The first four beatitudes describe our response to God. God shows us we have no righteousness apart from what He gives us. We briefly grieve that we ever thought we did. We begin to trust God with our life because we realize how He has loved us … we become meek or gentle in the world. This knowledge produces a deep and abiding hunger and thirst to know Him more. The fifth beatitude is a turning point. Until now Jesus is describing the things that go on in the hearts and minds of His blessed, loved and redeemed children. And then…suddenly….there is that turning point where God begins to transform His Children into the image of Christ. He uses our life and its circumstances to accomplish that.

Being hungry implies that you need food and being thirsty suggests your need for water. The blessed or the happy are not satisfied with their level of righteousness before God or mankind, but are hungry to actually possess righteousness. How can you be happy (blessed by God) if you know you are not righteous? A starving man has exactly one ambition … To find food. The same is true of someone without water. But most humans are perfectly content with their level of righteousness and morality. Most feel superior to those around them and why on earth would they hunger and thirst for something they feel no need for?

When Jesus started The Sermon on the Mount with the word “blessed” He meant “happy.” Webster says that happiness is a state of well-being and contentment. A happy person takes pleasure in their life and its circumstances and is deeply satisfied by it. You may be surprised to know that many believers do not even believe that Christians are supposed to be happy in this life. “Happiness and joy are for the next life. Misery, pain, discontent and despair are for this one,” they say. But… “do you know what God says about happiness? Are Christians supposed to be happy in this life or are we just supposed to be happy about our coming eternal life and just bear up silently while here on earth?

When any person suffers the loss of everything they cherish there is grief and mourning. A job! A dream! An aspiration! A loved one! Wealth or possessions! All things men hope for in this world. Observe a man who has just lost His wealth, home, loved ones or any other possession through circumstances over which he has no control. Does he now mourn? Of course! We can all understand this metaphor. But Jesus calls such a man blessed or happy. Even more puzzling ... Jesus says that only the man who mourns the loss of the things he trusted in for salvation will be comforted.

Jesus the ultimate preacher is proclaiming (heralding) The Gospel of The Kingdom. Gospel, in this instance, means “Good News” that the King of God’s Kingdom is standing in their midst. John proclaimed the King would come! Jesus proclaimed that the King was here! People came from all over Israel and even outside Israel to be healed, and to see the miracles. In so doing they also heard The King proclaim the Kingdom’s arrival. This is precisely the context of Christ’s inaugural sermon. He has revealed Himself! He has called His disciples! He has gathered thousands to the shores of the Sea of Galilee with His miracles and healings! It is time to teach them what the Kingdom of God actually is.

The spiritual condition of humanity is very much on the heart and mind of God. As the world descends into total spiritual darkness it is easy to imagine that God is mainly thinking about Judgment, but we would be wrong. Judgment of sin is inevitable because God is perfectly just and His ways are perfectly righteous and they bring supreme good to men. His love for mankind compels Him to destroys all evil and His perfect justice obliges Him to right every wrong in His creation. “Closure” the world calls it today! But ... Out Triune God is still desires men to know come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. As this passage unfolds a year has passed since Jesus was baptized and tempted by Satan. To escape the hatred of Herod and fulfill His preaching ministry, Jesus returns to where he was raised in Galilee. Matthew tells us that… From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17

Christ’s love for you knows no bounds. He eternally altered His nature to become a human man. He also willingly exposed Himself to the very things that torment us and He deliberately experienced the same trials and temptations we do. God created men in His own image then God the Son become one of His own image bearers. Not just to take away our sins but to transform us into His blessed image. Jesus defeated Satan's schemes and not just resisted three temptations. From Him we too can learn how to recognize and resist the subtle plots and lies of Satan.

Most of us only think of Christ’s suffering for us in terms of the crucifixion? But we are about to see how Jesus put Himself in Satan’s crosshairs so that He might experience the full gamut of human temptation. We are about to see how He did that. Hebrews 2:17-18 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. In these temptations Jesus willingly experienced the fury of satanic deceit and cunning. In them we see the seed of human failure in every area of life. We also discover the key to godliness and holiness.

John has just finished his scathing denunciation and condemnation of Israel's religious leader and while they are still standing there in stunned silence. As he looks up he sees Jesus coming down the bank toward him to be baptized. John was just as shocked to see Jesus coming for baptism as he was to see the Pharisees but for totally different reasons. John knew the Pharisees did not believe they had any sin to repent of and John also knew that Jesus just had no sin at all. Why then is Jesus coming to John for Baptism? Jesus said it was to "fulfill all righteousness" but what does that actually mean?

Out in the wilderness, camped by the Jordan river, John has been preaching repentance and confession of sins followed by a concrete action called baptism. Baptism was not the means to Salvation but was the evidence that a person had repented and confessed their sin. So when John looked up and saw a crowd of Pharisees and Sadducees coming near to be baptized he was shocked. Both sects were insufferably proud, arrogant and godless. Both looked on everyone else with disgust. Both were expecting to be rewarded by God. The Sadducees worked to get theirs in this life while the Pharisees expected the royal treatment in the life to come. Their hearts, minds, and actions were insidious. Jesus warned His hearers and us to … Matt. 16:6 ….. "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."