St Matthew, Chapter 5, versess 1 - 3, The Beatitude: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit.

There are two paragraphs today:  (Sermon on the mount), and  (The beatitudes).

This chapter starts off with the teachings of Christ.  Many people have heard of the beatitudes either in church or in daily life.  Our parents, grandparents, teachers, pastors, deacons and most everyone have quoted them to us.  What do they mean?

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

I know what poor means.  The dictionary defines poor as:  having little or no money, goods, or other means of support.  Many people all over the world are poor in the flesh and in the world.  So what does it mean to be poor in spirit?  Does it mean to be lacking in some way in the spirit??  Does it mean that the spirit is deficient in some way, not having the means to support itself.  Or does it mean a spiritual state of being as if you have no money, or goods or other means of support.  What purpose does that serve?  If I desire physically, to be wealthy, but have a spiritual state that says that I am poor, I am a hypocrite? 

Most people today want to have fame and fortune and riches, and fine cars and a big house, and to be popular.  I mean, those are the values that we grow up with.  Those are the values that are ingrained in us, from day one, in the society that we live in.  Even those people that live in undeveloped or underdeveloped countries want to have the riches and fame that are available in the developed countries.  So what does this mean?


Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  So if I maintain a spirit of poverty, I will obtain the kingdom of heaven, is that it???  So if I think and act as though I am poor, I will be blessed??  How am I blessed??  What am I blessed with??  What does it mean to be blessed??  The definition means, divinely or supremely favored or fortunate.  So If I have a poor in spirit, spiritual being, I will be blessed with the kingdom of heaven!! 


Why would I want to be spiritually poor??  Is having the kingdom of heaven so much greater as to out way the value of not having a poor in spirit being??   Can it be that the kingdom of heaven is far greater in value than anything that I can imagine.  Can it be that the kingdom of heaven has a far greater value than gold or silver, fame or fortune, or fine cars, or a big house or lust, or being beautiful, or having a fine body, or having a beautiful wife and beautiful kids, or any of the things that this world has to offer??  What value can I place on the ownership of heaven??  Here, Christ says, in his first teachings to us, that ownership of the kingdom of heaven is theirs who are not possessed with a spirit of riches, but to those who are poor in spirit, and they are divinely and supremely favored or fortunate.






   

St Matthew, Chapter 4, verses: 12 - 25, Christ calls the disciples and begins His ministry of preaching.

There are three paragraphs today:  (Jesus in Capharnaum), (The first disciples called), and

Christ has finished his training in the desert.  He sparred with the devil, did a TKO and now begins his ministry of preaching.  This first paragraph reminds us of how the scriptures are being fulfilled through Christ as he goes about his ministry.  It has been spoken through Isaias the prophet that a great light would shine in Zebulon and Nephthalim for those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.  Jesus begins preaching repentance so that those who would, could find the kingdom of heaven, for it was at hand.  It was not far away but at their fingertips where it could be reached by the hand that sought it.  Is the kingdom of heaven at hand today??  Can we find it if we sought it today??  Is it at hand??

Christ calls his first disciples.  He called Peter and Andrew, James and John.  Just like that, they left all and followed him.  If Jesus called you today would you leave all and follow.  Would you drop work, and ambitions, and prestige, and fame, and friends, and family and goals, and wife and relationships, and A--L--L, and follow!!!  

I think about, say, Warren Buffet, or Donald Trump, or Bill Clinton, or Bill Gates.  If they appeared in our lives and called us to follow them would we??  Where would they lead us??  What would be our reward??  What is it that would compel us to leave behind all and follow.  Could it be because of their fame and fortune that we would follow.  Christ had none of these things.  He had just begun to preach.  No one knew of what he was about to accomplish.  No one knew of the miracles he would perform.  No one knew him.  Yet there must have been something about him that compelled obedience.  There must have been something about him that so filled the first disciples that their entire being overflowed with a desire to follow.   

It is amazing the efficiency of the scriptures.  Words are not wasted on those who might have been called.  Words are not wasted on those who hesitated, those who doubted, those who did not have the desire, those who were filled with procrastination.  Words are only spoken of those who were called and who followed without hesitation.  They dropped everything and followed.  Christ would make them fishers of men.
 He began his mission by preaching in all of their synagogues.  Preaching and healing the sick, the lame, the possessed; curing the lunatics, the paralytics, and the suffering; healing the diseased, the tormented.  He cured them all.  He did not half cure them, or partially cure them, or give them hope of being cured.  He cured them A--L--L!!! 

Imagine what amazement and awe this must have caused in that time.  Imagine the talk that these miracles generated.  Words must have spread like wildfire.  People from as far away as Alaska came to see him and be cured.  Everyone was talking about him and his miracles.  He created  such an uproar throughout the entire territory that everyone with any problems were being drawn to him for help.   And this makes me wonder about the life  force that was in him which must have shown through in his physical presence.  What must it have been like, to be around Jesus or in his  presence???  Blessed are those who knew him.

