Blessed are who?

**Waqar Daniel** Tue 08 Sep 2009, 6:41 pm

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mathew 5:3-12)

Matthew 5:2 "And opening His mouth He taught them, saying:"

Opening His mouth...It is a Hebraism, to signify He began to speak. This is a common expression in Scripture something important is about to be spoken. Thus it is used in various places throughout the Bible, for example in Job, opening his mouth cursed the day.

Another example is Daniel 10:16, "And behold as it were the likeness of a son of man touched my lips: then I opened my mouth and spoke, and said to him that stood before me: O my lord, at the sight of you my joints are loosed, and no strength has remained in me."

Commonly these teachings of Christ are know as Beatitudes. This word is derived from the Latin word, Beatus.

These teachings of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ help us to change from inside out. Our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ taught us how to live our lives that are pleasing to the heart of Heavenly Father. These teachings if followed, brings a believer into a state of peace and happiness, and also makes us an heir to the Kingdom of Heavenly Father.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The Greek word for "poor" here means completely empty. This poverty is not financial because then all the beggars would inherit Kingdom of God irrespective to what they believe.

The "poor in the spirit" means that who are not self-centered, who are not spurred by ego, those who do not boast in their lineage, wealth, their race, their culture, or beauty.

"Poor in Spirit" are those who are conscious of their sins and know in their hearts that they are completely unworthy of the grace that a most holy and loving God pours down upon them.

In Luke 15 we see how the prodigal son became poor in spirit. In his pride and arrogance he left his father's house, wasted his inheritance and fell into great need in some far away country. During a severe famine, this son had no job and nothing to eat. At that point, the text says, he came to himself. He went back to his father and said, "I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21). This is being poor in spirit.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
The person that mourns is the one who recognizes that he is a sinner before God. Such a person mourns over his various sins because he recognizes that not only do his sins greatly hurt our heavenly Father, he also realizes that he is empty of righteousness, and does not even begin to deserve salvation and the joys of heaven. This miserable, but repentant sinner, realizes that only through the grace of God does he have forgiveness and salvation. Jesus says such a person is blessed, and there is no greater blessing than to receive such divine approval. Those who are blessed in this way by God will see God and dwell with him forever.

The unbeliever on the other hand feels that this is nothing but foolishness, and he has no time for any of it. For the wicked refuse to take down such barriers to God as pride and arrogance. Psalm 10:4 "The wicked are to proud to seek God; God is in none of their thoughts."

Paul said, For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
The Greek word for meek, praus, was used to refer to domesticated animals. The word does not refer to a wild, unruly animal; it refers to a strong and powerful horse or an ox that was trained and disciplined so that it could be controlled by a human. The word meek used in Matthew 5:5 refers to a strong person who is under control--a God controlled person. A meek person is a man or woman of God whose strength is controlled by God. He or she is controlled by God in thought, word, will, emotion, and action. The meek man is one who submits, not to his own will or to the will of the world, but to the great and gracious will of God.

The meek person sees God in everything. The wicked may indeed possess the earth for a short time today, but the Lord tells us that when he comes back, the meek shall possess this earth. Psalms 76:9 "Then God arose to judgment, To save all the humble of the earth".

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for Righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Hunger and thirst...that is, spiritually, with an earnest desire of being just and holy.

Our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ is our role model here. It is Jesus who makes the decisions that a righteous person would follow. For the righteous believer, all his/her daily actions, everything that s/he thinks about, every decision that s/he makes, everything that s/he reads and looks at, will be done the same way that Our Lord would have done them. The true believer will know immediately whether something is right or wrong, just or unjust, godly or ungodly.

On the contrary a non-believer or a person who is not walking right in the sight of God will never understand when anything satan through in her/his way because Jesus Christ is not there in her/his heart.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Our LORD and Savior tells us to be merciful because He is creator of everything. We as believers must show mercy to all men and we are to do this by both sympathizing with them and by taking care and tending to their needs. And we must do this with readiness and gladness, with affection and tenderness, always ready to give and to forgive. Our Lord instructs us to show the same type of mercy to others that he shows to each of us. He talked much about showing mercy and a good example is found at 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God".

Jesus taught us how to be merciful in the LORD's Prayer, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses". (Mathew 6:14-15)

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
The clean of heart are either those who give themselves to the practice of every virtue, and are conscious to themselves of no evil, or those who are adorned with the virtue of chastity. For nothing is so necessary as this purity in such as desire to see God. Many are merciful to the poor and just in their dealings, but don't abstain from the luxury and lust. Therefore our Blessed Lord, wishing to show that mercy was not sufficient, adds, that if we would see God, we must also be possessed of the virtue of purity.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
There are many who strive for peace but will they be called "Sons of God". The answer is NO.

We follow Jesus as our role model. His life teaches us how should we live our lives. Our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, as Prince of Peace, brought peace to man by bringing him back in the presence of Heavenly Father. In the same way whoever wins souls for the Kingdom of God will bring that soul in peace with Heavenly Father through our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.

Secondly, Jesus also tells us to live in peace with others, for anger causes us to sin against others and others will do the same.

Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Not for any crimes they have done, and not for being unrighteous and committing the acts of those who practice evil such as murderers, thieves, and all other acts of wickedness, but on account of their righteous and Godly conversation and Godly actions which in turn brings upon them the hatred and enmity of the men of the world.

Jesus declared, "The world hates me because I testify that what it does is evil." (John 7:7)