The Good Life
If you have a Bible, open it to the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew chapter 5, verses 1-12 is where we will be this morning. If you are using a Bible underneath the seats, you’ll find our text located on page #. As you’re making your way there, I want to ask you how you might define the good life.
Maybe it’s the house on a beach in Hawaii or the cabin in the woods of upstate New York. Maybe it’s finally having the dream job or job promotion you’ve been working your way to climb the ladder for.
If you’re a kid going through school, maybe you’re living the good life right now because you’re on summer break. Maybe you just graduated high school, and the good life you long for is right around the corner when you move away from your parents and claim your independence as you transition into college or your next big chapter. Whether you are young, married, or retired, you have a concept of what the good life is and long for it.
In our text this morning, Jesus, the great teacher, philosopher, and king, casts His vision for what the good life is. Like us, He has a concept of the good life, but His concept is one that is true and never changes. It’s not limited to age or circumstance. It’s not subject to whether we get the job, or if the house on the beach has its A/C unit go out, or if that college we are attending isn’t as great as we anticipated. Jesus’ vision for the good life is complete, and it can be experienced now and forever.
It’s here in Matthew 5:1-12 where we discover what the good life really is. We can do that by breaking this text into three points:
-
A New Era
-
A New Ethic
-
A New Example
We begin by reading the words from our passage in Matthew 5:1-12,
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
1. A New Era
The first point of my sermon is titled " A New Era,” and we find this in the opening verses of our text, verses 1-2, which set the scene for us.
We read again,
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them,
Most likely, whatever translation you hold, you likely see a subheading above these verses, titled “The Sermon on the Mount”. Also, below these verses follows another subheading, titled “The Beatitudes”. This passage, which is our passage this morning, is the introduction to a larger portion of Matthew that spans from chapters 5-7, as titled above, the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest Sermon ever preached.
For us to best understand the beatitudes, we need to observe the context surrounding the Sermon on the Mount as a whole. Matthew was a purposeful writer. He was a tax collector, which meant that his day job demanded that he be intentional and analytical with everything he did. His gospel writing is incredibly purposeful, so we need to recognize the purpose behind his account by acknowledging what precedes this event that starts in Matthew 5.
In the first four chapters of Matthew’s gospel, Matthew provides us with stories of Christ’s birth, baptism, and temptation in the wilderness. These stories and the order of events were intended to mirror a narrative that should be familiar to us. It’s the narrative that spans between Genesis and Deuteronomy, the first five books of the Old Testament! This parallel is Matthew’s way of explaining how unified God’s word is and how awesome our God is! Much like the narrative flow of Matthew, the first three major sequences in our Old Testament start with birth, covenant, and wilderness.
Between Genesis and Exodus, particularly, we find many birth stories. The primary birth stories are the birth of humanity at creation, the birth of Israel as a nation, and the birth of Israel’s most important figure, their leader, Moses. The start of the Old Testament is highly concerned with giving an account of new beginnings. Like the Old Testament, Matthew follows suit by presenting us with the birth of Christ. A new and better Moses, who is the Son of God.
Matthew matches his introduction to the Genesis and Exodus narrative with the story of Christ’s birth and then continues to do so by matching the theme of covenant to Christ’s baptism. Baptism, of course, was not a Jewish custom. If you took a time machine and traveled back in time to explain baptism to an Old Testament Jew, you would get a funny look as they’d have no clue what you’re talking about.
While the act of baptism was non-existent in early Israel, what existed was the concept of covenants. God and His people, Israel, were all about covenants. Covenants are promises made by God to His people that prove His love and commitment to them, even if His people stray away from Him.
The way Israel proved their belonging to God was through circumcision, as the mark of circumcision was their way of being set apart from the world, thus proving their identity as God’s people. Like circumcision, baptism is our way of identifying ourselves as God’s covenant people. By going under the waters of baptism and rising, we perform an act that is an outward expression and demonstration that we belong to God.
Not only is baptism an outward expression and demonstration of our relationship with God, but it’s also a symbol of regeneration, being made new. When Israel was delivered out of Egypt, the people who were once slaves and held captive were made free and entered a new life with God. Much like Israel’s Exodus, when we go under the waters of baptism and come out, we are declared free from sin and enter a new life with God.
First, we have Christ’s birth, second, Christ’s baptism, and now thirdly, we find Christ’s temptation in the wilderness and its parallel to the beginning of the Old Testament. The temptation of Christ in the wilderness story aligns perfectly with what happened after God’s people were delivered from Egypt. When Israel entered a new life with God as His people, Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is baptized by John, then enters the wilderness for 40 days.
