SIMPLY BLESSED- Intro to the Beatitudes (Build your Life, 2)

Intro: How many of you have ever said “I’m blessed”? What did you mean by “bless”?

‌If you are from the deep south like me, you’ve probably said “bless your heart,” more than a few times.And why is it, that when someone sneezes, we say God Bless You? There was a wonderful, sweet, older lady at my former church. Every time I greeted her and asked how she is doing she would say- “I’m blessed & highly favored!”.

‌When I was struggling with this message this week, I just kept asking God to blessme, on my face in my bedroom asking God to bless me. I came out & saw a decorative candle lantern with the words “Simply Blessed” written on it. That’s the title- We are Simply Blessed.

‌Matthew 5:1–3, And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The Beatitudes are “extreme expressions of supreme blessedness”.They are a series of nine statements made by Jesus that all begin with the adjective “blessed.” ‌It’s not going out on a limb to say that most of us use the word “blessed” to talking about material blessings, wealth, or prosperity, and it would be right to do so. All blessings come from God, the One who owns all things, and gives all things to whomever He wants.

1. ‌WE ARE SIMPLY BLESSED WITH GOD’S PROVISION: HE GIVES EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE.

‌A quick survey of the Bible shows us that God is the one who from whom every blessing flows. ‌

Psalm 24:1, The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.

‌James 1:17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

‌In CREATION, God blessed sea creatures & every living thing, He blessed the 1st people to be fruitful & multiply, then He blessed the 7th day- the Sabbath, to keep it holy.

‌In His COVENANT, God blessed Abraham & the nation of Israel, giving them covenant promises. God promised to bless the nation of Israel & gave His priests a formula for blessing the people, i.e., the priestly benediction.

Numbers 6:22–27, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: 24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ 27“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

‌Bless- baruk, baruka; I met a missionary from Uganda that started an orphanage & a children’s choir called Berakhah = blessing.

This Hebrew word means that God blesses people by granting prosperity or well-being in the form of both physical and spiritual grace. The Greek equivalent of this word is eulogeo;it’s derivative eulogia is where the English word eulogy comes from- to speak well of. These blessings encompass everything a person needs for their well-being to live a well-balanced life (i.e., peace = shalom). This word blessed is a loaded term- it is overflowing with the abundance of God, pregnant with the promises of God, bursting with the blessings of God. Christ is the fulfillment of all of God’s covenant promises to Israel.

‌In CHRIST, we receive every spiritual blessing. Ephesians 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. e.g., election, adoption, redemption, etc. Jesus is the greatest blessing ever received!

‌The Beatitudes are Jesus’ words of blessing, but not like the blessings you see in creation, not like the ones you see in the OT covenant promises. They are also not fuller descriptions of “every spiritual blessing” in Christ.

The Beatitudes are Jesus’ perspective of the ones who are blessed in His Kingdom.

2. WE ARE SIMPLY BLESSED WITH JESUS’ PERSPECTIVE: HE SEES WHAT WE CAN’T SEE.

‌Blessed- If you did a quick search of the word English word “blessed” in the NKJV, there would be about 290 results. The English word “blessed” represents 4 different words in the original languages- 2 in Hebrew, & 2 in Greek. I’ve already mentioned two of them- baruk, eulogeo.

Jesus doesn’t use either the Hebrew word baruk, or the Greek Word eulogeo. As far as we know Jesus didn’t speak Greek, He may not have spoken Hebrew (though He read Hebrew texts). Jesus was from Galilee & would have spoken a dialect of Hebrew called Aramaic.

‌Blessed- makarios, happy, or fortunate; sense of being characterized by happiness & being highly favored, as by divine grace. It sounds a lot like the other word for blessing, like a distinction without a difference. But there is a difference and I want to try to show you the difference.

‌Bible Project: Greek- makarios, O how fortunate, happy, flourishing, blessed… Hebrew/Aramaic- ashre. In the Hebrew Bible, the word is אַשְׁרֵי (ʾašrê); used to introduce a declaration of blessing; literally meaning- “blessings of.” Here’s the difference between Barukh& Ashre (blessed):

‌Barukh = blessing, the word you would use to highlight that God is the one who has brought about prosperity & safety & security; blessing = concrete manifestations of abundance that comes as a gift from God, who is the source of all blessing. Humans (e.g., priests) can pronounce blessing, but when they do, they are praying for God to do it, or exclaiming that God has done it- Blessed by God.

