Beatitudes
Matthew 5:3-10
[Jesus] said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I grew up in the church… literally inside of the church. My mom is a pastor and my dad is an airline pilot, so while he was away on trips my mom would take us to the church every day while she was working. I did my homework in my Sunday School classroom, learned to do cartwheels in the sanctuary, and once or twice snacked on the body and blood of Jesus…. maybe that one shouldn’t be publicized.
Because of my upbringing: Sunday School, VBS, youth group, retreats, mission trips, etc etc etc, I have always felt like when it comes to religion… I know things. Once I graduated college and joined my small group I quickly found out I was so wrong. Lucky for me, I was not alone! So many of the women in my small group shared the same realization as me. Here we were 20-something women looking at the Bible with fresh “adult” eyes and realizing how little we actually knew. I’ve been in this small group for almost four years now and it never ceases to amaze me when I learn something new about God.
This brings me to the beatitudes. I am a 29 year old Christ follower and I’m pretty sure today is the first day I have ever heard that word. And by “heard” I mean… I literally had to press the sound button next to the word in Google so that I could learn how to pronounce it (be-attitude, if you were wondering). Sermon on the Mount? I’ve definitely heard of that!! But “beatitudes”…. that’s a hard no from me. So when I began to read more about them this morning, I couldn’t stop. I like lists. I like having clear goals and advice in a religion that can sometimes seem more “work at your own pace” than “follow this chart.” What can I say? Sometimes I just like an organized list with advice for how to live as a godly woman.
The Beatitudes are a list of 8 blessings that Jesus made when he gave the sermon on the mount. And if you’re like me… you’ve read this verse before without realizing what it was you were reading. Jesus flipped the script early in Matthew when he took us from a religion founded on “thou shalt not” and gave us a list of “thou shall” blessings. The Beatitudes are a list of behaviors that we can strive for. I’m excited to dissect each verse in the coming days as the Lord leads me to relate each verse to my life.