Over one billion people today—almost one-fourth of the world’s population—call themselves Christians. In the first century, too, multitudes flocked to Jesus. They came for various reasons and with various expectations: to satisfy curiosity, to be healed, to sit at the feet of this eloquent and controversial rabbi or simply to go along with the crowd.
Group Discussion. What about Jesus initially attracted you to him?
Personal Reflection. Picture yourself sitting at Jesus’ feet and learning from him. What would it be like?
To some, Jesus of Nazareth is a revolutionary, leading the masses in their struggle for freedom from oppression. Others see him as a staunch conservative, fully supporting and representing the status quo. Still others view Jesus as a pious, meek and mild do-gooder who loves everyone and avoids confrontation at all costs.
Group Discussion. How did you view Jesus before you became a Christian?
Personal Reflection. How has your picture of Jesus changed?
We all have a need for acceptance. In fact our self-concept is often determined by the approval or rejection of those around us, whether family, peers, business associates, fellow students or even Christian friends. We tend to do and say what we hope will win people’s favor.
Group Discussion. What kinds of things have you done to try to earn someone’s favor? Perhaps you can recall a humorous incident from your dating life or a way you tried to gain favor with a schoolteacher.
Personal Reflection. This tendency to try to earn favor often carries over into our relationship with God. What are some ways you have tried to earn God’s approval?
The first four beatitudes deal with our relationship with God. Being right with God on the inside shows up on the outside in how we treat people. If we are right with God, the fifth beatitude will be the natural result. Write it below (Matthew 5:7):
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
There are tremendous benefits of being merciful. To understand these benefits, we must answer three questions:
We live in a culture that craves satisfaction but never finds it. Even the rich and famous can't find satisfaction because they are trying to find it in all the wrong places. How does Jesus explain how we can find satisfaction in Matthew 5:6?
A "journey into blessed living" requires we become poor in spirit and recognize our spiritual poverty. Next, we must mourn over our sin. Then, we must become meek and submit to the lordship of Christ. When we let Jesus Christ be the Lord, or Master, of our lives, we will naturally hunger and thirst after righteousness. To do that requires three things...
A "journey into blessed living" requires a series of steps. The first step requires we become poor in spirit, which means we come to understand, in God's sight, we are all spiritual beggars, totally destitute of the righteousness required to enter heaven. The second step is to mourn over our sin. Mourning is the emotional response to the intellectual knowledge of our spiritual poverty and sin. How does Jesus sum up the third step in Matthew 5:5?
Did you know you must mourn to have a blessed life? It is the second step on a "journey into blessed living." In our last lesson we discovered the first step is to become poor, or a beggar, in spirit, which means we must first acknowledge our spiritual poverty. The second step for finding lasting happiness is found in Matthew 5:4.
