Whose is the Kingdom of Heaven? The Beatitudes Explained (Orthodox Lenten Class)

0:00 [Music] so I know a lot of the sections of the Liturgy as I have explained to you all before is all completely based on scripture and one the on during the third anapon we recite the Beatitudes the one thing that I believe that most people don't really know what most of those Beatitudes actually are talking about so Matthew Chapter

0:45 5 Jesus it starts out he says and seeing the multitudes he went up on a mountain and he was seated okay so whenever a Jewish rabbi or a Jewish teacher would talk to his people or talk to the people he was actually seated the seated was a place of authority in some of the Scriptures it says that he was standing but it's actually he was seated and his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying so the fir every single one of the Beatitudes every one of them start with the same exact word blessed that word in Greek blessed is macaros you've heard probably some of the Saints

1:32 named marians right so the word blessed it also means happy uh blessed in these sentences are and what I would like to do is as I'm going through here I want everybody to be thinking about what each one of these words this is not really an English lesson right but what is an act adjective does anybody know what an adjective is describ a n it's a describer right what's a noun a person place thing right and a verb and action all right so blessed is an adjective okay every one of these sentences starts with an an adjective and a description of someone to receive God's extended

2:17 favor blessed is to receive God's favor Fortune good in opposition of favor and happy and feelings associated with receiving God's favor in the New Testament carus is used to describe a state of spiritual wellbeing and prosperity it denotes a deep abiding joy and a contentment that comes from a right relationship with God this term is often used to describe those who are favored by God and who experience his grace and favor in their lives that word blessed the ma macaros a person who is Extremely Blessed fortunate and well and happy the idea behind Marios is that something is made large or lengthy when God blesses us he extends his benefits to us he enlarges

3:05 his Mercy to us he lengthens his charity in our Direction forget the long arm of the law this is the long arm of God's grace of course the person whom God's benevolence is extended is the H is happier for it which is why the word macaros again is sometimes translated as happy or fortunate or enviable a starting a a starting fact about the beatitude is that Jesus issues no commands in them he does not say be merciful or get out there and make peace rather he list the qualities that identify the Blessed if God's Grace has been extended to you then th these traits will be yours the state of blessedness in which God's grace is made large massive big

3:52 for us is often linked is often linked to Faith which we would read in the Book of Romans and the Book of Revelation where faith and blessedness are mentioned in the subsequent sentences the connection between having faith and being blessed is natural by faith we are made children of God and the children of God are to are the target of God's extended Grace for example as Boaz extended the corner of His Garment to include Ruth in his Prosperity so God our savior extends his robe of righteousness over us so that word m Aros that word great that word blessed is what every single one of those Beatitudes begin with so keep in

4:37 mind that when we're going through the Beatitudes so verse three blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs of the Kingdom of Heaven again it's an adjective a description poor right the word poor it is using in the New Testament to describe those who are economically impoverished and lacking in material resources right it makes sense being poor but also it often conveys a sense of utter dependence on others for sustenance in a broader spiritual context it also refers to those who recognize their spiritual neediness and dependence on God becoming helpless as a beggar completely lacking resources so with that in mind right blessed are the poor in spirit are we so are we ever

5:24 there are we ever there in being poor in spirit right yeah right if you think about this adjective this other descriptor blessed and poor right it's something that we need to understand that it's it's covering a a broad multitude of people and especially the Christians that are supposed to accept God's Divine favor now the word spirit is a noun right it's a person place or thing pvma in Greek and is used in the New Testament to denote the various con concepts related to Spirit and breath it can refer to the Holy Spirit the third person of the Trinity as well as the human Spirit demonic spirits or even General concept of wind or breath in theological context it often signifies

6:11 the immaterial life-giving force of the presence of God it is a key term in the discussions of spiritual life regeneration and divine inspiration it is the disposition or influence which fills and governs the soul of anyone it is the effect source and power of power affection emotion and desire right so blessed are the poor in spirit it's something that we should try to attain right we're trying to be lowly we're trying to have humility right and it's something that we need to understand that we're striving for having a need for Christ to be in our life because without him we are spiritually impoverished

