Have the Beatitudes Been Promises All These Years?!

So I decided to start reading the Gospels again. After all, I should be striving to be like Jesus. If I’m striving to be like Him, then I need to look at His life, His words, etc. I have to work at doing what Jesus commands.

I didn’t get very far into the Gospels, before realizing that I’m again learning something new. I was in Matthew 5, when I began to read the Beatitudes. I think it’s safe to say that I had these memorized at one point in elementary school, but without practice, it’s easy to forget. They’re probably some of the most famous words Jesus ever spoke. Yet somehow, I didn’t appreciate them and the promises that accompany them. 

The dictionary defines the word “beatitude” as a supreme blessing. A supreme blessing would be then further defined as the most important blessing. But have I honestly thought of the little, old Beatitudes as the most important blessings?!

I read them again, in the NIV, and then again in The Message. 

And suddenly, these blessings become real. I see it so clearly. 

Matthew 5:1-10 (The Message) are below.

When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

The first words that jumped out at me were “the committed.” Only the committed got to hear these blessings, because let’s be real, only the committed would live by them. 

Oh God, help me be committed.

Then, I saw it. Promises. Each and every one of them- a promise. If you... Then God...

First the command, then the blessing. Wanna be blessed? Then first obey. It’s that conditional promise logic again.

Go back. Read those verses one more time. Really let them sink in. 

This has been the Year of Promises for me, the year of seeing the benefits of serving God. Silly me, thought I was only going to find the promises in Psalms and Isaiah- but here they are, spoken by Jesus Christ himself. He promises.