The Beatitudes

Crowds everywhere. Jesus had been “healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23). “Great multitudes followed Him” (4:25). Up the mountain. “He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him” (5:1). In Jesus’ day a teacher sat down to teach, and his students gathered close. Jesus the Teacher. “Then He opened His mouth and taught them” (5:2). The Son of God was teaching His followers what life is like in God’s kingdom. Blessed. Each saying begins with the word blessed. That is why these sayings are called the Beatitudes, from an old word for blessed. Blessed means God is pouring out His goodness on you, so you have a deep joy in Him. The Children’s Bible says happy. Not luck. This joy is not good luck, and it does not come from having lots of things. It comes from God, so it can last even on a sad day. A surprising list. Jesus did not call the rich, the popular or the strong blessed. He named people the world often overlooks: the humble, the sad and the people who are hungry for God. Not a ladder. The Beatitudes are not steps to climb so that God will let you into heaven. They describe people who already belong to Jesus, and the life He grows in them. What we learn. Real joy is found close to Jesus. Come near and listen to Him, just as His disciples did.

The setting (4:23-25). Before this sermon, Jesus had been “teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness.” Crowds came from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and beyond the Jordan. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) explains what life in that kingdom looks like. Seated to teach (5:1-2). Jewish teachers sat to teach, and their students sat around them. When Jesus finished, the people “were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (7:28-29). Makarios. The Greek word for blessed is makarios (say: mah-KAH-ree-oss). It describes the well-being of a person whom God has favored. It is not a mood that comes and goes; it rests on what God has done. David used the same idea: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1). A mountain and a lawgiver. Many Christians see a picture here: God gave His law through Moses on Mount Sinai, and now Jesus teaches God’s people from a mountain. Jesus speaks as more than a messenger. He teaches with His own authority: “But I say to you” (5:44). Announcements, not assignments. The Beatitudes are statements, not commands. Jesus announces who is blessed. He is not handing out tasks that earn the kingdom. Each one describes the people of His kingdom, and each is a gift of grace before it becomes a way of life (Ephesians 2:8-10). Now and not yet. The first and the eighth Beatitudes say “theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” in the present tense. The six in between promise what is coming: comfort, the earth, being filled, mercy, seeing God and being called sons of God. God’s people belong to the kingdom now and wait for it to come in full. Application. Read the Beatitudes as a portrait of the people Jesus is making, not as a test you must pass. Then come close and listen, as His disciples did.

Big crowds were following Jesus. He had been healing sick people all over Galilee. Now Jesus sat down on a mountain to teach. His followers came close to listen. Jesus began with one special word again and again. In the Children’s Bible the word is happy. Other Bibles say blessed. Blessed means God is good to you. It means you are glad in Him. This joy does not come from toys or money. It comes from being close to God. Jesus was not giving a list of jobs to earn God’s love. He was showing how God’s people live. You can come close and listen to Jesus too.

Jesus sat on a hill to teach. He told His friends who is truly happy. Being close to God makes us happy.

Poor in spirit (5:3). “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To be poor in spirit is to know you have nothing to bring God that could earn His love. You come with empty hands. A gift, not a prize. The kingdom belongs to people who know they cannot earn it. Jesus once told about a tax collector who stood far off and only asked God for mercy, and God accepted him (Luke 18:13). Those who mourn (5:4). “For they shall be comforted.” To mourn is to be deeply sad. God’s people are sad about their own sin and about the hurt in the world. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart” (Psalm 34:18). The meek (5:5). Meek does not mean weak. It means gentle strength that trusts God instead of pushing others around. “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). They shall inherit the earth. To inherit is to receive something as a family gift. One day God will give His gentle people a whole new earth. Hungry for righteousness (5:6). Righteousness means being right with God and doing what is right. Some people want that more than food or water. Jesus promised, “they shall be filled.” Jesus fills us. “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger” (John 6:35). What we learn. Coming to God starts with knowing we need Him. When we come to Jesus empty, He fills us.

Ptochos (5:3). Greek had one word for a poor worker who had little, and a stronger word for a beggar who had nothing. Jesus used ptochos (say: ptoh-KHOSS), the beggar’s word. To be poor in spirit is to stand before God with nothing in your hands, asking for everything. The door in. This Beatitude comes first because no one enters the kingdom any other way. “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Through Isaiah, God said that He lives with the person who has a humble and sorry heart (Isaiah 57:15). Mourning (5:4). Jesus used the kind of word people used for grief at a funeral. It includes grief over sin. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Isaiah promised One who would “comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2), and in Nazareth Jesus read that promise as His own (Luke 4:18). Praus (5:5). Meek translates praus (say: prah-OOSS). Greeks used it for a strong horse trained to the bridle: power under control. Jesus called Himself “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). The earth. Jesus’ words echo Psalm 37:11, where the meek inherit the land. The meek do not grab; God gives. Hunger and thirst (5:6). In a land of real hunger and thirst, this was a picture of desperate desire. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God” (Psalm 42:1). Filled with what? We cannot make ourselves righteous. God gives righteousness as a gift: “that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Then He grows right living in us. Application. These four Beatitudes describe a person coming to God empty-handed. Every Christian starts here, and keeps coming back here.

Jesus said the poor in spirit are blessed. That means people who know they need God. They do not come to God bragging. They come with empty hands. God gives them His kingdom as a gift! Jesus said people who mourn are blessed. To mourn means to be very sad. Some people are sad about their sin. God will comfort them. The meek are blessed too. Meek means gentle and humble, not bossy. Then Jesus talked about people who are hungry for God. They want to do right more than they want food. Jesus said God will fill them. Jesus Himself is the bread that fills us.