6:58 so for their of the Kingdom of Heaven okay so blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs of the Kingdom of Heaven now Jesus uses these words and the thing I want to I want to note as well is you got to understand that Matthew and Luke that write about these Beatitudes they're using specific words there are numerous words for poor and there's numerous words for good and there's numerous words for a lot of these words and they're choosing very specific words to encapsulate what Jesus is talking about okay so the Kingdom of Heaven is mentioned numerous times so I'll go over that but remember that in the future so vasilia kingdom is a noun it's a person place or thing the reign

7:43 of the king referring to the rule of the Messiah in the New Testament it is often used to describe the kingdom of God or or the Kingdom of Heaven signifying both a present spiritual Reign and a future physical manifestation of God's rule so so again in Orthodox theology right the Kingdom of Heaven is here now it's it's a present reality and every time we come to liturgy we are stepping inside a partial Port of the Kingdom of Heaven it encompasses The Authority sovereignty and royal power of God as well as the community of believers who acknowledge his lordship and then Heaven the word uranos in Greek is a proper place it's a noun it's a proper place and is used in the

8:29 test Testament to denote the sky right we say the heavens above the Abode of the Stars the dwelling place of God it is often translated as heaven and can refer to the physical Heavens the sky in outer space or the spiritual realm where God resides in the broader theological context uranos signifies the place of Eternal Bliss and the ultimate destination for believers so if you're going to raise if everyone's going to raise their hand do you think that any of us encapsulate being poor in spirit would you say you do or would you not yes no full of myself a lot of times you know what's that I said I'm full of myself a lot of times right I mean it's hard right what Jesus is talking about I

9:15 think is a very challenging thing this is a goal right this is something that we're trying to become like more like Christ right we can be we're probably there at some points but like Elena just said right most of the time we're self we're we're we're selfish right most of the time we're far away from being poor in spirit we only think about ourselves and our marriages and our relationships we only think about ourselves not even thinking about the struggle that somebody else goes through so in verse four now blessed are those who mourn for they should be comforted now what do we think when we hear the word mourn somebody died somebody died what

10:03 else sad sadness anything else depressed L all right so P mourn again now is a verb right a verb is an action right it's an action word it also means to lament the verb is used in the New Testament to describe the act of mourning as we said and express expressing deep sorrow it often conveys a profound emotional response to loss sin or repentance the term can refer to both personal grief and communal lamentation so without understanding of the Greek word to mourn where when are we supposed to be

10:49 mourning really if it were're talking about yes we talked about loss but when when else are we supposed to be mour when we fall into sin when we fall into sin but blessed are those who mourn right when we fall into our sinfulness we are supposed to mourn we're supposed to lament over our sinfulness right at that moment we are separated from God at that moment that we sin we choose sin over our journey with God we are separated so that is the time when Jesus says for blessed are those who mourn okay for they shall be what comforted the verb comforted is used in the New Testament to inade the act of comforting or consoling someone often in the times of distress or sorrow it

11:35 implies a gentle and empathetic approach offering soless and encouragement to those in need the term suggests not a verbal consolation but also the presence that rures and supports so what is Jesus saying right now that we've gone through two of the Beatitudes who is the one is going to be giving us this comfort well we know the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit right Jesus is saying Jesus is conveying this God is the only one that can do this God is the only one that can truly bring us any sort of comfort because the only thing that we really need to have in our minds is repentance right we're supposed to work towards our our our fighting our

12:22 selfishness and fighting our unholiness and fighting our our lack of self-restraint so when Jesus is talking about for those who mourn they should be comforted he is saying that they're the ones the people that are mourning the ones that are coming to God and lamenting for their sinfulness which means we're not supposed to be focusing on anybody else's sinfulness we're supposed to be focusing on our own sinfulness because we have enough to answer for our ourselves verse five blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth PR a Meek is now an adjective again right it's a descriptor are th are those who ex exhibit humility and gentleness

13:09 not weakness right A lot of times when we think that people are Meek we think that they're some sort of wimps right they're they're they're they're weak people but Jesus is is using this word to actually Elevate people that are Meek in biblical terms meekness is strength under control control a quality exemplified by Jesus himself right Jesus never lost his cool even when he went in to the the money changers and he flipped over tables right he was angry but he wasn't out of control okay Jesus never lost his meekness Jesus never lost the virtues that made him who he was this virtue meekness is the a virtue that is highly

