Beatitudes

The Beatitudes are sayings attributed to Jesus, and in particular eight blessings recounted in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings. Each is a proverb-like proclamation, without narrative.

The Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew

Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν
- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
  - Matthew 5:3 KJV

μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται.
- Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
  - Matthew 5:4 KJV

μακάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσιν τὴν γῆν.
- Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
  - Matthew 5:5 KJV

μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται.
- Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
  - Matthew 5:6 KJV

μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται.
- Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
  - Matthew 5:7 KJV

μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν Θεὸν ὄψονται.
- Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
  - Matthew 5:8 KJV

μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί, ὅτι αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ Θεοῦ κληθήσονται.
- Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
  - Matthew 5:9 KJV

μακάριοι οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.
- Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  - Matthew 5:10 KJV

μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ διώξωσιν καὶ εἴπωσιν πᾶν πονηρὸν καθ’ ὑμῶν ψευδόμενοι ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ.
- Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
  - Matthew 5:11 KJV

Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοί, ὅτι ὑμετέρα ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ.
- Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
  - Luke 6:20 NIV

μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες νῦν, ὅτι χορτασθήσεσθε.
- Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
  - Luke 6:21 NIV

μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες νῦν, ὅτι γελάσετε.
- Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
  - Luke 6:21 NIV

μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν μισήσωσιν ὑμᾶς οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ὅταν ἀφορίσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ ὀνειδίσωσιν καὶ ἐκβάλωσιν τὸ ὄνομα ὑμῶν ὡς πονηρὸν ἕνεκα τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
- Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
  - Luke 6:22 NIV

The way to deeper knowledge of God is through the lonely valleys of soul poverty and abnegation of all things. The blessed ones who possess the Kingdom are they who have repudiated every external thing and have rooted from their hearts all sense of possessing. These are the "poor in spirit." They have reached an inward state paralleling the outward circumstances of the common beggar in the streets of Jerusalem; that is what the word "poor" as Christ used it actually means. These blessed poor are no longer slaves to the tyranny of things. They have broken the yoke of the oppressor; and this they have done not by fighting but by surrendering. Though free from all sense of possessing, they yet possess all things. "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
- A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (1957)

For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. "Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!
- Kurt Vonnegut, Cold Turkey (2004)

Whom, then, did the Master mean by the poor in spirit to whom the kingdom belongs?
Not those who are rightly called "poor spirited." There ought to be no need of saying that, but there is, for some may still be found who consider crawling the Christian's proper gait.
There are men who fear to call their souls their own, and if they did, they would deceive—themselves. At times such men baptize their cowardice in holy water, name it humility, and tremble. ... They are not blessed. Their life is a creeping paralysis. Afraid to stand for their convictions, they end by having no convictions to stand to.
- William Burnet Wright, Master and Men (1894), pp. 39-40

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