Blessed are the… (Matthew 5:1-12)

[Stephan Choe]

February 8, 2026

Key Verses:

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

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

The Bible is the essential guide for our Christian faith, offering us orientation in life. The Bible contains various teachings of Jesus for our lives.

The main teaching of the Bible is the Gospel, namely, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and died for our sins and rose from the dead for our resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Love is the core idea of this Gospel, as John 3:16 states, “For God so loved us that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

How we should live after receiving this love is taught in the Bible, especially in the Lord's Prayer and Jesus' Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount.

The Beatitudes are the foundation of a happy life as Christians.

There are two opposing opinions about the Beatitudes: Some believe that Christians should apply these Beatitudes to themselves. Others believe that Christians don't need to make any extra effort to apply the Beatitudes to themselves because it is impossible for people to follow them anyway. Most people follow the second opinion and are not particularly happy.

We live in a real world. Therefore, for various reasons, we often become sad, despairing, or angry. But Jesus Christ says that because of God's grace, we are blessed people and should take the teaching of the Beatitudes seriously. We should accept the Beatitudes wholeheartedly. In this way, we can truly enjoy heavenly bliss.

If we are unable to fully follow the Beatitudes, we should not condemn ourselves but confess our guilt, gratefully accept God's forgiving grace, and ask God to give us the strength to follow the Beatitudes.

We should, through the Beatitudes, recognize our sin as sin, gratefully accept His forgiveness and grace, and wholeheartedly follow the teachings of the Beatitudes. Our Lord will bless us as humble and grateful children of God, so that we may experience heavenly bliss and give glory to God.

Due to time constraints, I would like to speak today only about the first, third, fifth, and sixth Beatitudes.

The first Beatitude reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

We can understand the word “blessedness” as bliss.

God wants us to be happy, but God’s definition and the worldly definition of happiness are fundamentally different. Many people think, for example, that those who acquire wealth and advantages and are successful are happy. But Jesus says, “Blessed are those who recognize their poverty of spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Spiritual poverty means looking at oneself before God and recognizing one’s own poverty and sinfulness in relation to God’s riches and being humble before God. In other words, a spiritually poor person recognizes that they are poor and guilty before God and lives by the grace of God’s forgiveness. And that is the true reality.

At that time, Pharisees considered themselves spiritually rich because they seemingly kept the laws perfectly. They had no understanding for weak people. They knew neither God's grace nor the joy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus doesn't want us to imagine ourselves to be spiritually rich. Rather, he wants us to recognize our spiritual poverty and our sin and gratefully accept God's grace. Therefore, the "spiritually poor" are those who recognize their spiritual poverty and gratefully accept God's grace of forgiveness. Jesus Christ came into the world to offer forgiveness and his Kingdom of Heaven to the spiritually poor.

Our God is gracious. He gladly forgives all repentant people their sins and grants them his Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven means the rule of God. We can experience God's rule both on this earth and in heaven. When God rules over us, we have peace and eternal life. The Kingdom of Heaven is God's greatest gift to us. We receive the Kingdom of Heaven not through our good deeds, but through repentance and faith in Christ. Those who are spiritually poor gratefully accept forgiveness and the Kingdom of Heaven. Such a person is truly blessed.

In general, people in Germany are morally better off in some respects than those in Africa or Asia. For example, corruption in Germany is not as bad as in many other countries. Therefore, they supposedly have good reason to be self-righteous. The problem is that they are "spiritually rich." They have little interest in God's Word and eternal life. They reject invitations to Bible study or church services. They are like the older brother of the prodigal son in Luke 15. But blessed is the prodigal son who repents and gratefully accepts the gospel. There are indeed people in Germany who are spiritually poor. We should seek them out and invite them.

All people need God's grace in Christ. Everyone should recognize their spiritual poverty and gratefully accept the offer of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The third Beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Psalm 37:11 also states, “But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundance.”

Who are the “meek”? The Greeks used this word to describe a well-tamed horse. When a horse runs wild, it is dangerous to ride. Therefore, one must first tame the horse well. Meek people are those whom God has tamed well through his Spirit and his Word. Meek people know the majesty of God and, at the same time, their own humility. Therefore, they become humble before God. They trust God and treat others with humility and kindness. As a result, they can easily endure suffering and difficulties and treat others with kindness and patience. They do not seek revenge but repay evil with kindness.

