Beatitudes: 3 Observations

As we look at the Beatitudes, it is important to make some observations.

First, the main emphasis of the sermon and the Beatitudes is the character of those who are waiting for and are to go into the messianic kingdom. Its primary application is to those Jews before the cross to whom the kingdom is at hand, and to the Jews that will go through the Tribulation before the coming earthly kingdom.

Second, it is wrong, however, to limit the Beatitudes simply to those saints who will inherit the physical promise of the earthly kingdom. Likewise, it is wrong to dismiss the physical blessings by replacing them with spiritual ones. Toussaint’s warning is worthy of repeating:

The ordinary Jew of Christ’s day looked only at the physical benefits of the kingdom, which he thought would naturally be bestowed on every Israelite. The amillennialist of today, on the other hand, denies the physical existence of the promised Jewish kingdom by “spiritualizing” its material blessings. The Beatitudes of the King indicate that it is not an either-or proposition, but the kingdom includes both physical and spiritual blessings. A careful study of the Beatitudes displays the fact that the kingdom is a physical earthly kingdom with spiritual blessings founded on divine principles.^[1]

Third, the ethical truth of the sermon is an inter-dispensational truth. The ethical truth is applicable to all believers. Baker points this out saying, “These character traits for the Kingdom saints are to be found in greater degree ever in the Pauline writings to members of the Body of Christ.”^[2] He goes on to say, “These principles are as valid today as they will be for Israel in the coming tribulation.”^[3] Therefore the sermon is eschatological indicating His coming to fulfill the sermon’s promises to Israel but also has an impact in the present on the believer’s conduct.

  

[From a forthcoming book on the Sermon on the Mount by Pastor Jim Gray]

---

[1]   Toussaint, BEHOLD THE KING, 97.

[2]  C.F.  Baker, GOSPELS, 81.

[3]   Ibid, 82.