Blessed are...

How to Live

“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them…” Matthew 5:1-2

It has been suggested by some commentators that the Beatitudes contain Jesus’ teaching about how we may receive God’s blessings. In other words, they understand the characteristics commended and the blessings promised as cause and effect. If you are meek, then you will inherit the earth. If you are merciful, then you will receive mercy. If you are pure in heart, then you will see God. The problem with this interpretation is that it begins to look like blessings are received on the basis of merit. Grace is elbowed out by effort. We are able to claim God’s blessings on account of our behavior. This cannot be true. Scripture is clear: it is by grace that we have been saved, through faith, which is the gift of God, not by works.[1] No-one can boast.

The problem is eased, considerably, if we remember to whom Jesus was speaking. Matthew tells us that Jesus’ disciples came to Him, and that He began to teach them. Luke is even more direct: “Looking at His disciples He said…”[2] The point is that Jesus was speaking to those who had already made a commitment to Him. They may not have understood everything (clearly, some did not), but they did know something. Jesus was not teaching them how to gain peace with God, He was telling them how to live as His disciples. The beatitudes are not intended to teach us how to be saved, they are to help us to live as those who have been saved.

The blessings promised contain both immediate relief and future hope. They represent the Kingdom which has come in Christ, but which will be known to us in all its fullness when He comes again. We are citizens of that Kingdom, not on merit, but by grace alone.


God of blessing,
I bless You now. For You have called me, out of despair, and You have planted my feet in a place of hope. I see, before me, the blessedness of an ever-deepening walk with You. Whatever comes along the way, may I be found faithful. I can endure all things as long as I know that I am travelling with You.
In the name of Jesus.
Amen.




[1] Ephesians 2:5-9
[2] Luke 6:20