CC 02: Blessed Are

Jesus does not begin the Sermon on the Mount like any good preacher should. Instead of starting with a funny story, or an interesting illustration, or a shocking attention getter, He begins instead, with a list. This list is one of the most famous lists in history and has been given the name “The Beatitudes.” 

Our English word “beatitude” comes from beatitudo, which is the Latin equivalent of the Greek word μακαριος/makarios, a word which means “happy” or “blessed”, and this is how all of the Beatitudes start: “Blessed are the ________.” 

We live in a world where people are desperate to do anything they can think of to be happy. But what Jesus is talking about here is not a good feeling that comes to us based on outward circumstances. Instead, the sense of this word is something like, “God is pleased with” or “God’s favor rests upon” the people who possess the characteristics that Jesus goes on to describe. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Okay, let Me describe to you what the good life really is.” 

Let’s take a look at this life that Jesus will call “blessed.”