In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus used the image of ‘light’ to illustrate what He expects His followers to be. God calls us in the Bible to come to the light, to receive the light and to live in His light. We can ever only be what He wants us to be as the light of the world, but reflecting the One who is the true light of the world – Jesus. While there are many reasons why we may want to hide our witness to Jesus (such as fear) this does not negate our responsibility. The gospel has brought us light and now we are called to share that light to a world in darkness.

After speaking about the blessing that belongs to those who belong to His ‘upside-down’ Kingdom in the Beatitudes, in Matthew 5:13, Jesus then spoke of the influence that He expected His people would have on the world, by being ‘salt’ in an often tasteless world. Why did Jesus describe believers as being like salt? Because of the way in which salt was highly valued in Jesus’ day, because of the way in which salt was also used as a preservative, the way in which salt creates thirst, and also the way in which salt could so easily lose its flavour and become useless. For all these reasons believers are to be in the world and so have a preserving, thirst-creating and godly influence on others and therefore on the world.

After speaking about the blessing of being poor in spirit, being broken over our own sin, the importance of meekness, the need to hunger and thirst for righteousness, the blessing that comes to those who know and give out mercy, the need for a pure, undivided heart,and the blessing that belongs to those who set out to make peace, in Matthew 5:10-12, Jesus then spoke of the blessing that comes to those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. It is a strange fact of life that those who seek to live the way that Jesus taught in these Beatitudes will face persecution. The world may approve of people having ‘their religion’ but when that very thing shows up the darkness of other people’s hearts and lives, then this will not sit so easy with others. Christians all over the world are facing this kind of persecution, because they are aiming to live for another kingdom, not the one of this world. Jesus was persecuted Himself – even to death on a cross! He said, ‘if they hated me they will also hate you’.

After speaking about the blessing of being poor in spirit, being broken over our own sin, the importance of meekness, the need to hunger and thirst for righteousness and the blessing that comes to those who know and give out mercy, in Matthew 5:8, Jesus then spoke of the blessing that belongs to those who are pure in heart. Pure has the idea of ‘washed clean’ but also single-mindedness. The heart that knows that the blood of Jesus washes away all sin, and that is fixed upon God, wanting nothing else beside him, is that heart that will know the reward of ‘seeing God’. This will be the reward of those who truly seek God through His Word and then at the end of all things when faith gives way to sight.

After speaking about the blessing of being poor in spirit, being broken over our own sin, the importance of meekness and the need to hunger and thirst for righteousness, in Matthew 5:7 Jesus then spoke about the blessing that belongs to those who are merciful. While this world is a place where we often note the absence of mercy, Jesus here reminds us that mercy is at the heart of so much that the Bible teaches us about God and also our responsibility towards others. God’s mercy to us in Christ means that his people are spared from the judgement we deserve. It also means that having been shown mercy, we are to show that mercy to others. To refuse God’s mercy and then to refuse to show mercy means that we will only be left with the fearful thought of facing his judgement.

After speaking about the blessing of being poor in spirit, being broken over our own sin, and the importance of meekness, in Matthew 5:6, Jesus went on to speak about the blessing of those who hunger and thirst. Jesus was not speaking of those cut off from food and drink, but those who earnestly desire the righteousness that God alone gives to those who seek Him. While the world offers so much that is ‘junk food for our hearts and lives’, Jesus alone offers real satisfaction that will fill the hearts and lives of those who seek him

After speaking about the blessing of being ‘poor in spirit’ and being broken over our own sin, Jesus then went on in Matthew 5:5 to speak about the blessing of being meek. Most people equate ‘meekness’ with ‘weakness’ merely because they rhyme, but this is in correct. To be meek is to be ‘bend-able’ and in the context in which Jesus used it, it refers to a person’s attitude to God and to life. The meek will be ready and willing to bend and submit to God’s will because they are humble and forgiven. Meekness does not come naturally, but it something known through our relationship to Jesus who was truly meek,

After speaking in the first of the Beatitudes concerning the attitude of being ‘poor in spirit’, in Matthew 5:4, Jesus then spoke about the blessing that belongs to those who ‘mourn’. Rather than understand Jesus’ words to refer to people who are suffering from grief because of some sense of loss, he was instead speaking of those who mourn and sorrow over their sinful condition. Jesus even gave a parable on this very thing in Luke 18:9-14. There, the tax collector typified the kind of attitude Jesus spoke of. Why is this a blessing? Because as we mourn over sin and confess it, by grace and because of Jesus’ death for our sins, God freely grants forgiveness to the repentant

The first of the Beatitudes that Jesus spoke in Matthew 5:3 concerned the attitude of being ‘poor in spirit’. While the world knows those who are ‘poor’ in another sense, Jesus spoke of those who are ‘poor in spirit’, that is, they have no tickets on themselves, They know their own sinfulness and are prepared to come before God honestly and with empty hands. In fact, there is no other way in which we can come before God and this is the entry point to His Kingdom, for ‘He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.’