2 Blessings from the Beatitudes

Today as I was reading the beatitudes, I had two interesting thoughts... hopefully they were guided by the Word himself (referred to as the Verb in Spanish).

¹ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. (Matthew 5:1-11)

1) 'Blessed' is very different from 'righteous'.

Just imagine how it would've been different if Jesus had said, "Righteous are the poor in spirit... Righteous are those who mourn." No, righteous suggests right, and right suggests earning something. Instead, to be blessed, there must be one who blesses. And the content of the beatitudes shows that we are not blessed because of what we have done. (Imagine a crying competition to earn a blessing. No one would win, because the competitors would be splitting their mourning with their competing.) We are blessed because of the one who blesses.

'Blessed' literally means 'held as holy'. Only the One who is Holy is able to make us holy... set us apart from this world. And who is set apart as holy? Not only the righteous, the kings, the disciples... those who are sad, those who are persecuted, those who show mercy, the meek. I wonder who of us does not find him/herself in there somewhere.

And that leads me to...

2) What if we treated everyone everyday as if they were truly 'blessed' by God?

That bus driver, the cashier at the supermarket, the student whose cell phone went off (again!), the advisor who keeps giving you more work, the daughter who won't stop asking why.

Just take a moment to stop and think... wow, _____ is blessed by God! This person is really special, and treat them just that way.

With His disciples at His side, I can't help but think that Jesus was teaching them to be true disciples just as much as He was teaching those gathered there. After all, this is the way we see Jesus treat people - women, children, tax collectors alike - he treats them as though they are blessed... and He should know, since He is the holy one who blesses and makes us holy.

I pray today that God allow me to see each person as blessed, set apart as holy by the Lord... so that I may be His disciple, more able to show His love to all I see.