Comfort for Christians
by Arthur W. Pink, 1952
THE BEATITUDES AND
CHRIST
Our meditations upon the Beatitudes would not be complete
unless they turned our thoughts to the person of our blessed Lord. As we
have endeavored to show, they describe the character and conduct of a
Christian; and as Christian character is nothing more or less than being
experimentally conformed to the image of Christ, we must turn to Him for
the perfect pattern. In the Lord Jesus Christ we find the brightest
manifestations of the highest exemplifications of the different spiritual
graces which are found, dimly reflected, in His followers. Not one or two
but all of these perfections were displayed by Him, for He is not only
"lovely," but "altogether lovely." May the Holy Spirit who is here to
glorify Him take now of the things of Christ and show them unto us.
First, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Most
blessed is it to see how the Scriptures speak of Him who was rich becoming
poor for our sakes, that we through His poverty might be rich. Great indeed
was the poverty into which He entered. Born of parents who were poor in this
world's goods, He commenced His earthly life in a stable. During His youth
and early manhood, He toiled at the carpenter's bench. After His public
ministry had begun, He declared that though the foxes had their holes and
the birds of the air their nests, the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His
head. If we trace out the Messianic utterances recorded in the Psalms by the
Spirit of prophecy, we shall find that again and again He confessed to God
His poverty of spirit: "I am poor and sorrowful" (Psalm 69:29); and, "Bow
down your ear, Oh Jehovah, for I am poor and needy" (Psalm 86:1); and again,
"For I am poor and needy, and My heart is wounded within me" (Psalm 109:22).
"Blessed are they that mourn." Christ was indeed
the chief Mourner. Old Testament prophecy contemplated Him as "the Man of
Sorrows and acquainted with grief." See Him "grieved for the hardness of
their hearts" (Mark 3:5) Behold Him "sighing" before He healed the deaf and
dumb man (Mark 7:34). Mark Him weeping by the grave side of Lazarus. Hear
His lamentation over the beloved city, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how
often would I have gathered your children together" (Matt. 23:37). Draw near
and reverently behold Him in the gloom of Gethsemane, pouring out His
petitions to the Father "with strong crying and tears" (Heb. 5:7). Bow in
worshipful wonderment as you hear Him crying from the cross, 'My God, My
God, why have You forsaken Me!" Hearken to His plaintive plea, "Is it
nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold, and see if there is any sorrow
like unto My sorrow" (Lam. 1:12).
Third, "Blessed are the meek." A score of examples
might be drawn from the Gospels illustrating the lovely lowliness of the
incarnate Lord of glory. Mark it in the men selected by Him to be His
ambassadors: He chose not the wise, the learned, the great, the noble—but
poor fishermen for the most part. Witness it in the company which He kept:
He sought not the rich and renowned, but was "the Friend of publicans and
sinners." See it in the miracles which He wrought: again and again He
enjoined the healed to go and tell no man what had been done for them.
Behold it in the unobtrusiveness of His service: unlike the hypocrites who
sounded a trumpet before them, He sought not the spotlight, shunned
advertising, and disdained popularity. When the crowds would make Him their
idol, He avoided them (Mark 1:45; 7:17). When they would come and "Take Him
by force to make Him a king—he departed again into a mountain himself alone"
(John 6:15). When His brethren urged, "Show Yourself to the world," He
declined, and went up to the feast in secret (John 7) . When He, in
fulfillment of prophecy, presented Himself to Israel, as their King, He
entered Jerusalem "lowly, and riding upon an donkey" (Zech. 9:9).
Fourth, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness.'' What a summary is this of the inner life of the Man
Christ Jesus! Before the Incarnation, the Holy Spirit announced,
"Righteousness and faithfulness will be a belt around His waist" (Isaiah
11:5). When He entered this world, He said, "Lo, I come to do Your will, Oh
God" (Heb. 10:17). As a boy of twelve He asked, "Don't you know that I must
be about My Father's business?" (Luke 2:41). At the beginning of His public
ministry He declared, "Do not think that I have come to destroy the law, or
the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matt. 5:17). To
His disciples He declared, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me
(John 4:34). Of Him the Holy Spirit has said, "You love righteousness, and
hate wickedness: therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of
gladness above Your fellows" (Psalm 45:7). Well may He be called "The Lord
our righteousness."