13:56 valued in the scripture contrasting with the worldly view that often equates power with aggression the Old Testament now also highlights meekness we we see in see in Psalm 3711 which parallels this beatitude and emphasizes the reward for the meek so meekness describes the quality of character that is marked by humility and A Gentle Spirit in the New Testament it this Meek word meekness is used to depict an attitude of submission to God's will a willingness to endure injury with patience and without resentment and a gentle approach toward others it is not to be confused with weakness rather it is a strength under control again so again what when do we

14:43 read about Jesus talking about these things right meekness when somebody slaps you on the face what are you supposed to do turn the other cheek turn the other cheek offer the other one right what is the one thing that we normally want to do when somebody hurts us fight back right if your spouse cheats on you what's the first thing you want to do cheat with two of them cheat back right that's the natural course of what human inclination is but with Christ he's telling us that we're supposed to be right and a couple weeks ago when I talked about that Pastor that was during World War II the Jewish man that became a Christian when he was being tortured he loved the people that were torturing him right when Jesus is saying on the cross he's

15:30 praying for every single one of us forgive them for they don't know what they're doing right so Jesus exemplified meekness for they shall inherit the earth inherit Cleon Cleon meno male is inherit it's a verb again it's an action okay so you have an adjective and now you're having an action inherited it is used in the New Testament to describe the act of receiving ceing something as an heir and often in a spiritual and Es eschatological context this term is frequently associated with the inheritance of the kingdom of God eternal life and the promises made to the Patriarchs and it conveys the idea of receiving a portion or share that is

16:16 rightfully designated to an heir so Jesus is saying blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth right we're supposed to inherit the Earth We're supposed to inherit what God has made for us right and that's done through meekness but again it's also talking about inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven because if the Kingdom of Heaven is here now at the present reality we're already in the process of gaining Eternal heav Eternal uh uh life through our life and our our our respect and work towards God and praying and fasting and repentance and coming to serve arms giving all the things and the word Earth to inherit the

17:03 earth ye is commonly used in the New Testament to refer to the physical land right but it also can note the entire planet the specific region or country or the ground itself the term is often used in both literal and metaphorical metaphorical contexts such as the physical Earth and creation narratives are symbolically to represent the people or the Nations so again when when Jesus returns the Heaven and Earth is going to become one it's going to be a new Heaven and a new Earth so we're we're not only working towards the kingdom of heaven now we're also projecting this time in the future right Jesus is telling us to be prepared by being blessed being being happy by being joyful when we're being persecuted we're supposed to be thankful

17:50 for it because for us to be persecuted means that we are children and erors of God Jesus told us right before they hated they hated us they hated him beforeand right so we got to remember now as we're go moving through remember these word blessed remember that it's all building up on itself so I remember as I told you at one time when I was when I was at my first Parish right one of my one of my parishioners told me you're not Meek right that got made me angry perfect example of showing how how Meek I was right and now 6 years later I'm thinking to myself I wasn't right I was nowhere near that to have that injury done to me

18:36 hit my pride right so how many of us are actually Meek how many of us actually think that we can even take on that mantle or that designation of meekness okay so verse six blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled So Hunger a verb action and thirst is also a verb it's an action so there's Jesus is now talking you're using right macaros and for those blessed happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness the word hunger p p right you're going to you will actually hear Greeks use this word I'm hungry okay

19:24 primarily means the experienced hunger or the need of food and it is both literally to describe physical hunger and metaphorically to express the dear deep spiritual longing or need in the New Testament it also it often conveys a sense of dependence on God for sustenance both physical and spiritual and this word also means to Crave ardently to seek with eager desire how many of us can honestly say that we hunger for God right do we actually hunger for God it's something that we need to strive for right and Jesus is saying you're going to be happy if you hunger for God and the word thirst denotes a physical thirst yes it's just like normal it's a

20:10 natural craving for water Thea it is in a broader sense it is used metaphorically to express the Deep spiritual longing or desire this term is often employed employed in the New Testament to describe a yearning for Spiritual fulfillment in righteousness and figuratively those who are said to thirst who painfully feel their want of and eagerly long for those things which are the soul is refreshed supported and strengthened right so Jesus is saying you're supposed to hunger and thirst for righteousness so what is righteousness right before we can actually say what we're hungering and thirsting for we know that Jesus is repeating himself basically two both times right he's saying that the spiritual desire the spiritual hunger

