The Beatitudes - Worthy Christian Forums

Hello friends,

I was recently on another Forum I belong to reading about one of the Blessings Jesus gives in Matthew 5 under the section popularly known today as the Beatitudes. I have been thinking about this for a while and thought I'd make a short post here on this section of Teaching from Jesus.



First, I do agree with the sentiment that this section is an awesome piece of teaching. There are nine different things Jesus gives blessings on here - however, the question that arises in my mind is whether each of these nine should be taken as separate Blessings (which is what I have observed most people do), or is it part of a much larger blessing, each one flowing from the other. To give an example of what I mean - take the first three Blessings:

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.

Are these different blessings, given to three different groups (those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek). Or, do we take a view of "poor in spirit" as being those who acknowledge their sins and thus their poor spirit-natures and thus "those who mourn" refers to those who mourn for their sins, and then the third refers to those who because of their poorness in spirit and mourning for their sins do not seek to set themselves up as superior or self-seeking but rather put others before themselves, in meekness and humbleness.

And so on and so forth, right down to the last Blessing.....

If we take the first view that they are separate, then each concept is dealt with on its own and has no real theological base. There is no real basis for understanding what people are blessed for - "Blessed are those who mourn" would simply be referring to anyone who is sad - those who have lost loved ones are mourning, those who have come to poverty are mourning, and the like.

If we take the second view though, the ideas presented in the later Blessings by necessity hold a different theological view than if we look at each differently as a standalone blessing. Those who mourn now is given a context and specifically refers to those who mourn for their sins (ie, are saddened for their actions and strive to change their behaviours). And so we move along the line through each of the Blessings, taking into account the ones that came before, moving to the last of them - "Blessed are the peacemakers" being the seventh must be taken in the context of the previous six and does not simply refer to those who "make peace" with other people but rather looks at the heart with which a person becomes a peacemaker and in what ways they wish to make peace with others. The 8th Blessing - "those persecuted for righteousness" is also considered within the context of the previous seven.

Then we come to the 9th blessing which is altogether different from the rest. Up to this point, the previous 8 blessings are all "Blessed are they, blessed are they, blessed are they, blessed are they....", but suddenly the text changes significantly to "Blessed are YOU....". The change in emphasis clearly identifies a point of importance, and if we take the view that all the Blessings are related, then this last Blessing seems to be a conclusion to the matter and would summarises the effects of the previous 8 blessings - an overarching theological discourse concerning our relationship with God and our following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ which will ultimately lead to the ninth effect of being persecuted and reviled, but despite this human effect will end in us being blessed through God for eternity.

Just a thought I wanted to share. All comments welcomed (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)

Regards,

I look at them in both lights. When teaching, one must understand each value Jesus speaks of, individually. Then after they are understood, you can see the progression Jesus places them in, as the next builds upon the former. They show a picture of the walk a child of Christ, from being a sinner to completing the will of Him in their lives.

One needs to be poor in spirit in order to see the sin in their life, for the proud in spirit will never do so. They mourn due to their separation from God. In meekness, they humbly ask for forgiveness and accept Jesus as their Savior. Once His, they hunger and thirst for righteousness, studying and allowing the Holy Spirit to change their heart and mind. As they become more like Him, they understand and give mercy. This mercy causes a pureness in their heart, for they become like Him even more. Being merciful and pure in heart, they bring the peace of the Lord with them in all they do, showing His love. Because of this new life He gave them, He is able to work through them with His Spirit, shinning the light on the sins of sinners, where the sinners become convicted, bringing persecution to those who do His will.

This sermon has more packed into it then first seen. Dig deep and see what He means with each step.

Good discussion!

God Bless,
OneLight

I agree with both views also. Taken individually they help us to to compartmentalize the different aspects of life as we should live. Taken as a whole blessing they describe the inner yearnings of the true child of God.

LT

I have come to view them as progressive.
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit; These are those who through conviction of the Holy Spirit have come to concede that they are spiritually bankrupt and endanger of divine foreclosure on there account.
2. Blessed are those who mourn; these are those who instead of trying to justify themselves or make endless excuses to God actually resume a quite posture of extreme regret before Him acknowledging their sins.
3. Blessed are the meek; as mention in number 2, there is no defending of one’s self. They know they are without excuse and unless mercy prevails, all is hopeless.
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness - Having arrived at the previous state, an intense hunger for righteousness overwhelms them and they began to earnestly pray for divine intervention and mercy.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy - Having been heard by God with their repentant prayers, God’s Holy Spirit bears witness to His extension of mercy . . . therefore they too extend forgiveness and mercy to those who have sinned against them.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart – having come to a place of wanting to reach others with this message of forgiveness and mercy, the motives of their heart have become pure and no longer self-centered.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers – Now they labor to share the message of hope, mercy, forgiveness and peace with others, that they too can be forgiven and come to the adoption of sons of God.
8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake – But such selfless service to God and others will only be met with resentment and hatred by those who wish to justify themselves and deny their spiritual poverty.
9. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you – But the reality of one’s forgiveness and unspeakable joy and peace which passes all understanding pushes the believer forward for they cannot but speak and declare the mercies of the Lord for the repentant of heart. God will not forget your labor of love.

Didn't mean to kill the thread (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Don't worry, I don't think you killed the thread. I've been thinking on this, an as mentioned in the original post, I tend to agree that they are progressive. Otherwise, if we take them out of their theological context, then we have "blessed are those who mourn" referring to anyone who has lost a loved one. They're sad because a loved one died and they mourn. While I certainly believe God looks out for us at our most vulnerable stages of life, I don't think we can argue that God "blesses" us for mourning, nor that all atheists/Christians/Buddhists/etc are all blessed for mourning.

Thanks for the responses, folks.

Here is another thread that we did on the beatitudes, where brother William expounded a bit more on his thoughts. Beautifully done. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

Wow, Traveller . . . talk about reaching way back into the past.

At least I didn't contradict myself (IMG:style_emoticons/default/taped.gif)

I'm gettin old - but I can remember the important things. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

Sure bring up the age thing . . . I wrote it and didn't remember it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)