Fifth, "Blessed are the merciful." In Christ we
see mercy personified. It was mercy to poor lost sinners which caused the
Son of God to exchange the glory of Heaven—for the shame of earth. It was
mercy, wondrous and matchless, which took Him to the Cross, there to be made
a curse for His people. So it is "not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to His mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5). He still
exercises mercy to us as our "merciful and faithful High Priest" (Heb.
2:17). So also we are to be "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life" (Jude 21), because He will show us mercy in "that Day" (2
Tim. 1:18).
Sixth, "Blessed are the pure in heart." This too
was perfectly exemplified in Christ. He was the Lamb "without spot and
without blemish." In becoming Man, He was uncontaminated, contracting none
of the defilement's of sin. His humanity was "holy" (Luke 1:35). He was
"holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Heb. 7:26). "In him was
no sin" (1 John 3:5), therefore He "did no sin" (1 Peter 2:22) and "knew no
sin" (2 Cor. 5:21). "He is pure" (1 John 3:3). Because He was absolutely
pure in nature, His motives and actions were always pure. "I seek not My own
glory" (John 8:50) sums up the whole of His earthly career.
Seventh, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Supremely
true is this of our blessed Savior. He is the One who "made peace through
the blood of his cross" (Col. 1:20). He was appointed to be "an atoning
sacrifice" (Romans 3:25), that is, the One who should pacify God's wrath,
satisfy every demand of His broken law, glorify His justice and holiness.
So, too, has He made peace between the alienated Jew and Gentile: see Eph.
2:14-15. In a coming day He will yet make peace on this sin-cursed and
war-stricken earth. When He shall sit upon the throne of His father, David,
then shall be fulfilled that word, "Of the increase of his government and
peace, there shall be no end" (Isaiah 9:7). Well may He be called "The
Prince of Peace."
Eighth, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness' sake." None was ever persecuted, as was the Righteous
One. What a word is that in Rev. 12:4, "And the dragon stood in front of the
woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth he might
devour her child!" By the spirit of prophecy He declared, "I am afflicted
and ready to die from my youth up" (Psalm 88:15). On His first public
appearance we are told they "They got up, drove Him out of town, and brought
Him to the edge of the hill their town was built on, intending to hurl Him
over the cliff!" (Luke 4:29). In the temple precincts they "took up stones
to throw at him" (John 9:59). All through His ministry His steps were dogged
by enemies. The religious leaders charged Him with having a demon (John
8:38). Those who sat in the gate spoke against Him, and He was the song of
the drunkards (Psalm 69:12). At His trial they plucked off His hair (Isaiah
50:6), spit in His face, buffeted Him, and smote Him (Matt. 26:67). After He
was scourged by the soldiers and crowned with thorns, carrying His own
cross, He was led to Calvary, where they crucified Him. Even in His dying
hours He was not left in peace, but was persecuted by revilings and
scoffings. How unutterably mild in comparison, is the persecution we are
called on to endure for His sake!
In like manner, each of the promises attached to
the Beatitudes find their accomplishment in Christ. Poor in spirit He
was—but His supremely is the kingdom. Mourn He did—yet He is comforted as He
sees of the travail of His soul. Meekness personified—yet shall He sit on a
throne of glory. He hungered and thirsted after righteousness—yet now is He
filled with satisfaction as He beholds the righteousness He wrought imputed
to His people. Pure in heart—He sees God as none other does (Matt. 11:27).
As the Peacemaker—He is owned as the Son of God by all the blood-bought
children. As the persecuted One—great is His reward, having been given the
Name above all others. May the Spirit of God occupy us more and more with
Him who is altogether lovely.