Matthew 24:9-44: Friday the 13th: The Eschaton

Presented to The Salvation Army's Alberni Valley Ministries, Port Alberni, BC, 15 September 2019, by Captain Michael Ramsay

Today we are going to chat a little bit about the eschaton; who can tell me what the word ‘eschaton’ refers to? Eschatology? Eschatological? End times.

We have just had Friday the 13th this week. Friday the 13th this week also fell on a full moon. Apparently this was the first time in 13 years that Friday the 13th had fallen on a full moon. For any who are concerned by these kinds of things, this would be particularly concerning.

When I was younger there was even a horror/thriller franchise, a bunch of scary movies entitled ‘Friday the 13th’ – I don’t know if everyone knows about those or not. The premise is that there is this person and later like some kind of monster (as the original bad guy – or bad gal, in the first one - dies in the movies) who goes around killing people. It is scary stuff.

Matthew 24:9-22a has some elements of this in it when it talks about the eschaton. (What does ‘eschaton’ mean again?)

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive…

This is scary stuff – right out of Friday the 13th. And Matthew tells us that Jesus continues: verses 36-44

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Again this is scary stuff. Picture this movie, ‘Friday the 13th: the Eschaton’ by Matthew: Two men are working outside the house, in the field and then it will happen, all of a sudden – and one man will escape but the other will be taken away (presumably to be handed over to be put to death, as in Verse 9, or to drown as in Verse 39) … Then, in rapid succession, the next scene: two women are working away in a different location, presumably not too far from the first. They are carrying on their conversations about whatever it is that people like to chat about when they are working away…and then it happens. All of a sudden, one of them is dragged off.  The other flees…but one of them is taken.

This is scary stuff. Now theologians like to disagree about this kind of stuff. Some contemporary North American theologians think that the people who are taken away are happy about it – there is a whole theology built up around the idea of the ‘rapture’, which I am not going to get into today but maybe you have read those books, ‘Left Behind’? Some people, like the author of that series, see those who are taken away by surprise like this as being ultimately happy about it. (Never mind that the whole story is prefaced with people being taken to be persecuted and put to death and the fact that the people in the preceding sentence who are taken drown in Noah's flood and the fact that the very next sentence compares the whole thing to your house being robbed and who of us likes to have our house robbed?) Nonetheless some people think that those taken are the ones that are better off. Either way: whether people see the ones who are taken as better off than those who escape or whether those who get away as better off than those who do not – either way, it is scary stuff that some will survive but some will not.

Matthew then continues, talking about people working again, both in the field and in the home; the person in charge of both. He says:

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is some scary stuff. Matthew goes on quite a bit about “Friday the 13th: the Eschaton” – what does eschaton mean?

Matthew 25 tells us more about being ready for the eschaton and being ready in Jesus’ the parable of the 10 Virgins, Verses 1-13. Due to time we won’t read the whole thing but the long and the short of it is that those who aren’t ready don’t get to join the Bridegroom when he comes back. They miss out. But those that are ready get to come into the party and enjoy the celebrations.

Matthew then tells another story right away. Verse 14-30 about the eschaton and faithful servants (good employees) and an unfaithful one. The faithful servants do what the master wants them to do with His things while he was away. The unfaithful servant does not. The good employees are commended and the best is rewarded while the unfaithful servant is fired or worse.

Matthew then tells the parable of the sheep and the goats from Verse 31 on and the point of this parable is, in short, that as we love God, we will love our neighbour – which means that we will feed the hungry, water the thirsty, invite the stranger in, clothe the naked, and so on. And as we love God and our neighbour we will be safe from all of the scary stuff, the eschaton.

I have one more story.

My daughter Rebecca worked at camp all Summer; she had a great time meeting new friends, reuniting with friends from the previous years and across the province. She didn't really want to come home; she didn't want the Summer to end. She knew it had to and she knew that we, her family, were coming to get her.

The rest of the family, as the time was nearing to pick Rebecca up, we took our holidays near the camp. One night, while everyone else was asleep, Sarah-Grace (Rebecca's closest sister in age) and I decided to go and surprise Rebecca.

Sarah-Grace and I drove to the camp, found out where her cabin was and Sarah-Grace went inside to see her. Rebecca was glad to see us but her first response was one of fear and surprise. "What are you doing here?" "It's not time to go yet?" "I am not ready to go!" "We're not going!"

