Read Matthew 5.1-13; Psalm 24.3-6; and Revelation 22.4
Out of all the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure in heart” may be the hardest for our culture to engage. People either don’t concern themselves with being, pure, or they don’t understand what it means. Jesus’ original audience didn’t have that problem.
In this Beatitude, Jesus was referring to the kind of purity God possess. Jesus’ audience knew the only way to see God was in the temple, in the Shekinah glory in the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could enter once a year. To see the purest vision of God, the priest had to be the purest version of himself. He would be required to have perfect ritual purity and cleanliness.
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Holy hearts are clean hearts.
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Holy hearts are committed hearts.
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Blessings of Seeing God
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When we see God, we know God.
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When we see God, we are known by God.
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When we see God, we are made new by God.
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BIG IDEA : What if life was not meant to make us happy but holy. In that holiness we find the happiness we’ve been longing for.
THINK IT OVER
- If purity of the human heart is God-given, then what, if anything, is the human responsibility in this blessing and promise?
- What blessing & promise does Jesus declare in 5.8? What is meant by vision of God and beatific vision? How shall we see God?
- How can contemplating and meditation upon seeing God face-to-face shape our walk and witness? How does it fill us with hope and courage?