When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. 6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Jesus sits to teach, like a rabbi with authority, and opens his public instruction with blessings. He is not giving advice for the spiritually elite; he is describing the kind of heart God welcomes into his reign. Each blessing names a present stance and promises a future gift. Together they sketch a single portrait of a disciple.
“Poor in spirit” names those who know their need before God and depend on him rather than on status, power, or self-sufficiency. This poverty is not despair; it is open hands (cf. Isa. 57:15; 66:2; Ps. 51:19; Zeph. 2:3; 3:12). To such people “belongs the kingdom of heaven” (v. 3). The first promise is present tense: God’s rule already embraces those who rely on him.
“They who mourn” are not merely sad; they grieve over the world’s brokenness and the distance between God’s will and what they see. God will “comfort” them (v. 4). The promise looks ahead to God’s healing, but that comfort begins now wherever Jesus restores and forgives (cf. Isa. 61:1-3; 40:1; Ps. 34:19; Jer. 31:13).
“The meek” are not timid or passive. Meekness is strength guided by humility and trust. The meek “will inherit the land” (v. 5). In Israel’s Scriptures the land was the sign of God’s faithful gift; Jesus lifts the promise to its larger horizon: the share in God’s renewed creation for those who refuse to dominate others (cf. Ps. 37:11; 25:9; Num. 12:3; Zeph. 2:3).
“To hunger and thirst for righteousness” means to crave God’s will the way the body craves food and water. Righteousness here is right relationship with God that spills over into just action. Those who long for this “will be satisfied” (v. 6). God himself answers the desire he awakens, filling the heart and training the life (cf. Ps. 42:2-3; 63:2; 107:9; Isa. 55:1-2; 58:6-7; Amos 5:24).
“The merciful” mirror the Father’s compassion in practical ways—pardoning offenses, relieving need, and refusing to take revenge. Such people “will be shown mercy” (v. 7). Mercy received from God becomes mercy given to others; mercy given becomes the path to receive more from God (cf. Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:8; Zech. 7:9-10; Ps. 41:2; Prov. 19:17; Sir. 28:2).
“The clean of heart” are not sinless in the sense of never failing; they are single-hearted, undivided in their desire for God and his ways. Their promise is the deepest of all: “they will see God” (v. 8). Scripture teaches that no one can grasp God by their own power, yet God grants vision to the purified heart—even now in faith, and one day in glory (cf. Ps. 24:3-4; Rev. 22:4).
“The peacemakers” do more than avoid conflict. They work to reconcile, to tell the truth without rancor, and to mend what sin has torn. Such people “will be called children of God” (v. 9), because they act like the Father who in Christ makes peace by the blood of the cross (cf. Ps. 34:15; 85:11; Prov. 12:20; Isa. 32:17; 52:7; Jer. 29:7).
Finally, Jesus blesses those who suffer “for the sake of righteousness” and “because of me” (vv. 10-11). The Scriptures already honor the just who are mocked and harmed for fidelity to God (cf. Wis. 2:12, 17-20; Isa. 51:7; Ps. 69:7-9; Jer. 20:10-11; Dan. 3; 2 Macc. 7). The first and eighth blessings repeat the same promise—“theirs is the kingdom of heaven”—forming a frame around the whole set. The path Jesus calls blessed will often be misunderstood or opposed, but God sees, and he rewards beyond measure (v. 12). The disciple’s joy, then, is not naïve; it rests on God’s faithfulness to the prophets before and to every witness now.
Taken together, the Beatitudes overturn common measures of success—wealth, status, power, popularity, and constant self-promotion. They show that the kingdom belongs to those who entrust themselves to God, grieve what he grieves, yield strength without violence, desire holiness intensely, show mercy readily, keep a clean and undivided heart, labor for reconciliation, and stand firm under pressure for the sake of Jesus. None of this is self-manufactured. The blessings reveal the life Jesus himself embodies; by walking with him, we receive grace to live what he proclaims.
Lord Jesus, you call blessed what the world often ignores or resists. Give us poverty of spirit, a hunger for your righteousness, merciful hearts, single-hearted love, and courage in trials. Make us instruments of your peace and keep our eyes fixed on the reward you promise. Amen.
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Sources and References:
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- Bernard Orchard et al., eds., A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (1953).
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: Matthew (2008).
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018).
- Raymond E. Brown et al., eds., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990).
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