20:56 that we're supposed to have what does also Jesus say when you when you know that there's a treasure in a field you will do everything you can to purchase that field right to to find that treasure because there's nothing more important than our salvation with God right why people don't understand how important it is for them to come to the classes for them to come to the to to church to be spiritually given the hunger and thirst what you need to to get dro closer to God now righteousness now is a noun right it's a thing and it primarily denotes the quality of being right or just in the New Testament is often used to describe the righteousness that comes

21:43 from God which is imputed to the Believers through their faith in Christ it accompass both the legal standing of being declared righteous before God and the ethical conduct that flows from the new status the term in in central in with in St Paul's writings emphasizes the righteousness is not achieved by human effort but a gift from God through faith so if you're hungry and thirsty for righteousness who gives you that righteousness God God right what what what what do we need to do to receive it have faith have faith but what what is Jesus saying here hunger and thirst for it right we're supposed to be Desiring God we're supposed to be be hungry to

22:30 have God in our lives right going back to the beginning we're supposed to be we're supposed to be looking and mourning when we sin and coming to repentance and as we come to repentance now we're now as we're coming to repentance we want to hunger and thirst for God so therefore we never sin anymore right our whole goal just like he told the one woman go forth and sin no more behold behold just like your father in Heaven is entirely whole right all of us we're not whole none of us are whole the sin that we have in our life is like a cancer right every one of us that sins it's a cancerous thing and what do we do when we receive cancer we right we go

23:16 get chemotherapy we take drugs right well that's what the hunger and thirst is right the hunger and thirst is a cancer fighting property because we're Desiring to have God in our lives we're Desiring to seek after God the act of doing what is an agreement right righteousness is the act of doing what is in agreement with God's standards whose standards God's standards and what do we normally do our standards right well he hurt me I'm not going to forgive him well that's not the standard of God right I mean the man who was here that was getting prepared to be crucified he showed us the exemplary example of what

24:01 we're supposed to do because God's standards he was the only one that could actually uphold God's standards that's why we have Grace but it's the state of being in proper relationship with God so when we're hungering and thirsting hung and hungering and thirsting for righteousness it's moving us towards a right standing with God right the whole goal when people come into confession is yes you confess the same thing over and over and over again but at some point you need to dig a little bit deeper and stop doing those things to get into the heart of the matter if the enemy can continue keeping you in those sins like anger and pornography and gluttony and all those things those things are what's

24:47 keeping you from going deeper and deeper into who God wants you to be because it's Pride that keeps us from doing right it's Pride that keeps us from doing those things okay and he says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be what be filled right that word filled is a action word again right it's an adjective action action action noun now it's another action right it's something that we're supposed to be doing right it's something that's happening okay to be filled primarily means to feed or to fill right we we can go back to what that basically means is often

25:32 the context of providing nourishment or satisfying your hunger right but it's also it's used literally in the terms of physical feeding and metaphorically the term of spiritual and emotional satisfaction so as we're looking for the hunger and and we're hungering and thirsting after Christ and finding that righteousness that God only gives us we're going to find satisfaction we're going to be happy and we're going to be filled we're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit and we're going to start moving to the place that God has us to be and I think most the times most of us never move past any certain points in our relationship with God because if they did people would stay

26:18 okay the act of doing okay so in terms of spiritual and emotional satisfaction in the New Testament it frequently describes the act of satisfying physical longer but is seen as feeding of the multitude of the multitudes by Jesus right so again it all is talking about the physical part but it's also talking about how the Holy Spirit can fill us okay so we're going blessed are the poor in spirit for those of the kingdom of heaven right we do these every s almost every single liturgy but I don't think most people know what these words actually mean you sing them but I don't think you actually understand and hopefully now when you're doing it you're going to keep in mind what these things are all right so

27:04 blessed are the poor in spirit for there is the Kingdom of Heaven blessed are those who mourn for they should be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain Mercy Mercy or merciful Elon and the adjective again right what's an adjective descriptor so Mercy merciful is a descriptor it is used to describe someone who has is compassionate and merciful showing kindness and forgiveness to others what are you showing people kindness and forgiveness right that is what Jesus is talking about being merciful it reflects the character trait that is deeply valued in our teachings

