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Blessed
We are all in search of that elusive thing called happiness. We have felt happiness’ effervescent glow but found the promise fleeting in our natural circumstances. The ancients, like us, pursued the “good life.” Aristotle used the Greek work εὐδαιμονία to describe happiness and fulfillment which was to be found in achieving the “golden mean” of moderation and balance. The stoics spoke of ἀταραξία, which was described as discovering a state of mind which was emotionally unperturbed or numb to the assault of life’s troubles and trials. Moderns have found consolation in narcissistic adages like Joseph Campbell’s “follow your bliss” or “do you.” All these definitions depend on a human capacity which is psychologically false and unfeasible.

The world advertises that we can find happiness in the endless products of convenience and status. We are always just one purchase away from total fulfillment as we peruse Amazon and Pinterest. It seems everyone else is achieving something that appears like happiness on social media because we find ourselves envious and left with feelings of inadequacies as we scroll through the smiling pics of new lovers, houses, cars, and tropical vacations. All the while, the house needs cleaning, and our spoiled children keep asking for something else that cost too much and that we never had growing up.

Jesus begins the sermon by saying the word μακάριοι or blessed. The word means happiness, fortunate or favored. Christ pronounces the blessing of the Kingdom on eight different states of human character. These states of character are inversions of what we hold to be elite by the world’s standards then and now. It is a total reevaluation of where happiness can be found. First, we must acknowledge that happiness begins with Jesus Himself. He is the One, who speaks reality into existence and can pronounce happiness into your soul and life.  There is no sustaining happiness apart from Himself. 

The Scriptures reveal that our joy is not circumstantially based in this world but found in our eternal relationship with God. Our relationship is opened through these eight spiritual states of character that Jesus blesses: poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, spiritual appetite, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecution. It is through these often-avoided doors that we find true fulfillment and happiness because Christ’s personality is revealed thoroughly. The Apostle Paul had discovered this beatific vision in his own life. He was chained but could say, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11-13). 

The experience of God Himself is the greatest felicity and happiness. Other experiences only vaguely allude to God’s goodness or are counterfeits altogether. “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” (Ps. 34:8-10)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The sublime sermon begins with the blessings of the Messiah on an unlikely list of personalities known as the Beatitudes. The kingdom of Heaven is proclaimed by Christ to be of immeasurable value throughout the Gospels. Jesus compares it to a “treasure hidden in a field” or a “pearl of great price” (Matt. 13:44-46).  The Kingdom is eternal and “not of this world” (Jn. 18:36). Yet, we will find it totally victorious over the kingdoms of this world (Rev. 11:15). Moreover, Christ in His temptation, yields not to their fleeting earthly glory but upholds the majesty of the one true God of Israel (Matt. 4: 8-10).

The kingdom of heaven is promised to be possessed by the improbable “poor in spirit.” Those who are spiritually destitute, dependent, and impoverished have the real capacity to receive His kingdom. Those whose hearts are filled with frivolities of pride, possessions, and self-will are unable to receive the innumerable riches of His Kingdom. Jesus, rejected in his own hometown of Nazareth, identified Himself with the “poor in spirit” by proclaiming the words of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Lk. 4:18,19)
We are reminded of the young man who questioned, “Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The inquirer rejected the counsel of Christ for the vanity of the world. First, we see that his heart had fallen prey to pride and self-righteousness. Christ gave a partial list of the ten commandments that the young man carelessly dismisses as “kept” in justifying himself without further thought or introspection. It is the very unnamed first commandments along with covetousness that we find him guilty by story end.

Jesus reveals that the rich young ruler “lacks one thing” and lovingly commands him to “sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.” His heart was filled with pride and possessions because he will not relent the earthly riches in the pursuit of eternal life with Christ. His allegiances are with the world and himself. He became sorrowful because he had not the poverty of spirit required for the inheritance of eternal life (Lk. 18:18-23). 

In contrast, the apostles Peter and John find at the temple gate, a man totally incapacitated and deprived by lameness. He is “carried” daily to beg from those who enter at the place called “Beautiful.” He had not any pride but begs in humiliation, he had not possessions but dependent on the daily mercy of almsgivers, his own will becomes powerfully superseded by the grace of God. “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 

What begins in richness and self-righteousness ends in sorrow with the young ruler. What begins in total deprivation and poverty ends in joy. “So he, leaping up, stood and walked, and entered the temple with them- walking, leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:1-11). The lame man, who was prohibited to enter the temple by law and tradition (Lev. 21:15), is now welcome into the full fellowship of God by the blessing of Jesus. 

