His disciples came to him,
and he began to teach them.
—Matthew 5:1–2
Jesus pinpointed eight character traits and said, “Blessed” are those who have them.
Some translations say “Happy” rather than “Blessed.” Barclay notes that in Aramaic, the language in which Jesus spoke the beatitudes, the word “Blessed” was an exclamation meaning, “O the blessedness of.”
The beatitudes proclaim the blessedness/happiness of those who possess them and, by implication, the misery of those who don’t. Sin always promises happiness and always produces unhappiness.
On the surface, the beatitudes seem to contradict what produces happiness, for they are the opposites of human appraisal. Jesus turned worldly evaluation upside down.
If you want to be happy, in nine verses Jesus tells you how to achieve it. In the next eight posts, we will examine each of the eight beatitudes.
Live the beatitudes.
Promised blessings follow.