27:51 the Christian teachings emphasizing the importance of Mercy as a reflection of God's Own nature again what does that mean it's a reflection of God's nature being merciful and all these traits a reflection of God and as we get filled with righteousness we will reflect who the Holy Spirit we reflect Christ people are supposed to see Christ in us okay it includes and it also includes the feelings of pity with a focus of showing compassion and those in serious need right so blessed are the merciful happy are the merciful for they shall obtain Mercy again Alo right the verb Alo is used in the New Testament to

28:38 express the act of showing Mercy or compassion towards someone it often implies a deep sense of empathy and desire to alleviate the suffering or need of another so who if Jesus is saying this statement who is giving the mercy God gives God God's giving the mercy right he's saying if you do this you're going to get this right with all these statements blissa of the meek you're going to inherit the earth right blessed are the mourn they will be you will be comforted so now he's saying blessed if you're merciful now you're going to get Mercy all right so the term is frequently used in the context of Divine Mercy where God or Jesus extends

29:23 compassion to humanity usually with the focus of an act of kindness that will help meet the need what are what what do we need as Christians we need Mercy right without Mercy we can't do anything what's the other what's the other gift that God gives us Grace Grace right so that's what we got to remember blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain Mercy verse eight blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God blessed happy right karos the adjective again it's a descriptor karos you're going to you'll hear grief I got to wash my hands I got to be clean okay the Greek word katharos primarily denotes physical

30:09 cleanliness or Purity but it extends to a moral and ceremonial Purity as well in the New Testament it is often used to describe the purity of the heart and the spirit as well as the cleanliness requirement of the Jewish law but in this case Jesus is saying bless are the pure in heart we can't be pure in heart if we're watching things that we're not supposed to be watching and reading things that we're not supposed to be reading and gossiping and talking about people and judging people we can't have purity of heart right it needs to be something that we need like King David said Clean My Heart Lord you're the only one that can do it create in me a clean heart virge me with his right it's freedom from corrupt desire from sin and guilt freedom from

30:58 corrupt desire from sin and guilt all right so blessed are the pure in heart and it's free from every ad mixture of what is false and sincere and genuine blameless and innocent and unstained with guilt of anything now the next word that he said blessed are the pure in heart the word heart in Greek is Kya it's a noun it's it's a something right in the New Testament metaphorically is to refer you've heard me talk about it before right it's the inner self the encompassing of the mind and the will and the emotions and the moral center of the person it is not limited to the physical organ right it can also talk about that M right the physical origin but

31:43 represents the core of the human identity in the spiritual life right love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul Jesus is using this word blessed of the pure in heart right so it is not limited to the physical organ but represents the core human identity and spiritual life the heart is seen as the seat of thought emotion decisionmaking reflecting one's true character and intentions so somebody slaps us in the face and we double down and slap them back and get them on the ground and keep hitting them are we pure in heart no right not even close right because what's coming out of our heart is what's reflecting Who We Are

32:28 so when we when we turn the other cheek if we're exhibiting Christ that means he's working in our lives he's in our heart so it's the so the the C the Kya is the understanding the faculty and the seed of intelligence all right and then what does it say for they shall see God okay see it means to see or perceive it encompasses both the physical Act of seeing with the eyes right we can use these for both terms but it's also to perceiving or understanding with the mind the New Testament is often used to describe not only the act of seeing but also the deeper understanding or

33:14 realization of spiritual truths it could imply a revelation or Insight granted by God does God allow himself to be seen if your prayer in heart will he allowed himself to be seen yeah right I know you probably think immediately is Jesus going to be coming walking to this door but are we not supposed to see Jesus and other people yeah right we see Jesus we've ex we we've we've saw different we read different stories how these Saints are so holy that they're radiating light from their face even after they die okay so in the New Testament is like I said it's often dep it's used to describe not

34:00 only the act of seeing but also the deeper understanding of the realization of spiritual truths so God is going to allow you as your heart becomes purified he's going to allow you to know who he is he's going to allow himself to be made manifest in your life by allowing you to see who he is in your life right as the holy spirit moves and as you make more and more room for the Holy Spirit and start to purge yourselves of sinfulness we get to see what God is doing he allows himself to be seen any questions so far is that like when uh the uh some of the are we talking about like the uncreated