Sarah-Grace calmed her down. We were just visiting. We went to the dining hall and visited with Rebecca and a friend or two and then left them there in the dining hall. We had a very good visit.

As we were leaving the camp Sarah-Grace told me about Rebecca's reaction; so, we decided to stop by her cabin again (while she was still in the dining room) on our way out. In Rebecca's lipstick, on a piece of paper she attached to the wall, Sarah-Grace wrote, "Matthew 24:36" (She could have equally written "Matthew 25:13" or Matthew 24:42 or 44). When Rebecca looked up Matthew 24:36, it read: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." The implication was that we could show up anytime (unexpectedly like now) and take her away from her Summer job. (And that is really what it is like with the eschaton and also with the end of our own life. None of us know when our time here is complete; so we should all be ready.)

Regarding Rebecca. We put her mind at ease and told her exactly when we were going to show up again with her mother and her other sister so she wasn't really worried about the note but it was a fun memory we shared.

This is not unlike our scripture today (Matthew 24:36-44). When the Lord returns it will be good for us to be with be Him but we need to be ready. (And we can be ready by praying, reading our Bible, loving God and loving and taking care of our neighbour) We all miss our friends who pass on. None of us should want to end our shift at the metaphorical Summer Camp that is this life too soon. And when we do have to go, there are inevitably some things that we would have still wanted to do and we couldn’t but the truth is we need to be ready because we do not know when our Father is coming to get us.

Are you ready?

Let us all get ready for our Heavenly Father by praying, reading our Bible, loving God and loving our neighbour.

Let us pray.

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Fight like a Christian: 2 Corinthians 10:1-8

Presented to The Salvation Army's Alberni Valley Ministries, Port Alberni, BC, 08 September 2019, by Captain Michael Ramsay

Today’s sermon is entitled ‘Fight like a Christian’ or ‘War like a Christian’. If one is going to speak of such things, it seems appropriate to speak about this at The Salvation Army with soldiers and officers and others associated with the Army present.

The Salvation Army has long recognized that our war is not a battle of flesh and blood but a battle with powers and principalities (Ephesians 6:12) and this is a key thought influencing our passage in 2 Corinthians 10 today. At the Army when we become soldiers, full members of The Salvation Army we sign a covenant with God; keeping with our military theme, do you know what that covenant is called? – The Articles of War: Soldier's Covenant.

Our text in 2 Corinthians 10:2 says that, because we are Christians we do not live by the standards of this world. The word 'world' here refers to 'society’. Our Articles of War talks about a number of ways that our standards – not as Christians but as Salvation Soldiers – are different from those of the world. I have handed out pieces of paper with Salvation Army standards written on them to various people in the corps to read. Everyone who wears epaulets has agreed to these standards:

• I will be responsive to the Holy Spirit’s work and obedient to His leading in my life, growing in grace through worship, prayer, service and the reading of the Bible.
• I will make the values of the Kingdom of God and not the values of the world the standard for my life.
• I will uphold Christian integrity in every area of my life, allowing nothing in thought, word or deed that is unworthy, unclean, untrue, profane, dishonest or immoral.
• I will maintain Christian ideals in all my relationships with others: my family and neighbours, my colleagues and fellow Salvationists, those to whom and for whom I am responsible, and the wider community.
• I will uphold the sanctity of marriage and of family life.
• I will be a faithful steward of my time and gifts, my money and possessions, my body, my mind and my spirit, knowing that I am accountable to God.
• I will abstain from alcoholic drink, tobacco, the non-medical use of addictive drugs, gambling, pornography, the occult, and all else that could enslave the body or spirit.
• I will be faithful to the purposes for which God raised up The Salvation Army, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, endeavouring to win others to Him, and in His name caring for the needy and the disadvantaged.
• I will be actively involved, as I am able, in the life, work, worship and witness of the corps, giving as large a proportion of my income as possible to support its ministries and the worldwide work of the Army.
• I will be true to the principles and practices of The Salvation Army, loyal to its leaders, and I will show the spirit of Salvationism whether in times of popularity or persecution.

The items on this list are all very good things but I need to be clear: these items that people just read out aren’t conditions of salvation and they aren’t even things that necessarily every Christian will do – though some of them are, like “sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, endeavouring to win others to Him, and in His name caring for the needy and the disadvantaged” and “making the values of the Kingdom of God and not the values of the world the standard for my life” But they are things that demarcate those of us who are soldiers from others.