Israel was on a journey into the promised land, and Jesus was on a road to glory to take His place on the throne as King and bring about full restoration for humanity. His journey is a complete revelation of God for humanity, to know and recapture the good life.
But Matthew’s introduction doesn’t stop with the parallels between birth, baptism, and temptation in the wilderness; these parallels continue with the opening verses of Matthew 5:1-2…
How? Because name another event specifically in Exodus that involves a mountain, a teacher, and teaching meant to be communicated to God’s people?
The giving of the Law from God to Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.
Matthew has opened his gospel narrative and the Sermon on the Mount to reveal to us that we have entered a new era. We are no longer in the old covenant age, longing for the promised Messiah and deliverance as spoken by the prophets, because He is now here. Jesus, the Son of God, Immanuel (God with us), is present as the greatest teacher, like Moses, but also God, providing the way to the flourishing life.
Now that we have laid the foundation for the Sermon and have recognized how Matthew has directed us first into a new era, let’s move on to our second point, a new ethic, where we receive the message from our Lord. A message that reveals a new way to live.
2. A New Ethic
We discover the new ethic in verses 3 to 10,
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The word that stands out in these statements is the word blessed. From the span of verses 3-12, that word is used a total of 9 times. As much as it is stated, it is often misconceived. Throughout past generations of interpretation, the word blessed as it pertains to Matthew 5, has been treated as a reward or divine blessing from above. Readers have fitted it along the lines of if-then statements, much like commands. An example would be if I told you to jump around and clap 5 times, then I would give you a compliment for doing as I said. It starts as a command and then results in a reward.
Jesus’ opening words to His Sermon do not operate in that way; He is not providing a new command or a new ethic in the way we might perceive it. He is providing a new ethic in the sense that this is a way of life that requires heart transformation. It’s a heart posture that is humble and lowly and confesses that, apart from God, I cannot know what the good life is.
Each character trait listed in the Beatitudes is worth meditating on and expounding upon, but ultimately these traits communicate a larger theme. They encompass the totality of what the good life is. Jesus is providing a description of it while simultaneously inviting his listeners to experience it for themselves.
If this appears confusing at all, allow me to refer to a text from the Old Testament that aligns perfectly with what the Beatitudes communicate to us. That text from the Old Testament is Psalm 1, which also opens with the word blessed. In verses 1-2 of Psalm 1, the Psalmist writes,
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
In Psalm 1, the Psalmist doesn’t make a claim that has anything to do with someone about to receive God’s favor. Rather, the Psalmist presents an inspirational vision for the wise way of being in the world that results in human flourishing. This man, instead of receiving something, is experiencing the good life. Psalm 1 is simultaneously a description and invitation to be transformed with a heart posture towards God and the things of God to live in accordance with who He is and His will.
Much like Psalm 1, Matthew 5 recaptures what was already written in the Old Testament with an eternal outlook in mind. Jesus is not discarding the ancient vision for human flourishing. What He is doing is radically reorienting the ancient vision toward the heavenly kingdom in this New Era and New Covenant Age. He is inviting us into the way of being in the world that fulfills both the ancient wisdom and our hope for the future kingdom.
The man or woman who is blessed, happy, or flourishing is poor in spirit. They mourn, are meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, are merciful, are pure in heart, are peacemakers, and are persecuted because their hope is not in what is in front of them in this world. Their hope, rather, where they find life is not in themselves, their education, their career, their marriage, their investments, but rather in the person who breathed life into them, God Himself. He calls us into the relationship and extends His hands over us and invites us exactly in the way He did when He ascended on the Mount to kickstart the ministry and proclaim the best news of all, before the events of the gospel all played out.
For the student in this room who has cheated on assignments, exams, and spoken lies and slander toward his classmates and teachers. You can have hope. For the single man who just can’t wait for the day he meets the love of his life but burns with the desire so much so that he finds himself returning to that website to look at inappropriate images that rob him of joy and fulfillment, he, too, can have hope. And even for the mother who fights in her marriage, carries regret, shame, brokenness over things said and done, she also can have hope. The good life, while distant, is before them and all of us in this room. It exists right here in Matthew 5, verses 3 to 12, as spoken by the Lord above all, revealing to us, making manifest, the way, the truth, and the life, for He is the way, the truth, and the life.
So, Christian and non-Christian in this room, anyone with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to be transformed, receive His message and accept the invitation. It’s not a command, it’s not something delivered up from the sky, it’s all of that flipped entirely. Jesus, the Son of God, took on flesh, descended from the heavens, and ventured his way up a physical mountain to communicate a new ethic as the new and better Moses and bridge the gap between God and humanity to recover a fellowship, a relationship that was lost. There is real, genuine hope before us that brings about the flourishing life that is beyond measure to whatever definition you have of the good life.
