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The Purpose of the Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

When it was time for Moses to receive God's standards for His covenant people Israel, he went up on a mountain and came down with the laws of God (Exodus 19:3 ff.). When it was time for Jesus to explain the heart of the message He had been preaching—the gospel of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23)—He went up on a mountain and preached what we call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Many of the laws Moses gave the people had been grossly misapplied by generations of Jews. The Sermon on the Mount put the spirit back into the letter of the law.

The first section of the Sermon contains what are known as the Beatitudes. "Beatitude" is not a biblical word—it comes from the Latin for "blessedness." But it is a suitable word for Matthew 5:1-12; those verses describe nine states of blessedness (deep-seated well-being) experienced by those who practice the ethics of the kingdom. The nine beatitudes (one short of Moses' 10 summary commandments) are not qualifications for salvation. Instead, they come close to the apostle Paul's fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)—characterizations of the person whose life is closely aligned with God's. That person will experience blessedness—God's blessing—as a result of living in harmony with the values and ethics of God's kingdom.

Jesus summarized those values under nine headings: poor in spirit (in need of God), mourning (recognizes a need for forgiveness), meekness (humility), hunger for righteousness (recognition of one's own unrighteousness), mercy (extending mercy to others), purity (choosing to avoid sin), peacemaking (seeking harmony and unity), and a willingness to be persecuted for God's sake (includes the last two beatitudes).

Like the law, no one can keep the beatitudes perfectly. But they are the goal for all who would seek to live under God's rule.

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