Meditations on the Beatitudes

As all our natural thoughts of blessedness—like the earthly expectations of the Jews—are in perfect contrast with the Lord’s teaching on this subject, it may be well for our souls to examine carefully, as in His presence, the true principles of real happiness. Surely our hearts would desire perfect blessedness, which means perfect happiness—the happiness of heaven, not the uncertain happiness, or rather the transient excitement, of earth. From observation, habit of thought, general impressions, we have all shared largely in the popular notions of what constitutes a life of happiness here: but now, with the instructions of the Great Teacher before us, we shall do well to take our place at His feet, and learn of Him the sure and safe way to a life of holiness and happiness here, and of unmingled blessedness hereafter.
Mankind in general would say, “Blessed are the rich, who can surround themselves with every comfort; blessed are the joyful, the high-spirited, the independent, who know nothing of hungering and thirsting.” But the Lord, who was from heaven, and knew the character that suited the kingdom of heaven, says, “Blessed are the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungering and thirsting ones,” &c, &c. This is completely reversing the universal judgment of men, and contradicting the cherished thought of every human heart. But what an unspeakable mercy for all classes that happiness does not depend on our circumstances, nor on how much we possess of this world’s goods, but on the state of the mind; or, in one word, on character—a character conformed to Christ; for the Beatitudes are essentially the character of the blessed Lord Himself. Who so poor in spirit, so meek and lowly in heart, as Jesus? Who so obedient and dependent as man? Who so filled with peace, and uninterrupted in communion with His Father in heaven? He has left us an example, that we should walk in His steps.
But before speaking of the different features of that wonderful character—which ought to be our own—we must notice some of the events in the Lord’s public ministry which led to this full and formal proclamation of the kingdom, and the revelation of its fundamental principles. And here, Lord, in studying Thy character and teaching, Thy miracles, and ways in grace and love, guide us by Thy Holy Spirit, reveal Thy varied glories to our souls, and form our characters anew, that we may manifest while on earth the heavenly principles of Thy kingdom. And let it be thine, for thyself, my soul, in meditating on these Beatitudes—on the different features of the faithful One in Israel—to judge thyself in their light, that thou mayest be a true reflection of Him in this self-seeking world. This is clearly thy place and privilege during thy Lord’s absence. But thou wilt say, Are not the disciples who are here addressed the remnant in Israel? Most surely; the Sermon on the Mount was preached to His disciples, but in the hearing of all Israel, and sets forth the principles of the kingdom in connection with that people, and in moral contrast with the ideas they had formed respecting it. The character and conduct of those who are suitable to the kingdom, and the conditions of entering into it, are also proclaimed by the Prophet King. But, alas! through the unbelief of the people, and the rejection of their King, the establishment of the earthly kingdom has been delayed, and the church, which is heavenly, has been brought in, and Christians are now the bearers of God’s testimony, and witnesses for Christ in the world.
This is the Christian’s mission; a truly blessed, but solemnly responsible one. “As my Father hath sent me,” says the blessed Lord, “even so send I you.” Here we are told by the Lord Himself that our mission in this world is on the same principle, and of the same character, as was His own. And to this end He reveals to His disciples—not to the apostles merely—the great truth, that, in virtue of His finished work, they are brought into association with Himself, as they had never been before; for it is only now, for the first time, that He says, “I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.” And now, in the full assurance of their pardon and peace with God, and filled with the Holy Spirit, they were to go forth as the bearers of His message, and ever to be characterized by His Spirit.
We will now turn for a moment to the immediate circumstances which led Him to ascend the mountain, and address the multitudes.
More than beautiful on the mountains of Israel were the feet of Him who came as Jehovah’s messenger with such healing and blessing to His people. But, wondrous, precious truth! He was Himself Jehovah. The Spirit of God delights to introduce Him to us in Matthew’s Gospel as Jehovah Jesus, as Emmanuel, God with us. Oh! mystery of mysteries! —Emmanuel, God manifested in flesh. Not merely as King of glory seated upon a throne in heaven, but as a Babe, born of a virgin, and cradled in a manger; yet the Son of David, the Beloved of God. As Son of man He suffered and died, but infinite value was given to His work by the glory of His Person as Emmanuel, God with us. What a resting place for a troubled soul! For thee, my reader—for all who believe in Him.