Some people know they need God. Jesus said they are happy. God comforts people who are sad. God fills hungry hearts with Himself.

The merciful (5:7). “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” Mercy means being kind to someone who does not deserve it, and forgiving them. Mercy comes from God first. God shows mercy to us before we show it to anyone. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Like our Father. Jesus said, “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The pure in heart (5:8). A pure heart is clean and real. It loves God without pretending. It is not only clean on the outside. God makes hearts clean. David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10). We cannot scrub our own hearts clean. God promises a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). They shall see God. One day God’s people “shall see His face” (Revelation 22:4). The peacemakers (5:9). Peacemakers help people stop fighting and make things right. They also tell others how to have peace with God. Sons of God. Peacemakers act like their Father, so “they shall be called sons of God.” This means everyone in God’s family, girls as well as boys (John 1:12). What we learn. When God fills us, we start to look like Him: kind, real and peaceful.

Turning outward (5:7-9). The first four Beatitudes describe how a person comes to God. These three describe how that person treats others. Grace received becomes grace given. Mercy (5:7). Mercy is more than feeling sorry for someone; it acts to help and to forgive. Jesus later told of a servant who was forgiven a huge debt and then refused to forgive a small one (Matthew 18:21-35). Receiving mercy and refusing mercy cannot live together in one heart. The promise. “They shall obtain mercy” is not a wage for being merciful. The merciful are people who live on God’s mercy and keep receiving it. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8). Pure in heart (5:8). In the Bible the heart is the center of a person: thoughts, choices and desires. A pure heart is undivided, not split between God and something else. Psalm 24:3-4 asks who may stand in God’s holy place and answers, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” Seeing God. Without holiness “no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Jesus is the one who makes His people holy, and they “shall see His face” (Revelation 22:4). Peacemakers (5:9). The Hebrew word shalom (say: shah-LOHM) means more than no fighting. It is wholeness, with everything set right. Jesus is our peace: “For He Himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14), and “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Sons of God. In Bible times a son carried his father’s likeness. God “has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18), so peacemakers join in what their Father is doing. Application. Think of one person you need to forgive and one argument you can help end. Ask God for a heart that is whole toward Him.

Next Jesus said the merciful are blessed. Merciful people forgive and help others. They do this because God forgave them first. Jesus said, “Mercy will be given to them.” Then Jesus said the pure in heart are blessed. A pure heart loves God with nothing hidden. It is not just good on the outside. Only God can give us a clean heart. Jesus said, “They will be with God.” Peacemakers are blessed too. They help people stop fighting. Best of all, they tell people how to have peace with God. Jesus said, “God will call them his sons.” That means all of God’s children, girls and boys.

God is kind to us. So we can be kind to others. God gives us clean hearts. We can help friends make peace.

Persecuted (5:10). “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” Persecuted means treated badly again and again because you belong to God and do what is right. The same promise. The first and the last of these eight sayings both end with the kingdom of heaven. God’s people may lose friends or comfort, but they never lose the kingdom. For My sake (5:11). Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you… for My sake.” Revile means to insult. Jesus put Himself at the center. Some people hate Jesus, so they treat His friends badly too. Rejoice (5:12). “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” Being glad does not mean we enjoy being hurt. It means we know God sees, and He will make it right. In good company. “For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” God’s faithful messengers were often treated badly. Jesus’ followers stand with them. Jesus went first. Jesus, “when He was reviled, did not revile in return” (1 Peter 2:23). He was treated worse than anyone, and He still loved. Real courage. The apostles were beaten for speaking about Jesus. They left “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41). What we learn. If you are teased or left out for loving Jesus, you are not alone. Stay kind, tell a grown-up you trust, and remember that your reward is with Jesus.

Persecution (5:10). To persecute is to hunt down or chase after. Jesus blesses people who suffer for doing right, not people who suffer because they were rude or foolish. The reason matters: “for righteousness’ sake.” Bookends (5:3, 10). “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven” opens and closes the list. Every Beatitude in between is held inside that promise. For My sake (5:11). In 5:10 the reason is righteousness. In 5:11 it becomes “for My sake.” Jesus treats loyalty to Himself as loyalty to righteousness. Only the Son of God could rightly say that. The prophets (5:12). Jeremiah was lowered into a muddy pit (Jeremiah 38:6), and Elijah ran for his life (1 Kings 19:3). Jesus places His followers in that same line of God’s faithful messengers. Glory ahead. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). The reward is real, and it is mostly about being with Christ. Jesus’ example. Jesus was “despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3). On the cross He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). For “the joy that was set before Him” He “endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Blessing back. Paul wrote, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:14). Application. Around the world many Christians face real danger for following Jesus, so pray for them by name. If you face teasing, answer with kindness, not revenge, and talk to an adult you trust.

Jesus told His followers the truth about following Him. Some people will be mean to them for loving Jesus. They may call them names or tell lies about them. Jesus said, “Rejoice and be glad.” Jesus said a great reward is waiting in heaven. God sees everything. Long ago, people were mean to God’s prophets too. People were mean to Jesus Himself. Jesus did not hurt them back. He loved them and prayed for them. If someone is mean to you, tell a grown-up you trust. Pray for that person and keep being kind. Jesus is always with you.

Some people may be mean to Jesus' friends. Jesus said to be glad. Heaven has a great reward. Jesus is always with us.

🎉 All Matched!