Back to 2 Corinthians 10 where the Apostle Paul is speaking about what makes Christian Soldiers different from other soldiers. The Apostle Paul says, as recorded in Verse 4, that as followers of Christ we do not fight with the weapons of this world. We do not fight according to human standards. In the Greek it says though we live in the flesh, we do not fight in the flesh.[1] As Christians, we do not fight the way the armies of this world fight.

In Paul's day Rome was far and away the regional super power; Might was right. They won a lot of wars through their military might. As that was the case with Rome around the Mediterranean basin in the first century, it is exponentially more so these days with the USA. The US militarily is currently occupying about 150 countries in the world according to CNN.[2]  To put that into perspective: there are just over 190 countries in the United Nations. That means that the US occupies about 80% of the countries in our world today. Their military is regularly engaged in wars and other military actions around the globe. With military might in the 1^st century and the 21^st century wars were and are commonly fought.

In the both world of the 1^st and 21^st centuries an invader usually first lay siege to a place it was about to attack, to soften it up. In today's world we usually refer to that action as placing ‘economic sanctions’ on a country. The idea is to make life so bad for the country with people starving to death or suffering other terrible results that some people will rebel against their own people just to survive. In the ancient world sometimes powerful countries would prevent less powerful countries from having advanced weapons. The Philistines – long before the Romans, as recorded in our Bible - are noted as not letting the Israelites having iron weapons (1 Samuel 13) so that the Philistines could invade them at will and Israel could not resist. In our world today we know that the US claims a right to decide who can and cannot be a nuclear power and we remember that before the US invaded Iraq they sent in weapons inspectors to make sure that Iraq could not fight back. Both in the 21^st and the 1^st Centuries, the next step in war, after sieges and the sanctions, is for countries to wage war from a distance. In ancient times they would use catapults and arrows,  in later times canon (the British were experts in using the canon on their ships), and now powerful countries use aeroplanes so that they can kill as many people (combatants and civilians alike) with little risk to their armed forces. And then after all that, if we still need to, we send in the troops. That is how wars were and are fought.

The Bible says that, as Christians, we fight differently to affect change. Again our battle is not against flesh and blood. We Christians aren’t fighting against other people. Our goal isn’t to kill someone; quite the opposite. The enemy has trapped some people and it is our goal to set them free. In Christian vernacular, we want them to be ‘saved’. The enemy has trapped many people in many different cages. Some people are trapped in addiction, some people are trapped by hate, some people (I read more and more it about everyday) are trapped by strange sexuality – pornography, congruent or serial adultery, grooming; abuse, poverty; some people are trapped by deception; some people are trapped by selfishness. Many people in our day and age are trapped in rage and unforgiveness. The Bible says, Galatians 5:19-21 that some people are trapped by sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. There are many thoughts like these that can take people captive.

Our text today, 2 Corinthians 10:5, encourages us that we can stand up to all of these siege engines, platforms, and obstacles that are raised against the knowledge of God and we can take every one of these thoughts captive.[3] This is important. When people do all of these ‘bad things’ we listed and more, we need to remember that they are not the originators of these events so much as the victims of these thoughts. As we serve in God’s Army we help people who are imprisoned by the devil to NOT be crushed. We fight instead to see people freed from the power of darkness. And once we are freed from all of that bad stuff: addiction, jealousy, rage, etc., those thoughts themselves can then become the punished captives. The people can be free. Verse 8 says we are to build each other up. This is important.

Our war here, our daily battles and struggles aren’t against people who disagree with us or even people who torment us or make our life miserable. Our war is with the thoughts and the actions that the devil, the principalities and powers are using to enslave the people.[4] Our goal isn’t to hate and destroy people but to love and liberate them. And as such our weapons aren’t guns, canons, aeroplanes, and nuclear weapons; they aren’t lies, slander, and hate; our weapons are – and this is neat because the word for weapons in our text today ‘hopla’ is the same word translated ‘amour’ in the famous Ephesians 6 passage about the amour of God.[5] Our amour, our weapons for taking each thought captive and freeing ourselves and others are as Paul encourages us in Ephesians 6:14-17, to:

Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

And as we stand strong holding the weapons of God, wearing the amour of God, Jesus will defeat the enemy; indeed he has defeated the enemy and Galatians 5 tells us what our lives can be like as the enemy’s thoughts are taken prisoner and we are freed from captivity. Galatians 5:22-23 says we can live in the power of the Spirit and “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” This is all ours to experience.

