Thursday’s Blog – Beatitude

Thursday’s Blog – Beatitude

Proverbs 3:1-4 – My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the table of your heart. And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man (a verbal blessing)

Bible Challenges and Comments

Over the years I have often wondered why “Christendom” takes the word “blessed” and pronounces it – bless-ed! I see no reason to separate the word and make it two words. Does it make it less holy to say blessed and more holy to say bless-ed? Although some songs might suffer if we should make what I believe a necessary change as I think that the word “bless-ed” suffers from a bad case of “religion”! While “blessed” is what God does for obedient children.

For example, in Matthew 5:3 and in Luke 6:20 the first called “beatitude” says this: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Or the Luke passage in recording this leaves out the words “in spirit”. So this causes concern as to what Jesus is saying. If we were to just look at the Luke passages we could determine that all of the beatitudes were given for gratification of the flesh.

On the other hand if you include the Matthew passages you will quickly see that Matthew sets the precedence in the first beatitude by saying “poor in spirit” so the beatitudes are not meant to focus on the outward appearance of religious good works, but on the production of good from the spirit in the inner man. What might this have to do with “blessed or bless-ed”? Again for me personally, I grew up in a religion that focused on works and bless-ed was cord that binds.

When I was saved in 1975, I quickly learned that the word could be pronounced “blessed” this made all the difference and I was able to focus on the inner man and not the outward, sinful, religious and performance based one. So for me this is more than just a quirk even though I am prone to be a bit quirky. My brother explained to me just the other day that he does not like listening to me because my words make him think and he doesn’t like to think. (That of course is another story).

The bottom line to all the words above goes like this: The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor, but the rich has many friends. He who despises his neighbor sins; but he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he; Proverbs 14:20-21. And; Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he dwells by you for safety’s sake; Proverbs 3:29.

So the provision for the first beatitude is that the kingdom of heaven is at hand for the poor in spirit because these are blessed of God, by the blessed people nearby. The Greek word “makarios” means “supremely blest”. So for me it would be reason to change the word, blessed to the word that is not a word "blest" then this truly would be a bless-ed thing. Ugh!

 

Hebrews 9:28 - so Christ was offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall He appear a second time without sin unto salvation.  Jesse <><