34:45 light uh you know where where somebody's very you know uh some of the monst are sa right the radiating light right and and again we participate in God's energies yeah right and these people right the people that are they're able to heal people right they're at a place in their life where they are able to express that healing because there's no pride in them when they heal people yeah right so the the UNC the the uncreated light that shines from us is Christ shining through us right you've read some of the stories of the Saints like I said when they die it's like a beam of light going out so the people can find

35:33 them all right so verse 9 blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God peacemakers in this case is an adjective again it refers to someone who actively Works to establish peace Harmony and Reconciliation among individuals or groups in the New Testament it is used to describe those who Foster peace and are blessed for the effort in creating unity and resolving conflicts can we do that when we're angry all the time no no can we do that when we're fighting with our spouse fighting with our kids right fighting with the neighbor fighting with our employees right are we exemplifying and showing what who Christ is through

36:18 our peacemaking right say again one of the things I love that Constantine said you know when we see somebody's doing something wrong make an excuse for them we don't know what they're going through bring peace and what happens in the churches right is somebody starts talking somebody starts gossiping and then there's a rift in the church and people leave because there's no peacemaking there's no forgiveness there's no reconciliation right so The Peacemaker is one who restores peace and Reconciliation between persons and even Nations this word okay so blessed are the peacemakers for they should be called sons of God all right the Greek

37:05 word to call right called Koo is to call or to summon it is used in various contexts in the New Testament including calling someone by name inviting someone to an event or calling someone to a particular purpose or Mission the term can also imply the Divine calling or vocation as seen in the context of God's call to individuals for salvation or service okay be called sons of God so now keep that in mind called now the sons and some of the translations actually use as children they're probably trying to be more inclusive right but the actual word that's being used is Sons okay the Greek word means okay in the use of the New

37:53 Testament it denote a male offspring okay they change it it's okay but the word is Sons it is also employed metaphorically to describe the relationship of kinship and Association such as sons of God or sons of light in a broader sense it can refer to The Descendants or followers who share in a particular characteristic identity so if we are sons of God whose identity are we sharing in Gods Gods right he's saying if you're a peacemaker happy if you're a peacemaker but because you're going to be called You're going to be characterized as a child of God a Son of God Of Those whom God esteems as Sons whom he loves he protects and benefits

38:40 above others right if we are Christians and we are called sons of God children of God he's going to protect us well how about all those people that were martyred well they're glorifying God in their glorified State now for us death is something that we're looking forward to should we should be right so those who rever so again the sons are those who rever God as their father the pious worshippers of God those whose character and life resemble God right if we're Sons if for children of God our character and life resembles God and those who are governed by the spirit of God Repose the same calm and joyful trust in God which children do to their parents and Hereafter is the blessed and

39:27 Glory of life eternal will openly wear this dignity as sons of God preeminently used by Christ as enjoying the Supreme love of God United to him in affectionate intimacy privy to his saving counsels obedient to the father's will and his acts I mean that's a lot of what I just read right but what what what what is God saying right what is Jesus saying right we're going to be able to enjoy the things that God has for us if we're peacemakers okay and it's an intimate thing right it's affection God is sharing his love for us just like we are supposed to share with our children even

40:13 more so verse 10 blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven again happy are those who are persecuted and remember the word righteousness it's repeated again Jesus Is Now using this the second time which we talked about it earlier but now he's saying if you're persecuted for righteousness sake okay Theo persecuted primarily means to pursue or chase after something with intensity and the New Testament is often used in the context of persecution where individuals or groups are pursued with the intent to impress or oppress or harm

40:58 it is ALS it also means to earnestly strive for the pr for or press forward toward the goal reflecting a sense of urgency and determination okay so that persecution we're supposed to look forward to it and if we're being persecuted right again for righteousness sake ours will be the kingdom of heaven now he's repeating this again righteousness and the kingdom of heaven he's repeating again right so he's now saying at a second time emphasizing what he just said before that's how important it is he's repeating himself because the Kingdom of Heaven for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven verse 11 blessed are you when they men revile you and persecute you

41:44 and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake right uh revile is again a verb it's an action all right it is used in the New Testament to describe the act of or of reproaching or insulting someone so blessed are you and men revile you when people revile you for my name okay it often carries the connotation of casting blame or shame upon another typically in the public or humiliating manner this term is used to depict both verbal attacks and the broader sense of scorn or contempt directed at an individual have we really been persecuted have we ever been

