The Beatitudes are popularly known and rightly beloved, yet we can too quickly read past them and fail to ponder their message. Moreover, they can be difficult to understand. After all, what does Jesus mean when he teaches that the “poor in spirit” have the kingdom or that “those who mourn” will somehow find comfort? What sort of logic does Jesus use when he says that those persecuted for righteousness are actually blessed?
Alternatively, the subtle imperatives embedded within the Beatitudes can feel impossible to obey. After all, who is always “merciful” and “pure in heart”? Which of us never ceases to “hunger and thirst for righteousness” and always seeks peace? While Christians pursue these virtues, all too often — especially on Monday morning! — we sense how distant we are from the virtuous life enjoined by the Beatitudes.
We need to identify what the Beatitudes are in order to discern how they function. We must see them as Jesus’s invitations shaped by the Old Testament, directed to the empty, and intended to produce faith in Christ. When we read them rightly, we see them as Jesus’s good and gracious gift pointing us to the blessed life.
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