‌Ashre = blessed, is not pronouncing blessing on someone else or praying for them to be blessed. Ashre is what happens when you walk by someone & point at the blessed ones & say that person is ashre, they are in a state of Baruhk.

Ashre is the word you would use when you look at a person, or group of people, their set up or circumstances, & say- man, that looks nice. It’s the difference between me saying “God Bless You,” and saying, “look at that person, how blessed they are.”

‌ILL: “they are walking in high cotton,”the good life, the materially successful life, the wealth that comes from a high cotton crop.

‌ILL: “that’s the High Life,” a beer commercial showing the good life of people who drank Miller High Life.

‌ILL: “that’s the Good Stuff,” a Kenny Chesney song describing the good life, the good stuff, from one person’s point of view.

‌Ashre- aimed at persuading the listener to see that a certain way of life is a blessed state; not pronouncing blessing but pointing out that they ARE blessed- in the eye of the beholder. In the Beatitudes, we see through Jesus’ eyes who the blessed ones are, who the really fortunate ones are, who has the good life.Jesus is not pronouncing blessings, or praying for blessings, He is pointing out who is blessed.

Jesus’ perspective is UPSIDE DOWN from what we see as blessed, because He sees what we don’t see- the Promises of the Kingdom.

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3. WE ARE SIMPLY BLESSED WITH KINGDOM PROMISES: JESUS CAN DO WHAT WE CANNOT DO.

‌In this bird’s eye view of the Beatitudes, notice:

PATTERN- The first 8 are framed by the same phrase- “the kingdom of heaven belongs to them” (poor in spirit, vs. 3; persecuted, vs. 10).

PEOPLE- a type or category of person, e.g., poor in spirit, mourn, meek, etc. These describe a state of being, not a promise of blessing. There is a promise associated with each one, but they are not themselves promises, e.g., being poor in spirit is not a promise, it is a person’ state.

PART of a larger grouping. Jesus delivering the SOM mirrors that of Moses delivering the law- Moses received it on a mountain, Jesus delivers it on a mountain. The 10 Commandments came on two tablets, these blessings come in two sets (the technical word is strophe). These “sets” are marked off with the same word- righteousness (hunger & thirst for- 4th beatitude, vs. 6; persecuted for- 8th beatitude, vs. 10).

‌Two sets of blessings in two strophes-2 tablets as it were; the 1st set are states of being (or attitudes of the heart): poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger & thirst; the 2nd set require actions: mercy, purity, peace, righteousness. The 9th, or final beatitude is the expectation of the attitudes & actions of Kingdom Living.

‌PERSPECTIVE/PROMISE- Jesus’ perspective is in the 1st line, the promise is in the second; He looks at someone who, right now, does not appear to be blessed, or fortunate, but the blessing is coming- it’s in the 2nd line; a twist. Jesus is describing the paradoxical nature of the Kingdom of God.

‌Jesus REVERSES your fortune and REFRAMES your situation. He does what we cannot do. We do not make ourselves poor in spirit, we are poor in spirit. We do not make ourselves mourn, we mourn because of a situation or circumstance. You don’t make yourself meek, you are meek, it’s part of your make-up. Jesus is describing what is happening within you, to you, & what will happen for you. E.g., from Jesus’ perspective- if you are poor in spirit, you are blessed because you have a kingdom.

Jesus is proclaiming in the Sermon on the Mount that He is bringing a Kingdom that is not like the kingdoms of this world. Here, it’s not the poor in spirit that are blessed but the high & mighty; not the meek, but the strong. In the beatitudes Jesus is announcing a total reversal of the world’s value systems & re-framing the identity of those who are really blessed, who are really the fortunate ones. And it’s not who we think.

Are you blessed? Of course you are, many of us don’t even realized how much so, both materially & spiritually. God is the source of all blessing, and in Christ, every spiritual blessing is yours through Him. That’s not what this text is talking about.

This question is- if Jesus walked by you, would He point & say- YOU ARE BLESSED? In the paradoxical, topsy-turvy, upside-down nature of the Kingdom of God, are you poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hungry & thirsty for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted for righteousness’ sake? If you are Jesus says you are blessed- the Kingdom is yours, comforted, inherit the earth, filled, obtain mercy, see God, called sons of God, great is your reward in heaven.‌

From the start, Matthew is presenting Jesus as the King of the Jews, the King who establishes a kingdom through His words & deeds, & the King who is delivering His royal decrees to His people. Through Jesus, we are more than simply blessed, we are SUPREMELY BLESSED.

Is Jesus your king, are you in His kingdom?