I. The Definition of Blessing
I want to digress momentarily from the previous outline because I believe it is appropriate to discuss one very important aspect of this passage. What does “blessed” mean? It is certainly important to discuss this because the whole passage hinges on the word. “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit,” “blessed are those who mourn,” “blessed are the gentle,” “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” But what does it mean to be blessed?
It is not some undefinable happiness. When things are good I feel blessed. But what about when things go sour? Can you still be blessed? Let’s plug in the idea of simple happiness into some verses and see how it holds up. Matthew 5:10: “Happy are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” Luke 6:22: “Happy are you when men hate you and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.” The idea of happiness may be tied into the word blessed, but such happiness is not connected to circumstances. God’s blessing is anchored to something much deeper than the shallow world of good circumstances.
The world may use the word “blessed” to indicate someone who is prosperous or doing well. These people may consider themselves fortunate and may use such a word interchangeably without any hint of God in mind. However, for the most part (out of the 50 times it is used in the NT) the Scripture uses the word in a completely different way. The truly blessed person has an eternal prosperity to set his hope upon. As one dictionary has said, “it refers to the distinctive… joy which accrues to a man from his (participation) in the salvation of the kingdom of God.”
As we are focused on what God has done for us in Jesus Christ and the free gift of eternal life He has offered us, we can experience this blessed condition. And though it may not always feel good, by faith we can rest assured that God is working out His good in the midst of it. Do you know if you are blessed as God wants you blessed? How is the blessing of God related to our lives? There are at least five relationships of the word that God uses in the NT to show us how we are blessed. So let’s look at the relationships of blessing.
II. The Relationships of Blessing
A. The word “blessed” is related to trials and difficulties.
The book of James says the blessed man is to count his diverse trials as joy. He is the blessed one who, as James uses the word, patiently endures trials because he sees as the outcome God’s work and reward in his life. In 1:12 James says, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” A person who sees the purpose of difficulties that God has orchestrated for his good and trusts God in the midst of them is blessed. The world sees the blessed man as the one who escapes trials and difficulties. God, from His eternal perspective, sees the blessed man as the one who passes through those trials, for they grow a person’s hope in the living God who is faithful, even in the midst of trials. They also bear fruit in a person’s life.
B. The word “blessed” is related to understanding God’s Word.
From God’s standpoint, who is the truly blessed one? It is that person who understands His Word. Later in Matthew, as Jesus spoke to His disciples, He told them that some of those listening to Him couldn’t understand the Word of God He was speaking. But in 13:16 He said, “Blessed are your eyes because they see; and your ears, because they hear.” They were blessed because the Word of God actually made sense to them and their heart received that truth. In Matthew 16, Jesus says a similar thing to Peter. He was able to declare that Jesus was the Messiah; and the Lord responded by saying, “Blessed are you Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Peter was blessed because God the Father had revealed the truth of Jesus’s identity to him. When you read the Word of God and it speaks to your heart, you also are blessed.
When God reveals His Word to you, doesn’t your heart overflow with joy? When you see the truth of the Word, doesn’t it excite you? This is blessing. It is a sad thing when someone doesn’t understand God’s Word. The rich young ruler didn’t understand Jesus’s call to follow Him. The Scripture says that he went away sad. However, in Acts 13:48, when the people of Pisidian Antioch understood what the Word of God said, Luke records, “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.” This group of people were blessed because they understood the Word of God.
C. The word “blessed” is related to obeying God’s Word.
In Luke 11:28, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it.” In Matthew 24:46, Matthew records Jesus speaking about His return. He says, “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.” On the night He was betrayed, John 13:17 records Jesus telling the apostles, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” And James makes it most clear that there is blessing for the obedient in 1:25, when he tells us, “One who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”
There are many times when obeying the Word of God is difficult, demanding or even deadly. Yet, in spite of these hardships for obedience to God’s Word, a blessing is poured on those who follow it. It is not an empty promise that those who strive by faith to do what God’s Word says will be blessed.
D. The word “blessed” is related to suffering for God’s sake in the world.
This blessed suffering is spoken of in two different (though associated) ways. The first is the blessing of suffering for the sake of righteousness. There are those who suffer for the sake of doing what is right and proclaiming what is right, the sake of living for what is right. In 1 Peter 3:14 Peter says, “But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed.” Later, in 4:14, Peter explains why: “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Those who are reviled in the midst of standing for Jesus Christ and the gospel have in some way a greater grace of the Spirit of God working in their lives. Isn’t it funny that Peter mentions it specifically as suffering for the name of Jesus Christ? Isn’t it funny that you can say “God bless America” and no one seems to mind, but if you mention the name of Jesus things get heated up?
There is a blessing when you do what is right and are rebuked for it. God blesses you with a greater work of His Spirit in your midst. When you are rebuked and suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ, you can claim by faith in the Holy Spirit’s work in your life that God is seeking to bless you.
E. The word “blessed” is related to receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
In Romans 4:7-8, the apostle Paul tells us that the greatest blessing of all is having eternal life, being rescued from the penalty of our sin, which is death in hell, by receiving the forgiveness of our sin. He says in Romans 4:7-8, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” This blessing comes through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” How is this blessing received? Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
III. The Source of Blessing
Finally we come to the source of the blessing. Where does blessing come from? The word “blessed” is an adjective screaming to be a verb and looking for a subject to act on it. Blessing is an action that requires someone to do the blessing. Who is the source of all blessing? You? No, God is.
Do you think you can turn trials into blessings? Only God can. Do you think you can understand the Word of God on your own? God must give that blessing. Who do you think blesses someone’s obedience to the Word of God? Do you think you bring your own blessing because you obey? This is why obedience must be by faith. It is obedience to the Word of God through faith that God truly is the one who blesses those who trust Him to carry out His Word. And who but God can turn scorn for the sake of the righteousness into a blessing for you? Even the blessing of salvation (forgiveness of sin and eternal life) has all been orchestrated by God. It is given out as a gift by God who paid for it with the blood His Son shed on the cross.
Blessing is the active work of God in a person’s life. One particular translation, though it is paraphrasing this passage in Matthew 5, gets to the heart of this issue:
God blesses those who are poor… God blesses those who mourn… God blesses those who are humble… God blesses those who are merciful, and so on.
God is the one blessing. He is like a spring of water that cannot help overflowing. God is the source of all true blessing.
How do you view the idea of blessing? Is it that pleasant circumstance you have found yourself in? Or are you looking to God to bless you? Are you focused on what God has done for you through the gift of eternal life He offers in Jesus Christ? Have you received that gift? It is through this very blessing that all the rest of God’s blessings flow, so that we can say, “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.”