An example of a meek person in the Bible was Moses. The Bible says that “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than any man on earth” (Numbers 12:3). But when he was young, he wasn't humble. When he saw an Egyptian mistreating one of his countrymen, he killed the Egyptian. As a result, he had to flee into the desert and spend 40 years there as a refugee. Then, with God's help, he became a humble man and was able to patiently lead his people for 40 years, guiding them toward the Promised Land.

In the world, meek people are often considered foolish. But Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” In other words, they are true leaders.

Let's take Isaac in Genesis as an example. Wells were vital for animals and people back then. The Philistines took Isaac's wells. But he didn't argue with them. He gave in, moved on, and dug other wells. When the Philistines also claimed these wells, he relented, moved on, and dug more wells. Then Abimelech, the Philistine king, realized that God was with Isaac. Therefore, he made peace with Isaac. Isaac was thus the true leader of the land because of his gentleness. How could Isaac relinquish the wells to Abimelech? I think it was because he prayed to God and trusted in God.

The world-renowned British historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee (1889-1975) said that it is not the sword that triumphs, but gentleness. It is true that meek people triumph over selfish people and become true leaders.

Jesus is the gentlest person of all. He warmly welcomed all the sinners of the world and died for them.

This Jesus says to us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Jesus once told us to take his yoke upon us and learn meekness from him. What was his yoke, and what is gentleness? To walk in the Father's will was his yoke; to trust God, to acknowledge his authority and guidance, and to follow his will—that is gentleness.

We should wholeheartedly accept his guidance and follow it. In this way, we can learn his gentleness.

Among us, Renate is known for her meekness. And through her meekness, she exerts a great influence in the church, in her practice, and in her family. Meekness is not a weakness, but true strength.

Those who truly want to help others must be meek. We are to learn meekness from Jesus. Jesus Christ is Lord over all beings in heaven and on earth. He is meek and humble. Humbly, he obeyed God's will and gave his life for us sinners. God raised him from the dead and made him Lord over the dead and the living. That is why we could become his disciples and his children and call him "our Lord." We are to follow his example and be gentle.

The fifth blessing: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Being merciful means putting ourselves in another person's situation, seeing their difficulties through their eyes, and feeling their situation and emotions. Then we will feel their pain and emotions. But when we look at their difficult situation with our own eyes, we often fail to understand it.

We often feel sorry for ourselves when we have a problem. Our thoughts revolve around ourselves, focusing on our problems, our feelings, our peace, and so on. Because of these feelings, we have little compassion for others. We justify ourselves by saying that we have no energy left for others because of our own problems. We look to other people who are struggling, like the older brother of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15.

Our God is merciful. When we were lost in sin, God had great compassion for us. Therefore, He understood our weakness well and has complete understanding for us. That is why He allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sin in order to save us. Although we are still weak, flawed, and sinful, God forgives us and graciously accepts us. We should come to Jesus Christ with our weakness and sin and gratefully accept His mercy and forgiveness.

The sixth blessing: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

The word “pure” is, in a figurative sense, the opposite of “lying” (cf. Psalm 24:4). Someone with a pure heart does not lie but is honest before God and people. Someone who is honest confesses their sins  and gratefully accepts divine forgiveness. There is no wall between them and God, so they can see God and have good fellowship with Him.

But someone who is dishonest and lies has a high wall between themselves and God, so they can neither see God nor have fellowship with Him.

The story of two criminals on the cross illustrates this well. One criminal had a pure heart. Because of this, he could see God in the crucified Jesus. Therefore, he honestly confessed his sins before Jesus and asked Him to take him into the Kingdom of God. Jesus was overjoyed and said, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise!” (Luke 23:43)

But the other criminal did not have a pure heart. Therefore, he could not see God in Jesus. He did not repent but mocked Jesus.

We should have a pure heart. We should not try to make excuses for our guilt. When we make excuses, we build a high wall between ourselves and God. Rather, we should honestly confess our guilt and gratefully accept God's forgiveness. Then we will see God. God warmly accepts us and blesses us with his kingdom. Thus, God's kingdom is everywhere we have a pure heart.

Jesus Christ came to give us forgiveness and God. He wants us to enjoy a blessed, eternal fellowship with God. This is God's good news for everyone.

Let us read the first and sixth beatitudes in verses 3 and 8 again:

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

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Amen!