Matthew 5:1. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain:
For convenience, and quietude, and to be out of the way of traffic, he went up into a mountain. Elevated doctrines would seem most at home on the high places of the earth.
Matthew 5:1. And when he was set,
For that was the mode of Eastern teaching,
Matthew 5:1. His disciples came unto him:
They made the inner ring around him, and others gathered around them.
Matthew 5:2. And he opened his mouth, and taught them,
Chrysostom says that he taught them even when he did not open his mouth; his very silence was instructive. But when he did open his mouth, what streams of wisdom flowed forth! He «taught them.» He did not open his mouth to make an oration, He was a Teacher, so his aim was to teach those who came to him; and his ministers best follow their Lord's example when they keep to the vein of teaching. The pulpit is not the place for the display of oratory and eloquence, but for real instruction: «He opened his mouth, and taught them,»-
Matthew 5:2-3. Saying, Blessed
The Old Testament closes with the word «curse.» The New Testament begins here, in the preaching of Christ, with the word «Blessed.» He has changed the curse into a blessing: «Blessed»-
Matthew 5:3. Are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven.
This is a paradox that puzzles many, for the poor in spirit often seem to have nothing; yet they have the kingdom of heaven, so they have everything, he who thinks the least of himself is the man of whom God thinks the most. You are not poor in God's sight if you are poor in spirit.
Matthew 5:4. Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted.
They are not only poor in spirit, but they are weeping, lamenting, mourning. Worldlings are frivolous, frolicsome, light-hearted, and loving everything that is akin to mirth; yet it is not said of them, but of those that mourn, that «they shall be comforted.»
Matthew 5:5. Blessed are the meek:
Not your high-spirited, quick-tempered men, who will put up with no insult, your hectoring, lofty ones, who are ever ready to resent any real or imagined disrespect, there is no blessing here for them; but blessed are the gentle, those who are ready to be thought nothing of,
Matthew 5:5. For they shall inherit the earth.
Some say that the best way to get through the world is to swagger along with a coarse impudence, and to push out of your way all who may be in it; but there is no truth in that idea. The truth lies in quite another direction: «Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.»
Matthew 5:6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
The course of these beatitudes is like going downstairs. They began with spiritual poverty, went on to mourning, came down to gentle-spiritedness, and now we come to hunger and thirst. Yet we have been going up all the time, for here we read, «They shall be filled.» What more can we have than full satisfaction?
Matthew 5:7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
«The merciful» are those who are always ready to forgive, always ready to help the poor and needy, always ready to overlook what they might well condemn; and «they shall obtain mercy.»
Matthew 5:8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
When the heart is washed, the dirt is taken from the mental eye. The heart that loves God is connected with an understanding that perceives God. There is no way of seeing God until the heart is renewed by sovereign grace. It is not greatness of intellect, but purity of affection that enables us to see God.
Matthew 5:9. Blessed are the peacemakers :
Not only the passively peaceful, but the actively peaceful, who try to rectify mistakes, and to end all quarrels in a peaceful way.
Matthew 5:9. For they shall be called the children of God.
They shall not only be the children of God, but men shall call them so; they shall recognize in them the likeness to the peace-making God.
Matthew 5:10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the kingdom of heaven.
They have it now, they are participating in it already; for, as Christ was persecuted, and he is again persecuted in them, as they are partakers of his sufferings, so are they sharers in his kingdom.
Matthew 5:11-12. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
You have an elevation by persecution; you are lifted into the peerage of martyrdom, though you occupy but an inferior place in it, yet you are in it; therefore, «rejoice, and be exceeding glad.»