One day while reading Matthew 7:24-27, something hit me I had never noticed before. Something that sent me on a new bible study quest. The passage reads, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great!” (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
When I lived in London I traveled up to Edinburgh Scotland to see the sights. As soon as I saw the Edinburgh castle I thought of this story. It is a castle literally built into the side of a rock. It’s majestic and imposing, and, most of all, it has withstood the test of time. It is the very picture of what this scripture is talking about.
On the other hand, there are those ornate castles built on the sand. Although beautiful, they are destroyed by the first wave that comes in. While an important part of the story, what struck me like a bolt of lightning were these few words: “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like… and – but everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like…” My father, who is a marvelous pastor, always says, “When you see a therefore, you have to find out what it’s there for.” I certainly didn’t want to be like the one who hears and doesn’t act, so I got busy and started studying. So, I began my trek at the beginning of the sermon. I wanted a rock foundation.
The sermon I am referring to is known as he Sermon on the Mount and can be found in Matthew 5-7. To start, I knew I needed to go beyond the passage in Matthew to discover what scriptures Jesus based His sermon on. This gave way to some new insights and I soon discovered that my attitude needed a readjustment. There was just a bit too much sand in my foundation.
The first thing the writer tells us is when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and sat down. In doing this, he not only positioned himself in a place so all could see and hear, he signaled the beginning of a teaching. Unlike preachers today who stand in the pulpit and preach for 30 minutes or so, rabbi’s sat when they taught. (This probably meant they were teaching a bit longer than what we are use to.) The next thing it says, “Then his disciples came to him”. I noticed that they didn’t stand off in the distance or just sit down anywhere in the crowd. No, they came to him and sat at his feet. They wanted to absorb as much as they possible could. This begged the question, which part of the crowd am I? Am I one of those standing in the back ready to leave when the lesson gets uncomfortable, or, have I come to sit a while at the very feet of Jesus wanting to absorb everything he has to tell me?
“Then He began to teach them, saying.” Jesus begins His sermon by setting the stage for where we need to be spiritually. In order to be a follower, one must be prepared for the journey ahead. My husband and I will sometimes go backpacking. The week before, we lay everything out that we are thinking of taking. We go through all the equipment making sure it works and we pack up the backpack to weigh it making sure we really need everything. If it’s too heavy, we look again, making the hard choices as to what to bring on the journey and take out the things weighing us down. In the same way, the beatitudes are our spiritual preparation. Jesus lays it all out so we know exactly what we are going to need to accomplish the journey ahead. Basically, if we don’t have our spiritual life in order, our house will never have that firm foundation we need to withstand the storms.
The beginning of the sermon are what is known as the Beatitudes. Each start with blessed are the… One thing to note is the structure of the Beatitudes. They are set up as a Hebraic poem. In fact, one third of the Old Testament, the scripture Jesus read, is written in poetic form. Think all of Psalm, Proverbs, several portions of Isaiah, Job, many of the prophecies, etc. In fact, the Beatitudes are written specifically in Hebraic poetic parallelism. This would be a format Jesus’ audience would be very familiar with. So what, you may ask, is Hebraic poetic parallelism? Robert Lowth (1710-1787) is the first modern scholar to point out the poetic structure of not only the Psalms, but other prophetic passages in the Old Testament. It is not a rhythmic poetry but a structure of thought. The writer or speaker structure their thoughts so that the reader or listener can see and hear the parallel ideas, and thus understand the whole thought better. 1 Samuel 15:22-23 is a great example of this.
22 Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
Look to obey is better than sacrifice
to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He has rejected you as king.
You can see the parallels in each phrase. In verse 22, the Lord does not take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as he takes pleasure in obedience. He restates it again – obedience is better than sacrifice and paying attention better than the fat of rams. Then in verse 23, rebellion is like the sin of divination and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. In the parallel this time is the consequence. You have rejected the word of the Lord, therefore He has rejected you as king.
To start, I wanted to see the poetic parallels in the Beatitudes. It is structured so that verses 3 and 5, 4 and 6, 7 and 8, 9 and 10 go together.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, 5 “Blessed are the gentle,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. for they shall inherit the earth.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be comforted. for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall receive mercy. for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, 10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness
for they shall be called sons of God. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In the following parallels, I really began to understand the full meaning of what Jesus is saying:
To be poor in spirit = being gentle (or meek in other translations).
The kingdom of heaven = inherit the earth
To mourn = hungering and thirsting for righteousness
Being comforted = being satisfied.
Being merciful = pure in heart.
Receiving mercy = seeing God
Being a peacemaker = being persecuted for the sake of righteousness
Being called sons of God = the kingdom of heaven.
Then verse 11-12 ends the poem with this parallel: Insults, persecution, false witness for the sake of Christ = a great reward in heaven
And you can rejoice and be glad = because in the same way the prophets before you were persecuted.
One last thing to note. Each beatitude deals with loss or the giving up of something. It is only then that we are blessed. In Matthew 10:38-39 it says, “And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it.” Again in Matthew 16:24-25 it says, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it.” We must lose our life in order to find it.
Next week we will begin with Matthew 5:3 and 5.
Questions to Ponder:
1. Which part of the crowd are you? In the back of the crowd or at the feet of Jesus? 2. What kind of foundation are you standing on right now – is it sandy or rocky? 3. What do you need to do to be standing on a rock foundation? 4. Finally, what does it really mean to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus? What are you going to have to lose to find Him and receive the blessings He has for you?
Bible Study Blog 