26 Jan 2024

As we study the Gospel of Luke, we are aware that Luke, in relation with Matthew and Mark, is part of the synoptic Gospels. In that light, these three Gospels can be studied together and compared, as we seek to see the Salvation story from different angles and perspectives.
As shared before, Luke, in the account of Jesus travelling from Galilee to Jerusalem covered many chapters, focusing on the teachings and parables of the Lord, as well as preparing the disciples for His coming crucifixion. Luke only covered what is known as the ‘sermon on the mount’ rather briefly in Chapter 6, whereas in Matthew, 3 chapters (Chapters 5-7) are devoted to this.

The sermon on the mount has become too familiar with us believers that we may miss the richness of the sayings of Jesus.
We begin with a look at the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12 (cf with Luke 6).
The Lord began the Sermon by defining the kingdom that is breaking in upon His hearers, and how they can become members of it. Secondly, He will relate the new treasure of the kingdom to the treasure of the law. The Beatitudes belong to the first part of the sermon on the mount.

It is important to note that in the Beatitudes, Jesus is not laying down the entrance requirements for the kingdom: this is what we have to do to acquire our citizenship. Jesus is in fact describing the kind of people who are members of the kingdom. It is not theirs in the sense that they possess it; it does not belong to them. But the mark of being a member of the kingdom is, firstly, that we know that we are a spiritual down-and-out; that as far as having anything to offer God is concerned, you and I are actually bankrupt before Him. And this is blessedness! It speaks of everything that is desirable.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven )5:3)

One of the great purposes of the Sermon on the Mount is to show us that here is a law which, if we fulfil, will bring us the kingdom of heaven as a reward, but that we cannot for one moment live up to this standard. We must humbly come to Jesus, because while we are not able to live according to the standard required, God, in HIs grace in the Gospel, makes provision for us to enjoy and experience it all.

It is because of the Gospel Jesus is proclaiming: because of the gifts of the King and Saviour, the blessedness of His rule, that the characteristics of kingdom people become a reality in the lives of believers.
Hence the poor in spirit have nothing, yet they gain everything because of grace – because they are prepared to come to Jesus in humility and in their needs, God not accepts their faith and repentance, He also adopted them to be His Children and to share His reign and glory here and beyond.

The kingdom of God is made up of those who know that they have absolutely nothing to offer to God. He does not esteem those who, as it were, saunter into His presence, hands in pockets, confident that they must be accepted because of their moral record or religious devotion. It is the person who cries, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” who is accepted and justified (Luke 18:13-14). Now this is the opposite of law as a religion of works; God is not interested in our merit – we have none.
That is why legalism is such a ‘serious error’, for it boasts itself of merit as a believer in God’s kingdom, and like the Pharisee who came into God’s presence, boasting of his religious merits in comparison to the tax-collector, legalism boasts of its achievements in keeping all the religious rules and looks with contempt at those who are ‘beneath’ them in their religious duties.
Even in our outworking as Christians, being poor in spirit is essential; it helps us to constantly depend on God; it grants us the realisation of our proper position and posture before a loving, gracious, and merciful Creator. Such a spirit always remembers that we are the created, the finite being, as compared with God, the Creator and the infinite.