Your reward in heaven is great and it begins now

Matthew 5:1-26 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ² He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, 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.

Disciples and the World

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹ “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.²³ Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. ²⁵ Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

In today’s text Jesus says:  “If you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,  leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”    It is important that we understand what Jesus says and what He does not say. He says, if your brother has something against you, not if you have something against your brother. Far too often we make the mistake of believing that every time some hurts or offends us we need to go to them and point out their fault before we can forgive them. When we have something against a brother, when we’ve been hurt or offended, we should be like Jesus, who said on the cross: “Father forgive them they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)  Forgiveness does not require that we let the other person know what they did wrong. In truth, the only two parties necessary for forgiveness are ourselves and God. In the case which Jesus is speaking of, when someone has something against us, we also very often do not properly reconcile ourselves to them.  Jesus says: Make friends quickly with your opponent…   Very often when we attempt to reconcile with someone, our apology goes something like: I am sorry but you or I’m sorry but this… There is no place for sorry buts in the kingdom of heaven. Saying I am sorry but then going on to point out what the other person did wrong is not an apology, but rather an attempt to justify what we did wrong. Jesus did not cry out from the cross and say Father forgive them but remember that they did… If we truly want to be reconciled to others if we want to make friends quickly we need to seek to be forgiven as we ourselves have been forgiven. That’s what Jesus taught us to pray: forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. I’m sorry but is not a path to reconciliation, but rather it is a form of judgment. In Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”   

Jesus says:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”   Most of what Jesus mentions does not seem like it is a blessing when we experience it. The blessing though is what Jesus says first and last:  theirs is the kingdom of heaven… your reward in heaven is great.  Here’s the thing, just as Jesus taught us to pray: forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, He also said: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.    You see even in the midst of the difficulties and trials we face, ours is the kingdom of heaven. We do not need to wait for some future time, for a time after this life to receive the great rewards of heaven. They are ours even now. Even in the midst of the trials and difficulties of this world, we are blessed. In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”   We are blessed by God even when the circumstances may not look like blessings.

In yesterday’s meditation I said that there are many who will follow Jesus for what they might receive from Him, but His true disciples will follow Him to serve Him; to work for Him and with Him. In today’s text Jesus says this about those who are His disciples:  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”   Many people today point to the fact that when Jesus was here He associated with outcasts and sinners in order to justify their own association with them. We should, like Jesus did, to associate with them, but also, as Jesus says, we should not participate with them in sin. We should not associate with their sin. When Jesus was asked about His association with them, He responded:  “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:31-32) Our presence in the dark places of the world is to be that they would see the light of Christ. We are not to participate with them in sin. Rather it is our good works that they should see, that they too might glorify God.  Jesus says:  “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls (some translations relaxes) one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”    If we fail to be light to the world, if we, by our actions or our words, teach others that the commandments of God concerning sin and righteous no longer matter, we ourselves will not enter the kingdom of heaven. We will disqualify ourselves from the blessings and promises of our inheritance; our great rewards in heaven.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; for all the blessings that are mine despite the circumstances of the world. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, may I truly live like You and love like You. May I be willing and able to associate with sinners and outcasts, but like You may I be without sin. May I go even into the darkest places, but there may I shine Your light that they might see. May my words and my actions never negate, relax or diminish Your call for righteousness and repentance. I am blessed in You.  Amen.