Why are the beloved blessings outlined by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount called the Beatitudes? Actually, the word beatus is the Latin word for “blessed” or “happy”. So, the Beatitudes are a set of virtues and characteristics that God finds desirable in His people, making them feel blessed and happy. They are found in Matthew 5:3-12.
In essence, the Beatitudes of Jesus are not that different from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Both are lists of the attitudes and actions God requires of us, and both are needed for our spiritual health and well-being.
The Ten Commandments could easily have been written like the Beatitudes…
- Blessed are those who have no other gods before Me.
- Blessed are those who make no graven images and worship them.
- Blessed are those who don’t take my name in vain.
- Blessed are those who honor the Sabbath day.
- Blessed are those who honor their father and mother.
- Blessed are those who don’t kill.
- Blessed are those who don’t commit adultery.
- Blessed are those who don’t steal.
- Blessed are those who don’t lie.
- Blessed are those who don’t covet their neighbor’s house or possessions.
Truly, these virtues are found in those who are meek, merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers, even when we are discouraged, mourning, struggling to be righteous, and are being persecuted, as Jesus points out in Matthew’s gospel. After all, He experienced these things, too, during His time with us on earth.
The Ten Commandments, indeed the entire Old and New Testaments, get a whole lot easier for us to understand, when we see them through the lens of Jesus’ beautiful love in the New Testament, balanced with His awesome sense of justice in the Old.
We’ve been studying Moses’ visit to Mt. Sinai this week in our SS lessons about the book of Exodus.
https://www.outlookmag.org/the-teachers-notes-covenant-at-sinai-lesson-8/
Join us every week, as we continue to learn new and exciting things about God’s amazing love and justice.
