Today, I’m going to talk about Matthew Chapter 5, which
contains the famous Sermon on the Mount, also known as the Beatitudes.
I want to focus on the word “beatitude.”
In the original language, the word is “MAKARIOI.” It is also a term of congratulation, used at times of celebration.
☆Now, I can hear the question, "Why are the poor in spirit blessed?!"
I hear you calling out within yourselves,
”We can’t hear such thing.”
☆Listen to me. Since these words are the words spoken by Jesus Christ,
they are true and powerful. Let me explain.
The spirit is poor ... What does this mean?
It means that the spirit is not rich.
This is how I was taught…
Those who realize that they have little love, that they are poor in terms
of love, and weep and ask the Lord to give them love are blessed.
(It all depends on whether or not we can see
ourselves directly and objectively.)
☆We can never be spiritually rich without turning to God.
If we are not rich in spirit we are always grumbling about something.
And since we are never satisfied, we don’t enjoy anything we do.
We don’t feel fulfilled and nothing turns out the way we want.
It is a vicious circle. We blame everyone but
ourselves, including God.
Matthew began with “of the spirit.” “Spirit” is the problem first of all. How should our spirit be dealt with?
In receiving the blessing of the kingdom of heaven it is our spirit which is truly affected. We see into our own hearts
and minds and break down in tears. Knowing we can do nothing by ourselves
we turn to God, saying, “Lord! My spirit is poor. Please help
me!”
The people who do this are blessed. This is what the Lord says ! ...
The kingdom of heaven is theirs!
What the Lord promises is true.
His words are deeply significant. They promise us the kingdom of
heaven.
(Seek first the kingdom and the righteousness of
God! Seek these first!)
The other day, when we went to Otsu to distribute tracts, we came across
many stores with a “tofu” sign.
The sign was written with Chinese characters meaning “rich in beans” rather than the usual characters meaning “rotten beans.”
I was surprised and deeply moved.
”Rich in beans,” was what the writing meant. I didn’t notice
it particularly, but the pastor said "Don’t the soy beans smell good!”
We also want to become rich in the teachings of God. We want to become
filled with the rich fragrance of Christ.
We want to drink good water, don’t we?
☆Our Lord Jesus says, “Those people are blessed.”
He says, “Congratulations!” So let us raise our eyes to the Lord.
God promises to make us happy.
Doesn’t it cause to rejoice? Hallelujah!! Amen!
“…the poor in spirit” are mentioned first as the
inheritors of the kingdom of heaven.
" …those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake," are mentioned
at the end.
Of course, it is the righteousness of God which is meant.
When we study the end of the world, we find that the world becomes more
chaotic while we as Christians are persecuted for our righteousness.
Already we find it mentioned in Matthew right at the beginning of the New
Testament, while at the end, in the Book of Revelation, we find, "Be faithful until death," and "Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."
Today again, we have learned about the consistency
of the words of the Bible, and that the words of the Bible are Christ.
Let us purify our hearts and work together for the
sake of God.
After all, it is through the word of God that we
are made happy.
Amen!! Let us say it aloud five times.
