“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
As the beatitudes progress, so does the difficulty to achieve these blessed characteristics that Jesus asks of fully devoted followers. The latter blessings require us to do more; to not simply be satisfied with ourselves as we are. They require intense character development and daily discipline. While these beatitudes are invitational challenges from Jesus to level up our faith, it turns out there are actually no distinct “levels” to be won.
Perhaps no beatitude makes this more clear than the one stating that “the pure in heart shall see God”. When considered alongside the rest of Jesus’ statements in the Sermon on the Mount, we can see that this call for purity of heart is about living a virtuous life overall. That the state of our heart is to be one that is bent towards the virtues of Christ.
In this sermon, Jesus tells the disciples (and us too) that simply following good rules for the sake of being a good rule follower is not enough. Not physically murdering, not technically committing adultery, not coveting your neighbor out loud, and not even adhering to oaths in a general sense is enough for true purity. If our heart is not in our actions, we break the rules even when we follow them. And because of this disconnect, we have no right to see God, who sees not just our outward actions, but also our inward state of being. (Matthew 5:21-47; 6:19-24; 7:1-6; 7:12-23)
On the political and social level this call to a virtuous life also applies. For the Christ follower there is no true separation of their faith from their other daily duties—civic, work, and social. The true disciple must apply a virtuous spirit to all matters of human life. There can be no distinction regardless of what national or local laws are in place, what work policies deem right and wrong, or what societal norms see as appropriate and inappropriate.
The follower of Jesus Christ must be virtuous to the core. If the core is rotten, all actions—even the most seemingly good—is in vain and will eventually receive condemnation from God. At this point in the beatitudes, it is tempting to abandon following Jesus. Surely, this is far too great of a calling for anyone. Indeed, it is a high calling for all of us humans, so fickle and feeble in so many ways.
Thankfully though, God loves us so much that we are given pardon and granted acceptance to see the Divine because we have aligned ourselves with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. The lifestyle that Jesus lived and died for has become the model for us. As we walk in the ways Jesus taught and lived, trusting wholeheartedly in our Lord, we become virtuous as well. God sees us like Jesus, whom we have pledged our sole allegiance to, and we can therefore see God.
We must see out the virtuous lifestyle of Christ, to create in ourselves pure hearts, so we may be blessed to see God. In so doing, not only will we see God in the future; we will also see God all around us in our world today—in nature, in one another, and in so many other marvelous facets of life abundantly happening around us.
Relevant Reformation 