The Beatitudes

Jesus did a lot of teaching in the Bible. While the Gospels gave some insight into his life, they focused less on his experiences and more on his teachings and the actions that fed into his teachings and later the fulfillment of his purpose on earth. As expected, Jesus’ lessons were always insightful and impactful. He was the Word made flesh, so the lessons from him were as pure a distillation of God’s desires for us as is possible here on Earth. Between the four Gospels, Jesus touched on a variety of topics and also clarified misconceptions and misunderstandings about what God really desired from his people. Of course, as Christians, we believe that Jesus’ death and subsequent resurrection was his major reason for being on Earth, but we shouldn’t overlook his life and what he taught.

Many of Jesus’ lessons came in the form of parables. That form of teaching isn’t that foreign to most of us. We’ve all heard fables and tall tales and other stories that are meant to deliver lessons of some type. Such stories are often an effective way of delivering a message while captivating an audience and making the message relatable and easy to understand. However, sometimes Jesus strayed away from that type of teaching. At least once, he ventured into the realm of proverbial wisdom. The Beatitudes are probably among the most well known of Jesus' sayings, and they really do a good job of putting into perspective what kind of people receive favor from God.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.- Matthew 5:3-12

The first two verses let us know that God empathizes with those in low positions. He understands that as humans, even those that follow Him, we go through times where we are weak, where we are down, and where we are hurt. Jesus is telling us that God knows this, and even in those positions, we are blessed. We will be taken out of the holes in which we sometimes find ourselves, and God will provide solace. Jesus then talks about meekness or humility. Several entries from this blog have discussed the importance of humility. Those who are truly humble likely do not seek control and inheritance of this world and everything in it, but Jesus tells us that those are precisely the people who will be given all of that.

Jesus tells us that the merciful are the ones who will receive mercy. We see that same sentiment reflected in the many times where forgiveness is mentioned in the New Testament. Jesus lets us know that if we want to see God we need to be pure, and if we want to be called children of God, we need to be agents of peace. However, maybe the most important trait of all is the ability to stand up for God and what is right in the face of backlash, insults, and all manner of negative reaction from others. Jesus is telling us that more than anything, God wants us to be committed to godliness. Jesus told his followers that they would be persecuted because of their connection to him. He’s telling everyone here that God has a special reward for those who are able to stand up to that persecution.

We all believe that we want to be blessed and have God’s favor. If that’s really true, then all we need to do is model ourselves after the examples and instruction that Jesus gave. Nothing in the Beatitudes is outlandish or overly difficult. We simply need to do our best to be good people both in our obedience to God and our relations with other people. We know that simply being good is not what saves us. Believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection is what does that. However, simply being saved shouldn’t be the extent of anyone’s spiritual goals. We shouldn’t just want to make it out of the pit of fire so to speak. We should also want to thrive in the life that comes afterwards. The Beatitudes are the guidance for how we can do that. Each of us should learn to adapt the qualities mentioned into our own personas. We might just find that beyond whatever blessings or rewards God will have for us in the life to come, our current lives might also be enriched beyond our own understanding.

Chris Lawyer

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