Counter-intuitive Blessings

Part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount includes a passage called The Beatitudes which means “supreme blessedness.” It is basically Jesus’ recipe for how to be blessed. Yet the items listed are the opposite of what most of us would describe as blessings. Did Jesus make a mistake? Was He being sarcastic? How could persecution and mourning be blessings?

Matthew 5:3-12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

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 for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The first part of this confusion comes from a misunderstanding of the word “blessed”. Biblically, to be blessed actually means “the joyful spiritual condition of those who are right with God and the pleasure and satisfaction that is derived from that.” (Taken from Discovering Hope in the Psalms by Farrel, Jones, Dornacher). So being blessed has nothing to do with our circumstances and everything to do with our relationship with God.

The second part of this confusion comes from looking at the immediate circumstances of those blessed and not in what they receive. We are not blessed because we mourn, for the sake of mourning, but because we receive comfort. If we never wept, we would never be comforted. If we never hungered and thirsted for righteousness we would never be satisfied. If we were never persecuted for the cause of Christ we would not have a great reward in heaven.

We live in a sin-filled world. Suffering is an unfortunate matter of course. We suffer because of sin; our own sin, the sin of others, or the general affect sin has had on our world (disease, natural disasters, etc.) The important thing to focus on now is the fact that when we suffer, if we turn to Christ we will be blessed. Instead of focusing on what is happening and feeling sorry for ourselves, or angry with God that He has allowed it, we need to turn to Him for what we need, asking Him to help us through it.

Romans 8:18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

No matter how bad things are now, they pale in comparison to the glory that will come. If we were to put it on a scale, and the suffering we go through reaches -386, the glory to come would be +9,999,999,999… It cannot compare! We have that promise! We receive blessings because of what we suffer now and in eternity.

While what we endure may not seem like a blessing now, if we give it to God and allow Him to work in it and us, we will find a blessing far greater than our suffering!

What are you suffering? How can it become a beatitude in your life?