42:30 reviled right some of those things we we more than likely have never really faced maybe in a little bit of a way but what Jesus is even actually telling us and warning us about is that blessed are you and men revile you and persecute again being repeated from earlier same word persecute you and say all kinds of evil right manner right say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake so the word that was used all manner all kinds is an adjective it's a descriptor that conveys the idea of totality or completeness so blessed are you and men revile and persecution and all manner of evil right it's a complete evil it's a

43:17 complete reviling it's a complete persecution it is used to describe all compassing and Collective Concepts often translated as all every whole or entire in English in the New Testament pass which is Mana is frequently used to emphasize the inclusivity or univers universality of a statement or a command evil now this is a different word for evil Rema it's a noun it's it's a something in the New Testament Rema refers to that which is spoken an utterance or a specific word or saying it often emphasizes the spoken word as opposed to the written word Rema can denote a particular statement or command

44:03 often with a focus on the immediate impact or relevance okay so when they people and again when it's spoken of when the evil is spoken falsely for my sake falsely the word falsely again is a descript or adjective it is used to describe something that is falsely named or misrepresent misrepresented in the context of the New Testament it refers to the teaching or knowledge that that claim to be true but are actually false or misleading this word highlights the importance of discernment and distinguishing between genuine truth and deceptive teachings why why is that why is that important well there were a lot of

44:50 heresies and still are right and what what does a heresy do well it turns you away away from God uh you know it's just like we're talking about the Beatitudes well some of the Protestant churches have had parishioners complain to to their pastor about helping the poor for instance and they said oh no that's not right you know he say it's out of the Bible and they're saying they're they're saying well that's not right you know right right well because the people changed the scriptures yeah suit their own needs yeah you know so so I mean that would be an example or for instance when uh some people were returning to

45:35 Orthodoxy they were actually actively persecuted accused of treason that's right treason I mean you know some State decides that if you're for Christ or or the Orthodox church or whatever well you're not faithful to the state so right right so again I mean think think about what Jesus is telling telling us right blessed are you when men revile and persecute you right happy are you when they revile and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for whose sake his sake Christ it's all about Jesus yeah it's all about Christ and if we're going through these things glory to God yeah and if people are persecuting us glory to God if people are wounding us glory to God people crucify us glory to God okay

46:27 and finally verse 12 the final of the Beatitudes that we use during our services rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in Heaven Again uros heaven for they for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you okay so Rejoice har which is a verb right it's an action the verb primarily means to Rejoice to be glad but it also conveys a sense of inner joy and Delight often in response to God's grace and goodness right when God's grace and goodness comes upon us we Rejoice right we're supposed to rejoice and the New Testament is frequently used to express the joy the Believers

47:12 experience through their relationship with Christ and the hope of Salvation right if we believe God right listen to my words if we believe God not believe in God right believing in God and believing God are two different things right but if we believe God and especially what right we just read these Beatitudes that we're going to be happy with all these things then there should be nothing we should fear right so it it it it and it frequently uses to express the joy the Believers experience to the relationship with Christ we should have joy all the time right it's to let nothing Rob your joy we should be happy right when our

47:59 spouses revile us we should be happy maybe that's the only person that will do that to us that's the person that is helping us achieve theosis right those are the people that are helping us to find Christ because if everything goes smoothly in the churches we would never grow ever grow okay exceedingly glad Ang angal exceedingly glad right this word is a verb again action action rejoice and be exceedingly G action action it convents a s a sense of exuberant joy and gladness often expressed physically

48:45 or emotionally it is used in the New Testament to describe a deep spiritual joy that transcend transcends circumstances often associated with the presence and the work of God This Joy is not merely an emotional response but a profound spiritual state of being that reflects the believer's relationship with God and the Hope found in him okay so what is he doing when Jesus is repeating himself two times he's emphasizing it right Rejoice be exceedingly glad for great is your reward right myos reward is a noun now it's something in the New Testament Prim really refers the concept of reward or wages it is used both in the literal