3. A New Example
Matthew 5:1-12 directs us into a new era; it invites us into a new ethic, a new way of life, but it does more for us. It demonstrates a new example. The beatitudes continue and draw us into its conclusion with verses 11 to 12,
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you
Unlike verses 3-10, Jesus makes a sharp transition in verse 11. These statements are not limited to those who embody humility and possess the promises of God in their relationship with Him. These closing statements are targeted directly to those listening by addressing them in the second person, you. Blessed are you and rejoice, for your reward is great. As Jesus has presented his listeners with an invitation as well as a description of the good life, He is calling his disciples into the life of following what He says and does. It is a calling into discipleship, imitating Christ in every word and every deed.
In ancient literature, if someone wrote a biography about another person, it was because they taught something significant and were worth modeling after. In our generation today, it would be strange to think of the gospels as biographies because biographies in our generation don’t serve exactly the same purpose for us as they did then. If you read a biography on Michael Jackson, it would be very concerning if you clung to every word and act he ever did. Biographies are now written to more likely expose the best and worst about someone to either prove if their worth liking or not.
Our understanding of biographies today, partly robs us of the depth and beauty of ancient biographies, which is partly the kind of genre the gospel of Matthew fits in. Matthew wants us to be certain that Jesus is the best teacher of all. He is to be seen as one who has authority like no other. No other philosopher, scribe, rabbi, or any leadership figure of some kind is no match when he stands near the person of Christ.
What exactly separates Jesus from everyone else? Is it his teaching? Yes. Is it His miracles? Yes… Is it the claims that He makes as He is one with the Father, and if you do not know Him, then you do not know God? Yes… But we cannot separate these things from one another. What makes Jesus distinct and better than anyone who came before him or after Him is that He lived and demonstrated every single word He spoke. This makes Him the new example, the ultimate example worth following!
Have you ever met someone who is kind of flaky? They say that they’ll meet the due date or show up at the exact time and follow through on the promise, but are completely unreliable. Jesus is nothing like that! He explained what the Law is and how to truly abide by it. He reiterated the commands to love your neighbor, to not commit adultery, to seek first the kingdom of God always, and to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind always.
This, while seemingly impossible for anyone, is exactly what He did to the degree that He spoke. He said that if you look at another woman lustfully, which is something every man in this room has done, you have committed sin against God. Jesus seemingly spoke about a high standard to meet and he lived up to it perfectly. The best teacher is one who practices everything He preaches.
So what’s that mean for us? Does that mean that since Matthew, through his gospel account, is calling us to a model of discipleship that we cannot live up to?
No! That goes entirely against the point of the beatitudes as well as the Sermon on the Mount entirely! Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, to be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect, not as a command but rather as what has been proved already, an invitation to life and union with God. You are perfect not to the degree of what you do, but how your heart, your way of life, has been transformed by God in receiving His invitation to the good life.
Who was poor in Spirit and theirs was the kingdom of God? Who mourned in this world and received comfort? Who was meek and hungered and thirsted for righteousness and inherited the earth and satisfaction? Who was merciful and received mercy? Who was pure in heart and saw God with their own eyes? Who were the peacemakers and were called sons and friends of God? And even more, who were persecuted for righteousness and heard all kinds of evil spoken falsely against them on account of their God, and yet rejoiced and were glad, for they knew their reward was great as the prophets before them?
None other than Christ’s disciples themselves! Though they doubted Christ’s Lordship and authority… Though they grumbled and were in fear when the storm came… Though they forgot about the times when God multiplied bread and fish to feed the thousands… Though they misunderstood the significance of Christ bending over at their feet to wash them and though they fled and abandoned him on the day of his death… They were moved by His love. Their hearts had been transformed, and by the power of Christ’s Spirit, they were drawn deeper into relationship with Him to live and follow as He taught and did. Even in their imperfection, they were perfect as God the Father called them to be perfect.
Like the disciples, we can be the same. Not by our striving, not by beating ourselves up when we fail, and not by picking ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We are perfect because there has been work in us carried out by God in delivering Himself to us that has brought about a new heart in us. He is the new and better Adam, the new and better Isaac, the new and better Moses, and the new and better David because life and hope is fully revealed in Him!
Do you want the good life? Do you want to know what it is and taste it for yourself? You can today, now, and forever into eternity by taking Christ’s yoke upon yourself. All of us who labor, and strive, and feel heavy laden, we can have rest. Because He is gentle and lowly in heart and in him we will have rest for our souls, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Receive these truths, accept the invitation because Christ makes it easy for us even while things feel hard, as we anticipate the day we see Him in full face to face.