“Jesus! Thou King of glory,
I soon shall dwell with Thee
And sing the wondrous story,
Of all Thy love to me.
Meanwhile my soul would enter
By faith before Thy throne,
And all my love would center
On Thee, and Thee alone.”
For purposes suited to our gospel, the whole of our Lord’s history, until the commencement of His ministry after the death of John the Baptist, is here passed over. He then comes before us, in fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah, as a great light shining in the land of darkness and of death. “In the land of Zebulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” Chapter 4:15, 16; Isa. 9:1, 2.
The whole country, even to the extent of the ancient territory of Israel, it is said, was excited and aroused by His mighty deeds. These were the faithful witnesses of His Messiahship. The tribes of Israel were thus summoned to the standard of their Messiah. Unbelief was left without excuse. He was not only the light of life shining on the darkness of death, but He was the mighty power of God in healing and blessing. The strong man He had bound, and He was now spoiling him of his goods. The need and misery of man, both as to his soul and body, were the great objects of His mission of mercy. He was there to forgive their iniquities, to heal their diseases, to redeem their lives from destruction, and to crown them with loving-kindness and tender mercies. (Psalm 103) Thus we read, “And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people, from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.” Verses 24, 25.
The attention of the whole country being thus attracted, and vast multitudes following Him, eagerly desiring to hear His gracious words, He unfolds the character of the kingdom of heaven, and of the people who would enter into it, in what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount, which opens with the Beatitudes.
Meditations on the Beatitudes
Verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. If ever it was needful for thee, my soul, to weigh thy words in the balances of the sanctuary, and to meditate in its sacred light, surely it is at this moment. How deeply important to understand the true meaning of the Lord’s own words here, and to enter fully into the true spirit of His teaching. Condition of soul and blessing are inseparable; the one depends on the other. This is what thou must learn. It is also well to remember, that it is not by means of great learning or great opportunities for study—valuable as these are—that we know Jesus, understand His word, or see His glories; but by the light and teaching of the Holy Spirit. “He shall glorify me,” says the Lord, “for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” John 16:14.
The first Beatitude, observe, lies at the basis of all the others. It is not only a distinct feature in itself, but it should characterize all the others and all who belong to Jesus. Surely nothing can be so necessary to a soul that has to do with God as poverty of spirit. Not poverty in circumstances merely, or poverty in words and ways, but in spirit—in the heart, the feelings, the inward man, and all before the living God. How often we may have said with reference to one who has injured us, “I freely forgive him, and I will be the same to him as ever, but I can’t forget it for all that.” This is not being “poor in spirit;” it is being outwardly so, but not “in spirit.” It comes from the same root as the spirit of the world which says “I will have it out with him, I am determined not to be beaten.” How different to the state of the blessed man, here described by the Lord—“poor in spirit;” not in outward conduct merely, but in spirit. The outward ways should be the true expression of the inward state. This is God’s pleasant sacrifice. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, Ο God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:17.) This was ever the spirit, in all divine perfection, of the lowly, dependent, Son of Man. But the grace that has brought down the proud spirit of man, and laid him in the dust, humbled and broken, before God, has laid the foundation of a true christian character, and of the soul’s richest blessing. True, alas! he may one day forget his right place, and the old spirit of the natural man may be allowed to appear for a time, but the Lord knows how to bring him back, and how to break him down again. Nothing can be more sad than for one who has been down in this place ever to leave it, even during a moment’s temptation. It is to lose sight of that Christ-like grace which God especially delights to honor in every dispensation.
