Beatitudes Pt.1

Matt. 5:2 And He, Jesus, opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I am starting to do a study and read a few books on the Sermon on Mount. I think this is a good place to start, as if this is Jesus' first recorded sermon I think it bares listening to.

I have often thought about each of the Beatitudes as things I need to work on. Maybe I have some of this characteristic in my life, but not the other. This is NOT Jesus' point at all. I believe it is like the fruit of the Spirit. It is not a bunch a fruit all in a cluster, but it is all one fruit. The Beatitudes are the same. Each one leads to the other, we are to have them all present in our lives, all at the same time, we can't have them all without having each one present and there is no way that we can have even one of them, without the work of the Holy Spirit producing them in our lives.

If we claim to be Christians this should be evident in our lives, everyday, just like the Fruit of the Spirit. How can one be poor in spirit, without being meek? How can one hunger and thirst for righteousness, without first being pure in heart, but how can your be pure in heart without hungering for righteousness? I hope you get the picture.

So as I go along in my study I will keep posting, so you can glean some truth along the way as well.

The bottom line is that we all need to examine ourselves to make sure all these characteristics are in us.