The Blessed Life - Part 1

"The Blessed Life" is a continuation of posts which are about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the first of which are titled "What Would Jesus Say?"

Introduction to the Sermon: The ‘Beatitudes’ 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
  For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
  For they shall 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.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
  For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
  For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
  For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3–10).

            I can still remember the first time I heard the word “beatitudes” as a child. I was in a children’s church class, and we were each given the opportunity to teach something from the Bible. One girl got up and said she was going to teach on the “beatitudes.” I had no clue what this meant (though I figured it was something to do with attitudes), and though I don’t remember her lesson, I never forgot her use of this strange word. In actuality, the term “beatitude” is from the Latin beatitudo, denoting “blessedness,” and refers to the blessings given by Jesus at the beginning of His sermon (ISBE).

            When Jesus says “blessed are those” in these verses, He is talking about what constitutes a truly blessed life. We don’t hear the term “blessed” as often today as in times past as our culture becomes increasingly secularized. We may occasionally hear someone say they felt blessed or observe the phrase “God bless America” on a bumper sticker. But overall, this concept of blessing does not have great significance to many of us. So it may seem a bit empty when we hear Jesus speaks of being blessed. However, in terms of what Jesus’ hearers thought, this concept was rich with meaning, alluding to happiness and fulfillment, a life that was enviable.

Ultimate blessing was seen to be from God. The Jews had a benediction from their Scripture that was to be given by the priests (and is still used today in religious contexts):

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” (Num. 6:24–26)

This benediction employs what it called “synonymous parallelism,” so each set of lines repeat the same thoughts in various ways (Sproul, 137). “The Lord bless you” matches the ideas of “The Lord make His face shine upon you” and “The Lord lift up His countenance upon you.” Therefore, to be blessed is for God to show His favor toward you, providing ultimate peace and joy. There really is nothing greater than to have a life rooted in relationship to God in which His face shines upon you. 

 Of all the ways Jesus could have begun His message, He chose to start with the promise that God wants to give His blessing to people so that they can have true happiness. People today are looking desperately for a way to find peace and fulfillment in their lives. Sadly, so many of us are looking in the wrong places to find answers. One only has to look at the fact that many Americans have so much outwardly but are suffering so much inwardly to know that we are not living with the true joy, or blessedness spoken of by Christ. Do you want to have the blessed life? God offers this to you, but it is found in a way that is quite surprising and contrary to how we naturally think joy can be obtained. And this is what Jesus gives as His shocking introduction to this sermon. The ones who are truly blessed are not those that seem to be so at first glance.

Works Cited:

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (available at http:// http://www.bible-history.com/ isbe/B/BEATITUDES/, accessed May 2012; Internet).

R. C. Sproul, Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology (Wheaton: Crossway, 2009).

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.