The Beatitudes (continued) -
      

The First Couplet – Matthew 5:3-4

With this understanding in mind, let us begin to “open the treasure-chest” of the Beatitudes by seeing verses 3 and 4 as a “couplet,” a pair of parallel statements:
³Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

This concept – those who are “poor” in spirit – is used four (4) times in the Hebrew Scriptures translated as the English word “contrite.” In three of these various forms of the word transliterated “da-kaw;” is used. Let us consider two of these from the Psalms of David:

Psalm 34:18 – (notice, once again, the couplet form):

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 51:17 –

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Is it any wonder that our Lord Jesus couples this image of the “poor in spirit” with “those who mourn?” When you and I have experienced situations and circumstances of life – be they financial, medical, relational, loss of our dreams, betrayal, times of abject failure, et.al. – we truly have known what it means to be “brokenhearted,” “crushed” or “broken” in spirit.

At this time we also become quite contrite – “sorrowful for some wrong that we have done; deeply repentant.” (Miriam-Webster). These are the times, times of pain and desperation, of the keenly felt need for God’s help, His extended Hand, His Love and Forgiveness, times when we come in total and abject honesty as we “mourn” and weep unashamedly before Him in the midst of our pain.

These are the times when we lay aside all of our excuses and rationalizations, and we “come clean” before Him with humble and beseeching hearts – hearts crying out His forgiveness, for His deliverance, His healing, His restoration!

This is illustrated in Jesus’ comparison / contrast story of the Pharisee and the publican [tax collector] found in Luke 18:10-14.  The Pharisee may have been rich or poor; we can’t be sure, but inasmuch as Jesus used him in juxtaposition with the tax collector, we may assume that, financially at least, he was a man of modest means while tax collectors were wealthy, and they gained their wealth from extorting surplus (illegal) taxes from their own people.  Yet, the Pharisee told the LORD God that he needed nothing – and that is exactly what he got, whereas the tax collector, by contrast humbled himself, displayed grief and contrition. He repented of his sins and cried out to God for mercy – and that is exactly what he got – in full measure!

Praise God, our Father in His faithful Love responds to our cries. He comes to us and meets us in our time of need! Jesus tells us that we will be blessed with the Kingdom of heaven, and we will be comforted when we come to Him in such honest, searching humility. 1 John 1:9 tells us that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” and 1 Peter 5:6-7 gives us this promise: ⁶“Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

I know that it is true that we tend to turn to the LORD God with great intensity during our times of greatest need. We cry out to Him in prayer. We seek others to pray with us, and we are open to the ministry that others can provide. We get into His Word, or we seek out those who can guide us into and through His Word to find the help we need in our present time(s) of trouble. Hear me now, please! It should not stop there. This is only to prepare us for the spiritual riches that await us!

Blessed

The Beatitudes (continued) 
Blessed (are . . . .) –

The word in English that is used repeatedly in “The Beatitudes” –

          Matthew 5:3-12 is “blessed.”

          The word “beatitude” is an old English (15^th century) term that means

                   “supreme happiness.”

Hebrew has two words that we translate at “bless.”

          One is the term “barak” – which comes from a root verb that means

                   “to bow down.”

When used in relationship with God, that is, when we bless the Lord,

it means “to consecrate” or “to honor (to adore).”

(Nehemiah 9:3-5; Psalm 100:4; 10:31)

          When used in relationship with man – to bless someone, it is seen 

                    as a rich benefit to/for that person.

(Genesis 12:2-3; Numbers 6:23-27) 

“Blessed” – in Genesis 14;19 Melchizedek declares that both Abram and Abram’s 

                   God are to be blessed.

The term “blessed” in the Beatitudes, however, is a translation of the “esher.” 

This is the word David used in Psalm 1-2:   

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the way of the wicked or stand in the way 

                   of sinners or sit in the seat of the mockers. But his delight is in the law 

                   of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Such a one, a blessed person, is “supremely happy!” And notice, too, that such a person receives tremendous benefits, enumerated in verse 3, in addition to being such a supremely happy individual! The blessings continue to be felt over time.

As we enter into our study of the Beatitudes as taught by Jesus in Matthew 5, we will remember to look for, and expound upon, the benefits that come to these blessed ones.

The Beatitudes - "A Portrait of a Kingdom Person" - was Jesus' introduction to His famous Sermon on the Mount. Most people read, or hear taught, the beatitudes as attributes of different persona. Although this has some true merit, an even deeper, and more challenging perspective, is to understand them as Jesus' description of what a true Christ-follower, a "kingdom person," would "look" like!  Great weight for this paradigm is given when we consider that Jesus was a Jewish rabbi would taught in the Hebraic tradition of His people. A part of this tradition is seen in the use of "parallelism," the repeating of an idea or concept using slightly different words but carrying the same meaning for emphasis and to aid the memory in retaining and sharing the idea or concept presented. Remember, Jesus lived in a society that used and honored an oral tradition. They were without the printing press, and no one owned or rarely even had the opportunity to read the text of the Torah. Parallelism would most typically employ the use of couplets - a pair of lines that repeated the same thought, e.g. Psalm 34:1 - "I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth."  Therefore, as we engage in the study of the Beatitudes, we will do so first by examining them in the structure of couplets, and then, at the conclusion of our study, we will bring them all together to see how they fit together as one whole "portrait of a Kingdom Person!"  God Bless!