Reading 6
Blessed are
The reading
Matthew 5:1-12
Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He opened his mouth and taught them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
The companions
Psalm 1 (selected)
Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the LORD's law. On his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper. The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.
Isaiah 61:1-3 (selected)
The Lord GOD's Spirit is on me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor; to comfort all who mourn; to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
A word for the week
Blessed are. Jesus opens his most famous sermon with those two words, said over and over, and to understand him you have to feel how upside-down the list that follows would have sounded, and still sounds. Because look at who he calls blessed. Not the rich, the strong, the winners, the people who have it together. The poor in spirit. Those who mourn. The gentle. The ones starving for justice. The merciful. The persecuted. He blesses exactly the people the world files under unfortunate, and he means it.
The word "blessed" is not a wish, like "bless you" after a sneeze. It means something closer to truly well off, genuinely fortunate, standing in the place where God's favor actually rests. So Jesus is making an outrageous claim about reality. He is saying that the people the world pities are, in fact, the ones nearest to God, and the people the world envies are often the ones furthest from feeling they need him. He is not romanticizing suffering; he is telling us where God is found, and it is not where we keep looking.
Take them one at a time and the pattern holds. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the ones who know they have nothing to bring, because theirs is the kingdom; the empty-handed are the ones with room to receive. Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted; grief is not the opposite of faith, and God draws near to the brokenhearted. Blessed are the gentle, the ones who do not grab and dominate, because they, not the graspers, will inherit the earth in the end. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for things to be made right, because they will be filled; the ache for justice is not naive, it is holy, and it will be answered.
And on it goes: the merciful, who will receive the mercy they gave; the pure in heart, the undivided ones, who will see God; the peacemakers, who will be called God's children, because making peace is the family trade. Every single one turns the world's scoreboard over. The people at the bottom of the ladder are, in the economy of God, at the top.
Then Jesus turns and speaks straight to his listeners: blessed are you when people insult and persecute you for my sake; rejoice, because your reward is great. He is not promising an easy road. He is promising that the road that looks like losing is, in the end, the road that wins, and that God is with you on it the whole way.
This is the doorway into everything else he will teach. Before a single command about how to live, he plants the flag of where God's blessing actually falls: on the humble, the grieving, the gentle, the ones who hunger for right, the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers. If you have ever felt like you were losing at the world's game, hear him carefully. He is saying you may be closer to the kingdom than the winners are. Blessed are you.
At the table
Which of the blessings names where you actually are right now: poor in spirit, mourning, hungry for justice? What would change if you believed Jesus that this is nearer to God, not further?
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain). The divine name is rendered "the LORD" and "the Lord GOD" in the companions.