by Mr. Francis D'Souza
MATHEW 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, they shall obtain mercy.
Consider :
1. Forgive us our sin, as we forgive....... Mathew 6:12
2. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you -
Mathew 7:12
3. Give and it shall be given to you - Luke 6:38
4. As you sow, so shall you reap - Based on 2 Cor. 9:6
At work in all this, is Newton's law of motion "every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
We need to be merciful because :
1. Being sinners, we are in need of God's mercy, and unless we are merciful, we will not receive mercy.
2. We have already received mercy (Mathew 18) and unless we reciprocate mercy, what happened to the first servant in Mathew 18, will happen to us.
3. We are called to imitate God, who is merciful - Psalm 103:8 (story of the Rabbi and his midnight stranger guest)
MATHEW 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God
The story of the boy who did not want to go to Heaven (see God) because his mother had made pancakes.
Hebrews 12:14 says "Without holiness, no one shall see God.
Psalm 24:3-4 - who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.......
Since seeing God is a matter of the heart condition, a look at what the Bible says about the heart is necessary.
Jeremiah 17:9 - the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?
Mathew 15:19 - For out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness and blasphemies.
Gal 5:21 and Revelation 22:15 tells us that there is no entry for such people in the kingdom of God (see God).
Let's do a motive test in everything we do and pray as the Psalmist teaches us in Psalm 51:10 - Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.
MATHEW 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.
The story of the couple who was celebrating their 60th Wedding anniversary. "Darling we have been fighting with each other all our life - let's pray that God may give us peace. So tonight I think I'll pray that the Lord will take you home and I'll go and stay with my sister".
When we talk of peace, 3 types of people come to mind :
1.Peace lovers - they pray for peace/ don't talk to people who disrupt peace/mind their own business/take part in peace rallies etc.
2.Peace breakers - gossip/tale carriers/ rumour mongers/distort the truth/pray for peace and prepare for war.
3.Peacemakers - in case of ripped-relationships, they bring about reconciliation/where they are ruptures, they bring about raptures/where there are scares, they create stars/ in case of hurts, they bring about healing/where there are breaches, they built something - mainly bridges. That is what God calls us to do in Isaiah 58:12. They also go about making peace unconditionally.
Price of peacemaking :
Misunderstood/they will become one and we will be enemies. Sometimes attacked and even killed as God's Son was, even as he was making peace between God and man.
No Jesus - no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.
We will only enjoy real peace when we are united to the Prince of Peace and peace at macro level will be a reality only when there is peace at micro level.
MATHEW 5:10
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
There are two types of persecutions - Physical and mental.
Being beaten up, dragged behind vehicles, being burnt alive. These are called physical persecutions. Whereas rejections/ alienation/ discrimination are examples of mental persecutions. Never be discouraged and stop doing good because of persecutions, because that is the aim of persecutions. Remember the advice given by the farmer to his discouraged politician friend "keep on shining like the moon inspite of the dog barking at it."
Like in suffering, when persecutions come, don't become bitter but become better. Don't say 'why me Lord' . Instead say 'Why not me Lord?".
1 Peter 4:15 tells us that suffering for wrongdoing is not covered under this beatitude.
Joseph of the Old Testament is an example of this beatitude because he was ill-treated for no fault of his own. First by his brothers and then by Potiphar.
Are you afraid whether you will be able to face persecution?
Corrie : "I am afraid I will never be strong to face persecution"
Daddy : "When do I give you money for a trip? 3 months in advance?
Corrie : No, on the day of the travel of course.
Daddy : That's exactly what God does. At the right time, He will give you the courage to face persecutions.
Corrie Ten Boom went on to face and survived the terrible persecutions in the Nazi concentration camps.
We learnt in our early catechism lessons - God made us to love Him, to serve Him and to be happy with Him. Jesus at the beginning of His ministry gives us the secret of how to be happy through the eight Beatitudes.
Remember,
"Blessed" literally means to be "Happy"