49:32 sense and referring to the payment of work done and the metaphorical sense indicating the spiritual and eternal rewards the term underscores the principle of receiving due recompense for one's actions whether good or bad so rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven and then he goes back now for for they so persecuted the prophets who were before you he's telling you he's telling the apostles he's telling the people that if they persecuted the guys that came before you they're going to do it to you right these disciples are going out into the world and he's telling them you might not live and none of all but one lived right John is the only one that survived to live to an old age all the rest of them were persecuted and

50:19 martyred for their faith and again do people die for a lie no no no right so Jesus is telling us through all these things through these Beatitudes right we say these Beatitudes every single liturgy almost 90% of the liturgies we do it right except some of the special ones where we replace the Beatitudes but for the most part the Beatitudes are something for us to strive for it's something for us to reflect on you should read them every day I would recommend you reading them every day okay because that's the thing right and it's telling us there's no commands in here but he's telling us if you do this if you do this if you do this if you do this if you do this

51:05 you're going to find blessedness I want blessedness I want be happy and the thing is is if I know that God is in my life if I know that God is the god of my life I'm going to constantly strive to work on becoming as sinless as possible I want to come to God I want to be purified I want to have a good heart I want to have this Holiness that I can go into the world and do what God wants me to do God want I I truly believe that God calls all of us to do all these miraculous things but often times we're too selfish to get there we're too selfish and we only think about ourselves that is the one thing this

51:50 Lent that I have realized so much about myself in my marriage is how selfish I've truly been and I don't want to be selfish anymore with my wife and my family I want to put them first I want to glorify God by becoming the husband that I am called to be okay so with all of that being said how many of us actually now kind of having an idea of what these Beatitudes are saying how many of us can honestly say that we're in the right State and standing with God none of us can we be there of course that's why it's so

52:36 important to come and confess with his help with his help humility to come and confess humility to come before God and come before the cross and say I can't do this without you Lord I need you I need you to become the man that you're calling me to be all right and anybody else anybody else want to ask anything or any comments or any reflection about what we just what I just went over um the thing when you said that God is always there that we know that Christ is always dwelling with us everywhere so it can be here can be there can be home this is one of the thing that you were talking about you know they will know if he's here yes he is right right

53:22 I mean every single time we're we're in liturgy right we're when when the with the epy is is especially we are asking of the Holy Spirit to come into our presence I mean if if you truly believe that people would never miss liturgy if you truly believe that Theo the the Kingdom of Heaven is here and now right I can't remember who what what saint he's what saint said it but he said if you understood how holy that the the church was you'd scoop up the dust from the ground and wipe your face with it right because we're in the we're in the presence of God and every sing single time that we say these things and I hope next time that the these these Beatitudes are done they should actually reflect on those things right Stephen it's like I heard that if you knew

54:08 spiritually what was happening around you in the Nave you could not drag those people out of there right right but again where is our where where is your mind right even when prayer when you're doing the Jesus prayer right there's a lot of times my mind's going somewhere else but you know the thing is you're supposed to do it slow Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy of me a sinner thinking about each word as you're saying right A lot of times Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy be S Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy be S Jesus you're not getting anything you're getting something I'm not going to say you're not getting anything you're getting something but if you're thinking that if you're thinking those words right if you're fighting through those Temptations you will conquer right Jesus

54:55 Christ come conquers he can defeat anything he defeated death right and he's telling you how to be blessed with these Beatitudes he's telling you how to be happy yeah the other thing that when ask uh know Jesus Son of God have mercy on me you have to understand that it's not our works going to get this Mercy this is a gift right from God so it's uh are we worthy of it or not this is up to what kind of life you go to and and you know like I said even even even being here at the church is a gift right me being me me me uh being allowed to be a priest is a gift to me it's a privilege it's a privilege yeah right I

55:40 serve God I don't serve anybody else I serve God you know and and I have this I have this wonderful privilege to be able to never have to separate my faith from my job right I don't even it's a job but I want to encapsulate these things of the beatitude saying I want to have that purity of spirit I want to be poor in spirit I want to be merciful I want to be meek I want those things because I want to I want to have the characteristics that Christ has for me and the person that I that that is the hardest to do that with is often times my spouse CU I'm with her all the time but if I can learn how to love her and truly love the way I'm supposed to

56:27 no matter what I will learn how God is as well she's one of the people that has taught me so much how to love God and same thing with my son to teach me what it means to be a loving father anybody else all right well thank you again God be with you be blessed [Music] in re [Music]