We must empty ourselves of the pretension of pride, possession, and self-will. Let the true richness of God’s kingdom find reign in our hearts with this blessing.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

We can hardly imagine the horrific scene of Jesus on the cross. Beaten and scourged within an inch of His life and suspended by nails before the holy city of Jerusalem. He struggled for every breath in the race against asphyxia and blood loss. His nerves radiated with pangs and paroxysms. His soul shadowed in the darkness of evil and injustice. The Apostle John recollects, “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother” (Jn. 19:25).  Mary witnessed the excruciating death of her own son. Her own soul pierced through by the sword of sorrow and grief (Lk. 2: 35.) 

The word “mourn” (πενθέω) connotes severe grief as with the loss of a loved one or family member.  It is the kind of sorrow that cannot be shrouded or hidden but overwhelms like the unrelenting waves of the sea. It is the anguish of the heart and soul which brings uncontrollable tears. Tragedy and suffering will find all of us in due time as with our Savior. Jesus mourned for His friend Lazarus (Jn. 11:35). Jesus wept for Jerusalem because of the catastrophic estrangement from Yahweh (Matt. 23:37-39). 

The capacity for grief reveals the courage to see the suffering within ourselves and others. It is so much easier to look away than to emotionally invest. The good Samaritan “saw” the wounded man and “had compassion on him” (Lk. 10:33), whereas the other more prestigious men saw but “passed by the other side.” They lacked the ability to really see the person and feel another’s pain. Jesus blesses those able to empathize with others and act accordingly. 

The blessing of grief is also indicative of one’s ability to love. Our grief is a mirror to the heart. It is with those we love the most, that we feel the greatest bereavement. Jesus wept so much for Lazarus that the people remarked, “See how he loved him!” We can hardly contend that the greatest of virtues, eternal love- is not worth inevitable finite losses. Anyone, who has ever loved knows its immense value. As the poet Tennyson says, “tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

Also, the “Franciscan Blessing” urges, “May God bless you with tears, to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain to joy.”  It is when we have the spiritual capacity to mourn that we can love in the deepest sense and find the greatest comfort. The promise of God’s intimacy is even through our darkest moments of despair. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Ps. 34:18).

Mary endured the crushing heartbreak that no mother should endure. She found, however, interminable comfort.  Mary was gathered with the disciples 50 days later, on the day of Pentecost, as directed by her risen Son in Jerusalem. “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts. 2:14).

Mary’s mourning gave light to the greatest joy ever known. (Rev. 21: 4) “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
God ordained earth to be placed under the stewardship of humanity. This is the original blessing and covenant of creation. The book of Genesis says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:27,28). Mankind has fulfilled this primeval vocation of dominion but only in a truncated manner. Humanity became subdued by the earth itself because of mankind’s rebellion to God in the fall. The ground is cursed, and pronouncement was made, “For dust you are, and unto dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:17-19).

The restoration of the inheritance of earth was initiated in Abram. God entered a covenant which included a promise of making the descendants of Abram- a great nation, great name, and great blessing among all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:1-3). Israelites, the seed of Abram, subdued the earth by capturing Canaan but only as a “shadow of the good things to come” (Heb. 10:1). The people of Israel entered the promise land after centuries of slavery, nomadic life, and conquered through many battles and bloodshed.

The people of Israel expected the Messiah to reinstate their standing as a nation long lost. Christ came not to merely subdue Israel from the Romans but to fulfill humanity’s most ancient vocation over the entire creation! This inheritance would not come through violence, as with Joshua, but through the meekness or gentleness of Jesus. The word “meek” is almost synonymous with weakness in our language but the original Greek word (πραΰς) carries the meaning of strength under control. Jesus quotes (Psalms 37:11) which expresses the Messianic hope emergent in His ministry and eventual kingdom.

The Scriptures speak of Moses as “meek” or humble, “more than all the men who were on the face of the earth” (Number 12: 3). Moreover, we find in Christ, the greatest strength under control or meekness, which will vanquish all the powers of evil and death. Jesus remarked, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29). It is through the dominion of Christ that the original blessing of creation is fulfilled. The Hebrew writer states that God has “put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we do not yet see all things put under Him” (Heb. 1:6-9). 

We must follow Christ in his humility and gentleness knowing, all things are under His control. It is through the means of the Gospel that the greatest victory can and will be won. Our meekness will ultimately be revealed and rewarded in the fullest sense when Christ returns. He will eschatologically create the “new heavens and new earth” which will be His and His people. Not only will Christ subdue the creation, as originally intended, but will transform us into the “image of God” which was defaced by the fall (Rom. 8:29, II Cor. 3:18, Phil. 3:21). Truly, the meek are blessed.