This, my friends, is what we are fighting for. As we accept Jesus Christ as our General, our President, our Lord, and our King; we can not only experience all the freedom of love, joy, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our own lives but also - as we fight to share the Gospel with others - we can help free them from the thoughts that keep them trapped and we can point others to Jesus who can give them that very same freedom not only here and now but also forever, even unto eternal life. God loves you and he wants you to receive that liberation today.

If you are still struggling as a captive to thoughts of hate, envy, and bitterness; actions of addiction, rage, and giving up, and more; I would invite you today - if you haven't already - to give your life to the Lord Jesus and then I invite us all to ask the Lord Jesus to free us from these thoughts today so that indeed we can all experience that freedom in Christ Jesus.

Let us pray.

Benediction from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 23-24: Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it...

  

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[1] Simon J. Kistemaker, 2 Corinthians, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic: 2007), 334 and J. Paul Sampley, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (NIB X: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 2000), 136.

[2] CNN: U.S. military personnel by country (April 2012) https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/04/us/table.military.troops/

[3] Cf. Simon J. Kistemaker, 2 Corinthians, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic: 2007), 336 about the allusion to siege engines here.

[4] Cf. Murray J. Harris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Corinthians/Exposition of 2 Corinthians/III. Paul's Vindication of His Apostolic Authority (2 Cor 10:1-13:13)/A. The Exercise of Apostolic Rights and Authority (10:1-11:15)/1. The potency of apostolic authority (10:1-11), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] J. Paul Sampley, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (NIB X: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 2000), 138.

Matthew 5:1-16: A Spoonful of Blessings

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 04 January 2015 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 29 September 2019 and 04 January 2023 by Captain Michael Ramsay

I remember being taught a card game once involving spoons. I am not entirely sure of all the rules now because I only have played it once many years ago. The basic idea is that there are a number of spoons put in the middle of a circle of people playing cards, one less spoon than the number of people playing. You then pass cards around the circle to each other until someone notices they have four-of-kind. Once someone has four-of-kind, one subtly grabs a spoon. Then everyone, once they notice the spoons are disappearing, tries to grab a spoon. The last one to notice that the spoons are going, the last one to grab a spoon loses. You play this game, eliminating one person each time, until only one person is left. (S)he is the winner. Of course it is easiest if you are the one who has the four-of-kind because then you can grab the first spoon and thus not be eliminated.

The one time I played, I was blessed to be one of the last two people in the game. We need one person to have four-of-kind so that we could try to grab the last spoon. It got to the point where I knew that Sheldon had picked up 3 Aces and he knew I had one Ace. That is when Sheldon spoke up and announced that we can never have a winner to this game because, "Michael is holding onto one Ace and will not want to part with it because as soon as he does, I will have four Aces, grab the spoon and win." It is then that I pass him a card and I grab the last spoon. Someone in the crowd of spectators who was obviously looking at my hand says to me, “Hey! You can’t do that you don’t have four-of-kind.” To which I reply, “Sheldon does”, which of course he did. I gave Sheldon the last Ace but by the time he realized it and reached for the spoon I, of course, had already taken it and won the game. The strategy changed here when there are only two people. Instead of trying to get the last card yourself, you give it to someone else. In order to win this game you need to interact with the world in a new way. This is not unlike the God’s Kingdom as expressed by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is saying that as we belong to His Kingdom, we need to interact with this world in a new way. Citizens of Heaven will act according to the ways of Heaven even while we are living and working in Canada or wherever we happen to be.

Jesus’ opening to the Sermon on the Mount speaks about the blessings of serving God and it is often referred to as the beatitudes: the word ‘beatitude’ comes from the Latin word for blessing.[1] These blessings -and indeed this whole sermon- speak about what it is like to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Now by ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, we don’t mean what it will be like ‘when you go to heaven’ because this passage speaks very clearly that these blessing occur here on earth. It says the meek will inherit the earth (v. 5) and further on in this sermon Jesus speaks about marriage, adultery, an end to divorce… and –of course- Matthew tells us, as recorded in Chapter 22 of this Gospel, that there is no marriage, let alone divorce, remarriage and adultery in heaven (Matthew 22:23-30, Mark 12:24-26, Luke 20:34-36). This whole sermon speaks to what life is like when we are citizens of God’s Kingdom living here on the equivalent of a divine work visa so to speak or more accurately, as a fifth column or an advance guard preparing the way for Jesus’ return. This sermon is about what life is like when you are a Christian in this place, in this time, and this is quite something.[2]

It opens with some wonderful words of comfort so let’s take a look at Matthew 5:1-16 this morning. The first two verses of this chapter are nicely setting the stage for Jesus’ sermon. Matthew often draws parallels for his readers between Jesus and Moses who has been called ‘the Great Law Giver.’ Moses of course received the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, the Law from the LORD atop a Mountain. This Law articulated what had demarcated the people of God  (vv.17-18) and now that it is fulfilled, Jesus is sharing with us what life looks like for the people of God living in His proleptic kingdom.