 We worship rock stars, and awe at presidents, and marvel at industry giants, and TV personalities.  They had personalities back in those days, rulers, and men of great wealth, and great solders, and priests of great stature, men of great wisdom, philosophers, and scholars, etc.  And they had their fame and influence.  But Jesus commanded the crowds and throngs of the lowly and suffering, of the lame and sick, of the rejected.  He did not have the influence of the rich and famous.  

If you are a person having never read the New Testament Bible, how would you imagine Jesus.  How would you see him??  How would you feel about him having read about all of the miracles that he performed??  Would he find a place of love and awe in your heart??  If you were able to see these miracles yourself, what would you think??  What would you believe??  Our emotions and beliefs are so moved by all of what is happening in our world today.  Would this be just another fleeting info bite that is here today and gone tomorrow.  Or would this be something that would remain with you forever.  Would your heart be touched so much so that your life would be changed??   Or would your reason  and   intellect take over the feelings of your heart and bring you back to the rationalization of the world??  We do not have these miracles today.  Yet, one has to question.  The Bible is God's true word brought to man.  Can we believe this truth today?? 

St Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 1 - 11, The Temptations of Christ in the Desert.

Today our headings are the temptations:  (The first temptation), (The second temptation), (The third temptation).

So far we have covered Chapters1, 2, and 3.  It is important to follow the transition between chapters and paragraphs because it tells the story of what is being said in the Bible. 

If these words were for a person who never read the Bible and was just beginning, we would try to convey some sense of connection of what has happened so far, so that the reader can maintain interest in what is being read.  Chapter 1, dealt with the history of Christ's family, his lineage, and his conception.  Chapter 2, dealt with the circumstances surrounding his birth and the events that occured immediately after he was born.  Chapter 3, dealt with his associate, John the Baptist, who was sent here, on earth, to announce his coming.

The devil has sought to prevent Christ's  coming from the very beginning.  He sought to have Mary branded as an adulteress and thereby stoned to death.  He sought to have him killed as an infant through the evil deeds of Herod, who killed the innocent children of Bethlehem, thinking that he would capture him in his net of death.  And now in chapter 4, Satan, confronts Christ in an attempt to turn him away from God.

Immediately after his baptism, Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit for the express purpose of being tempted by the Satan.  He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.  I find it difficult to fast for 3 days and Christ, our savior, was fasting for 40 days.  I try to imagine where one would be, mentally, from the isolation of being in the desert, alone, in the heat of the day, in the sun, in the dry climate, alone.  Did he have water??  Did he have a bit of bread to eat to survive??  How long does one survive in the desert without the basic requirements of life, food and water??? 

And when he was hungry, at the end of the 40 days and nights, the tempter came.   And he said, "If thou art the Son of God!!!"  Tempt me to not know who I am.  Tempt me to believe that I doubt my origin.  Tempt me to believe that I am not of Godly origin.  This is what Satan did with the word If.  Satan did not acknowledge that Christ was the Son of God, because he wanted to tempt him to have doubts.  Christ, however, knew who he was and the purpose of his being on earth.  He had jsut received accolades from his Father, stating that he was his son and that he was well pleased in him.  So Christ tells Satan that it is written that man does not live by bread alone.  This is a solemn affirmation of who we are as human beings.  We are not just flesh and skin and bones and blood.  If we were then bread would be what keeps us and maintains us.  No, we are more than flesh, we are spirit that lives by the words that comes from God himself.  God spoke and gave us life.  God breathed into the dust and gave it life to create Adam.  We are spirits living in an earthly realm.  


Satan, in the second temptation, tries the same tactic by attempting to create doubt with the word If.  He again attempts to creat doubt by stating: "If thou art the Son of God."  This time he throws in the facts that it is written that the angels shall protect Christ.  Then Christ directly tells him that he will not be tempted by his tricks.


Satan, in the third temptation, takes him to the movies and offers him fame and fortune and glory.  He says: "All these things will I give thee."   Christ, however, does not want things, but only the one true God.  He tells Satan to leave him, to depart from him with his trinkets and baubels because it is written that there is only one true God and he is the only one that we should worship and serve and not Satan. 

This tells me that I shoud not worship, desire with a consumming passion, a shinney new car, or money in the bank, or fine clothes, or a big house, or any of the wordly things, that this world has to offer.  Be mindful that I am of this world, so I must have need of these things to survive.  But I shall not worship them.  My praise and my glory should be in God and not in man.  If you are the sons of God, then use the power that God has given you to create wealth.  If you are the sons of God then use the power that God has given you to protect yourself from disease and sickness and from harm.  All these things I will give you if you just forget that you are sons of God and worship me in this world, Satan says.  Go for the gold.  Go for the riches and wealth.  Go for the power and lust that this world has to offer.  Go for the pleasures of sex, and food, and the lust of clothes, and the lust of having a physical body defined by the norms of this day.  All these things will I give you, if you worship me, says Satan.  And God says, "The Lord thy God shalt thou worship and him only shalt thou serve."