Blessed are the pure in heart…

What do you seek in life? Wisdom? Strength? Wealth? These are not necessarily the best things to pursue. You might consider seeing and knowing God as your highest goal in life. In the Old Testament, Jeremiah quotes the Lord in Jeremiah 9:23,

[23] Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; [24] But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.”

Jeremiah names three things that people often pursue in life as their highest goals, wisdom, strength, and wealth; however, He says, the highest goal is understanding and knowing God. This is what Matthew 5:8 promises, to see and know God more intimately. This is what Jesus said in Matthew 5:8,

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

He didn’t say, “Blessed are the pure in body,” or “Blessed are the pure in mind,” or “Blessed are the pure in lifestyle” or “Blessed are the pure in worship.” He said: Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

Jesus put all the emphasis on the inside; not just action but attitude; not just conduct but character. The Jews of His day had put all the emphasis on the outside. How do you look, not how do you act. This scripture really takes an intense look at the inside of man.

So, what is purity of heart?

Psalms 24:3-4 foreshadows the “purity of heart.” The Psalmist asks: [3] “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD; who may stand in His holy place?” The next verse answers that question: [4] “He who has clean hands and a PURE HEART.” The Psalmist asks, who can see God? The answer, “The pure in heart.” This is exactly what Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

When the Bible speaks of “the heart,” it is not talking about the physical organ that pumps the blood through your system, it speaks of your inner self. Your soul, your spirit, your mind. In Jeremiah 17:10, God says: “I the Lord search the heart; I test the mind.” When Jesus is talking about “heart” here, He means your inner self. He desires your inner self, your inner being to be pure.

By the time Jesus began His ministry, the Pharisees, leaders in the synagogues, were totally consumed with the issue of keeping themselves outwardly “clean.” They would wash every cup and every tool. They had adopted many ritual “washings” to maintain ritual cleanliness, “outward cleanliness.”

In contrast to the religious mindset of the Pharisees, Jesus says in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in HEART …”. He was saying, I don’t want you just to be concerned about “outward cleanness” of your body, but I want you to be concerned about the INWARD PURITY of your heart. This was not a new teaching. God had always looked at our heart.

In this beatitude, Jesus is saying, My disciples are not to be people who focus merely on “externals” or our “appearance;” that is, what we “look” like. He was saying, my disciples are to be concerned with what their HEARTS look like. It is the HEART that matters to God.

A lot of non-believers think that they will get to heaven as long as their good deeds outweigh their bad, but that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says you must have a perfect righteousness to see God. Jesus said, “Therefore you must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” God is a holy God. He is perfect. Heaven is a perfect place. If we are going to be there, we have to be perfect as well. We must be totally clean and pure in heart. That’s what this scripture teaches: “Blessed are the PURE in heart, for they shall see God.” It takes total purity of heart to see God.

But who among us can say that we have that clean of a heart? In fact, Proverbs 20:9 asks that very question: “Who can say, I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin?” The answer is, on our own, NONE of us! As Romans 3:23 says, we have ALL sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God searches our hearts; He tests our minds, Jeremiah says: He knows what’s in your heart & mind. You know very well your heart isn’t clean, and if a pure heart is the qualification, there is no hope for you to see God, now or in the future.

The only hope that any of us has is for us to admit our sins and cast ourselves on God’s mercy in Jesus Christ. God knew our hearts, knew we had sinned, and knew we could never have fellowship with Him on our own. That’s why He came to Earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, to pay for our sins, so that if we would put our faith in Him, He would forgive our sins, and purify our hearts before God.

1John 1:7 says when we trust Him that, “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” When He cleanses us from sin, when He forgives our sin, we are totally and perfectly clean. This parallels Isaiah 1:18 where it says, “"Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow.” When you trust Jesus as your Savior, you are perfect, you are clean, you are “pure in heart” and can see God. This is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they, and they alone, will see God.