This is interesting: we said that the word ‘beatitude’ comes from the Latin word for blessed. The Greek equivalent of this word is makarism and makarism refers to people in a privileged circumstance: those who are ‘fortunate’, ‘happy’, ‘well off’, ‘blessed’. It relates to the Hebrew world Shalom which means ‘peace’ and ‘well-being’ and this closely relates to the German word Heil. Those of us who have grown up in and around The Salvation Army, do you know what Heil means? Whereas we wear S’s on our uniforms the German Salvationists wear H’s on theirs. Heil means ‘Salvation’.[3] When our scriptures today say, ‘blessed is so and so because of this and that’, it is saying that we blessed people are saved and we are at peace. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven’ means ‘saved and peaceful are the poor in spirit as they live in the Kingdom of Heaven.’

So then who are these poor in spirit and why are they blessed, saved, and peaceful as they inherit the kingdom of heaven? ‘Poor in spirit’ in a unique phrase. It is not as straightforward as Luke’s ‘blessed are the poor’; it does include those who are monetarily poor but it also includes those who are otherwise not self-reliant. It may refer to anyone who realises that they cannot make it by themselves; those who inherit the kingdom of heaven as the ‘poor in spirit’ would be the opposite of the ‘me generation’; the poor in spirit are those who realize that they are not independent financially, socially, emotionally… Jesus is saying that those of us who do not buy into the cult of the individual but rather lean on Him, we are the ones who are blessed, saved, and peaceful as we inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

The next group Jesus’ says are blessed, peaceful, and saved are those who mourn. Jesus says we will be comforted. This is speaking about all those who are suffering in our world today and there are many.[4] That Christianity is about comfort shouldn’t be a surprise to us. Of Course, Ray was Promoted to Glory on Friday morning and I was blessed to be able to be with Cathy and his family offering whatever comfort I could. And I am often reminded around Christmas time of the power of God to comfort those who mourn. I often receive Christmas cards, emails, and comments from people whose relatives’ funerals I have officiated telling me how much they have appreciated the comfort received during the memorial and how they draw on the Lord’s comfort now at Christmas time, in the absence of their loved ones. Of course this is a blessing from the Lord, for there is no comfort that I can possibly offer apart from Him. In the Kingdom, blessed, peaceful, and saved are those who mourn for they are comforted.

Blessed, peaceful and saved also are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Meek is very much a synonym for the ‘poor in spirit’; meek people are gentle. We who inherit eternal life will also inherit this earth as Christ’s proleptic kingdom grows its foothold here. Blessed, peaceful and saved are the meek for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed, peaceful and saved are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. The word righteousness in this context includes the concept of justice. It speaks to those who long for wrongs to be made right and for those who cry out for salvation from the injustices of our current socio-economic-political structures. All last year I was studying Restorative Justice through Simon Fraser University. Did you know that in the US, our closest neighbour in more ways than just geography, one in three African American men has been disenfranchised; 1/3 of all African American males have been locked in jail at least once? This is just one symptom of the myriad racial injustices south of the line. No wonder there have been race riots for months now. We also have injustices here, racial, other and especially economic discrimination. Jesus says that those of us who stand against injustice and those of us who stand for His righteousness will be filled. We will be satisfied. As Jesus’ reign takes hold in our life and our world, those of us who intercede for those in need will be satisfied. Blessed, peaceful and saved are those who hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness for they will be filled.[5]

Always accompanying true justice is mercy (cf. 5:38-48, 6:14-157:1-5,12). You really cannot have one without the other; therefore blessed, peaceful and saved are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. Jesus says in this sermon, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ (7:12). In God’s Kingdom - which is within and amongst those of us who are really the Church - in the Kingdom of Heaven, we need not fear retribution from one another as we confess our sins and as we love our enemies because we will forgive and be forgiven; blessed, peaceful and saved are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed, peaceful and saved are the pure of heart for they will see God. Pure of heart “denotes one who loves God with all his heart (Deut. 6:5), with an undivided loyalty, and whose inward nature corresponds with his outward profession” (cf. Isa. 29:13).^[6] Those of us who love God with all of our heart will see Him and experience Him in our life. This is what it is like to be a Christian.

