthew 13. As noted previously, Matthew's gospel isn't all together chronological. And, even though the chronology isn't right, it does not change the truthfulness of the narrative or the truthfulness of what is being taught. As noted by Matthew, when the Lord Jesus returned to Galilee, He passed by Nazareth and went to Capernaum. The distance between Nazareth and Capernaum is about forty miles.

The reason the Lord Jesus went to Capernaum is discovered in the meaning of its name. Capernaum gives the picture of one who is comforted. As the base for the ministry of the Lord Jesus, the name Capernaum provides for us a beautiful parallel to the rest we have through the Lord Jesus and His work. Of this location, Capernaum "bordered Zebulun and Naphtali." I find it very instructive that Zebulun means "Glorious Dwelling Place" and Naphtali means "My Wrestlings." As will be seen, His move to Capernaum was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Because of the innumerable prophecies that have been fulfilled, we can rest on the word of God. God had spoken and what He had said came about and will always come to pass. Thus, it proves that He is fully in charge of the future as it unfolds and we can rest in that fact.

In v.16-17 of today's passage we read, "16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"

Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the coming great Light began with the words, "The people who sat in darkness." These words explain the situation described in the previous verse. Years before the Lord Jesus came to earth, the Assyrians had come in and conquered the land. In doing so, they removed the northern ten tribes for their faithless conduct before the Lord. In place of them, pagans from around the Assyrian empire arrived. They worshiped all the gods of their homeland, bringing great spiritual darkness as they did so. Israel's lack of worship of the Lord God was the foundation of their loss of freedom which continued throughout the years that followed. 

Notice the use of the present participle, sitting. The people who once walked in the light were stuck. But when the Lord Jesus Christ came, the people "have seen a great light." Thus, the words of Isaiah came to fruition. Without the spiritual life of the Lord Jesus Christ, all people are destined for an eternity in Hell. This is what the Lord Jesus came to change. He came to give light and life, bringing us out of the spiritual darkness in which we lived and from the physical death that everyone suffers because of it. 

The baptism and the temptation of the Lord Jesus had passed. Then, the imprisonment of John the Baptism was noted, which was immediately followed by the Lord Jesus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. Matthew was used of God to give us a logical step-by-step unfolding of the narrative in relation to the coming of the Messiah. With that, the Lord Jesus was now on full display. His next message would dovetail with that of John the Baptist which was: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Repentance is to come to the end of the self-life that was offered to us by the devil in the Garden of Eden. Perhaps more importantly, repentance means that we come to the Lord Jesus so that He can be our Savior. The first part of repentance renders a change of mind while the second part renders a change of heart. This is why the Lord Jesus would later say, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."