Turn again, I pray thee, my soul, and muse a little longer on these mysterious, moral depths. Oh! to fathom them with thine own line, to know them in thine own deep experience! Is it thus? When all is gone from us, when we are nothing—nothing at all, even in thought and feeling, then all comes into us from God—God in Christ Jesus; and we are satisfied? Yes, thank God, this is the condition, this the blessing. The robe, the ring, the fairest miter, would not be enough; nothing but the fatted calf could satisfy the famished prodigal, after he has spent his all. When he was brought down to the husks, and even these kept from him, he thought of his father’s house, where only he could find the fatted calf. It must ever be so. When Naomi returned as an emptied one to the land of Israel, she found it was the beginning of barley harvest. When Abram fell on his face before God, then flowed the many streams of grace from the ocean of eternal love. “I will, I will,” runs on freely. It is all grace now. “Thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. I will make thee exceeding fruitful... I will make nations of thee... I will establish my covenant between me and thee.... And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:1-8.) And so with the leper. When the evil energy of the flesh ceased to work, he was pronounced clean. The priest could now go forth to the unclean place, and bring him into the camp, with the full blessing of death and resurrection, typically seen, and in due time, the eighth day, the consummation of blessing, he comes into his tent. So long as we are seeking to maintain anything of our own, to cherish an unbroken spirit as to some favorite opinion or object, we are resisting God’s will and shutting out His grace; but when we are brought down to our real nothingness, and have nothing to maintain but Christ and His glory, the flood gates are thrown open, and grace flows in.
Some have thought that literal poverty, in its ordinary sense, is connected in the Lord’s mind with the blessings of the kingdom, and so have parted with their property at once, and become poor for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. In place of distributing their income as the Lord’s stewards, and as He might call for if they have entrusted it to others, and taken the place of dependence themselves. The former is certainly a much easier way than the latter; but which is right? To hold property for Christ and His service in this world, and to give it out as a steward according to His mind, is a christian service that requires much waiting on the Master, and great liberty of soul in His presence. A scrupulous conscience would be in perpetual bondage.
The idea is founded on Luke 4 “And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” The words, “in spirit,” are left out. But there is no ground in this text for such an idea. It is the fruit of superstition, not of faith, and savors of monachism. It is a. question of the inner man in contrast with the outer. He who is poor as to this world’s goods may be of a proud unbending spirit, while the rich may be truly humble. At the same time we believe that the Lord has oftener used a man’s miseries than his comforts to bring him to Himself, but that is the Lord’s doing, and quite another thing. The steward’s place is to meet his. Master’s mind, and not to indulge his own. The difference between Matthew and Luke in presenting the beatitudes, is to be accounted for by the characteristic and divinely arranged differences of the gospels.
“That in Matthew,” says one, “gives the discourse on the mount in the abstract, presenting each blessing to such and such a class.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Luke makes it a more personal address. “Blessed are ye poor.” The reason is manifest. In the one case it is the prophet greater than Moses, who lays down the principles of the kingdom of heaven in contrast with all Jewish thought, feeling, and expectation. In the other case, it is the Lord comforting the actually gathered disciples, addressing themselves as so separated to Himself, and not merely legislating, so to speak. It was now the time of sorrow; for as bringing the promises in His Person, man would not have him.
Returning for a moment to our text, we would only further add on this beatitude, that the Lord here says, that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the “poor in spirit.” They are the heirs of the kingdom. The riches of the King and the glories of His kingdom have come down to enrich the “poor in spirit.” Who would not be poor in spirit? we may well exclaim. Who would not willingly be self-emptied before the Lord? But oh! the danger of being pre-occupied when the invitation comes. Houses, lands, oxen, the home, the world; and, what is worst of all, deadliest of all—self—self-occupation in a thousand ways! But to the poor in spirit, to those who have reached the end of self, to those who are in the dust before God, yet cling by faith to Jesus and His cross; to those whose reason is silent, whose fair forms of religiousness are laid aside, who can only say, I have nothing now but Christ; all that I sought to maintain is gone—nothing, no, nothing now but Christ. The whole riches of His kingdom, and, better far, He Himself is mine—mine now, mine forever. Praise His name!
Enough—give thou the humble heart, and I consent;
Oh, make me nothing, and therewith content.
My gain is loss, my trust is in the cross;
Hold me! I’m weak, I fall; be thou mine All in all.

I will be nothing still,
That Christ alone my heaven of heavens may fill,
Yet set me, Lord, a little glowing gem
Upon His diadem; to shed my tiny ray
Among the splendors of His crowning day;
Though unperceived, I still should like to shine,
A tribute glory on that brow divine.