Blessed, saved, and peaceful too are those who make peace for they will be called children of God. We who belong to the Kingdom of Heaven will defuse conflict rather than contribute to it. This is corporate as much as individual.[7] I still remember the day that Canada’s armed forces turned from an army of peacekeepers to an army of war-makers. I had a contract at CFB Esquimalt when Canada invaded Yugoslavia. I spoke with some of our service people headed overseas who until that point had spent their whole military careers standing between warring factions, protecting civilians; now they were ordered to be prepared to kill civilians as collateral damage if necessary in an illegal, internationally condemned war. It tore at the minds and hearts of many of these soldiers.

On the other side of this here is The Salvation Army we facilitate peace through restorative justice in our community by – among other things – the Alternative Measures program. In this program, we are able to provide an opportunity for a victim to face their aggressor, share their story, and forgive them; the offender has the opportunity to hear their story, learn how their actions have affected real people, and be forgiven. We all have the opportunity to heal harms and grow in strength and peace. It is no wonder that our rates of recidivism are negligible amongst our participants – here we see victim, offender, and the community at large healed as peace is made in their lives and our community. We who are saved will contribute to peace in the world. Blessed, saved, and peaceful are those who make peace for they are the ones who will be called children of God.

Now as we come to our last beatitude, I have a question for us. Those of us who are Christians will experience the blessings we’ve talked about today. These blessings come with serving God in His Kingdom. My question is, what is the opposite of a blessing? (A curse.) If we choose not to live in God’s blessing then we are choosing to live a life that is cursed and that is the choice before us today. We know how horrible the world can be around us. We know there is misery. We have been looking today in our scriptures at blessings that come during some very real trials, tribulations, and problems in our world. Christians are surrounded by all of this. We are not spared any more than anyone else but if we belong to the Kingdom of Heaven then we have access to all of these blessings in the middle of everything we are going through and that is Good News. That is the Good News. Jesus was born, lived, died, and raised again so that we can all live out our salvation forever and for now. We can experience God’s Salvation in the midst of all that is surrounding us.

This brings us to our last beatitude, Matthew 5:10-16:

“blessed, [peaceful and saved] are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven; blessed, [peaceful and saved] are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in the Kingdom of Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You [as you stand up under persecution] are the salt of the earth but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You [as you stand up under persecution] are the light of the world, a city built on a hill [that] cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others [even as you are persecuted], so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.

These wonderful beatitudes conclude with the good news that when we really are Christians we will probably be persecuted (vv. 10-12). And, Jesus says, even though we may lose our lives, our jobs, our family and our friends; we are encouraged to keep strong for the Good News of Jesus Christ’s Kingdom is so good, so important and so valuable that it must be shared at whatever the cost. If – as Christians - we do not share the Good News of Jesus Christ, we are as useless as a nightlight hidden under a cup (vv.13-16). If we don’t share the Good News then we are no more this useful than adding tasteless flavouring to God’s recipe of eternal salvation. But as we share the Good News of Jesus and as we invite other people to experience the blessings of God even in the midst of all of the troubles of our world today, as we invite people to enjoy the salvation that is found in Christ then they and we will be truly blessed, peaceful and saved for ours will be citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven; then no matter what else happens, it will all be okay. We will be okay. I promise. Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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To view the most recent version, 29 January 2023, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2015/01/matthew-51-16-spoonful-of-blessings.html 

 
To view the shorter 2019 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/09/matthew-51-16-blessing-of-salvation.html

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[1] M. Eugene Boring, ‘Matthew’ (NIB VIII: Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1995),175.

[2] NT Wright, ‘Matthew for Everyone Part 1Chapters 1-15’ (NT for Everyone: Louisville Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 37.

[3] M. Eugene Boring, ‘Matthew’ (NIB VIII: Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1995), 176.

[4] R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill. : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S. 115.

[5] Cf. D. A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/B. First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29)/2. The kingdom of heaven: its norms and witness (5:3-16)/a. The norms of the kingdom (5:3-12)/(1) The Beatitudes (5:3-10), Book Version: 4.0.2

^[6] R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S. 116

[7] Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1993), 42.