The Importance Of The Beatitudes

The term ‘Kingdom of God’ (or as is otherwise referred to as ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ in Matthew's Gospel) is mentioned throughout the Four Gospels. Over the centuries many scholars have reached the same conclusion that the central theme of Jesus’ message regards the ‘Kingdom of God.’ But what did Jesus mean by this term? This essay aims to discuss the meaning of the term ‘Kingdom of God’ and what Jesus must have meant by this.

We consider the Beatitudes counter-cultural because it is a different perspective of “blessedness” as of what we think in our society today. For example, we think that blessedness, or happiness comes from physical well-being. We say people are blessed when they have the most money, the best house, the best clothing, desirable appearance, etc. In our society, we view “blessedness” as happiness from materialistic prosperity. Another example of how we think “blessedness” is the happiness from non-physical well-being. We commonly say that someone is blessed when they possess talent (musical, art, etc.), are highly intellectual, or are simply experiencing from good luck. These examples of blessings are very contrasting to the blessings depicted in the Beatitudes. For example, the Beatitudes describe that blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who are persecuted, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc. In our society, we do not consider someone who is poor, persecuted, or hunger and thirst as “blessed”. However, the Beatitudes depict the meaning of “blessed” as happiness that is awarded spiritually for our faith, instead of physical or mental well-being. The true blessings described in the Beatitudes are recognizing the need of God in our lives by meekness and grief from our sins, and God inheriting in our souls.

The beatitudes are eight statements taught by Jesus. Each Beatitude calls us towards holiness, commitment and promotes positive human values. They are concerned with virtue and how a believer in Jesus Christ can achieve that virtue. The Beatitudes are a map of life, a series of directives helping us on our journey to be with God. They are simply stated, but are profound in meaning. They guide, point and teach. In the Beatitudes, Jesus taught his followers how to let love reign the world, and when love overcomes all other things there will be a state of peace. They show Adherents the values that Christ cares about. These values if followed can not only bring a believer into a state of peace and happiness, but also right into the Kingdom of God after our journey on this earth is over. Teachings of the Beatitudes can apply to our lives today as they are timeless in teaching and ‘confronting us with

Next we have the Beatitudes. Now the Beatitudes are completely different from the other two. The Beatitudes are talk about how blessed are the poor, the meek, those who mourn, exc. In my opinion the beatitudes tell about the blessed, because The New and Old Testaments are pretty sad. In the the New Testament The Pharaoh decides to kill children under the age of 3-5. Also in the New Testament King Herod decapitated John the Baptist just because he was related to Jesus. Both of these were very dark. So in my opinion these help to relieve some of that

Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer—By this time, having arrived to man’s estate, and hearing the scriptures commented on at meetings, I was struck with that particular passage which says: “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you.” I reflected much on this passage, and prayed daily for light on this subject—As I was praying one day at my plough, the spirit spoke to me, saying, “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you. (Gray 9)

When one first looks at the beatitudes, one might think that they are a set of blessings that apply only to a certain group of people and that they have no influence on the ‘common folk’ who struggle to barely fulfill the 10 commandments. But if one reduces it to that, they miss out on the true purpose of the beatitudes and lose its hidden value.

In the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” When Jesus said this, he showed how the Kingdom of Heaven was welcomed for anybody, not only those who were more fortunate than others. Jesus then went on to explain how those who were humble and those who showed righteousness would enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus also told the people how they should spread his word everywhere and teach those to examine all the things He commanded them. In The Great Commission speech, Jesus inspired His

Argument 3: The Beatitudes: The beatitudes are 8 blessings about people and what life will be like after death. In the beatitudes it states how life will be different for each of us in heaven. The beatitudes blessings state how life after death will be different for everyone on earth. Those who are caring and loving will live one of these lives in heaven. This is showing us that even though life on earth may not be great now it will be in heaven if we believe and do right by

John Wesley wrote in his Sermon 16 that the means of grace are understood as “outward signs, words, or actions ordained by God… to be the ordinary channels whereby (God) might convey to men preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.” Means are what happen outside of oneself and the grace is what does the work inside of ourselves or another way to say this is to say the ways we receive and experience grace. When we speak of the sacraments we refer to them as outward signs of an inward and spiritual grace. The means of grace in the sacraments, means are the bread and cup of communion and the water of the baptism and the liturgy spoken. These act in an outward and physical way, but the real work is that of the invisible grace we receive.

The Sermon on the Mount is a sermon given by Jesus Christ found in the book of Matthew in the Holy Bible. The beginning of this sermon includes a list of blessings called the Beatitudes. Jesus uses these to explain God’s favor towards those who are striving for righteousness. For those who had come to believe and follow Jesus as the son of God, every word that he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount was intended as words of encouragement for Jesus’s disciples and were taken as such. For those who were skeptical, the crowd, that Jesus was truly the son of God, Jesus’s words took on a totally different meaning. The Beatitudes, simple words that promote the humility of man, were explicit words of encouragement for Jesus’s disciples. Yet at the same time, to the crowd listening, the Beatitudes were an implicit invitation to become men of God by believing that this man is God in the flesh, God in spirit, God almighty, God omniscient, God omnipresent, and God omnipotent.

The sixth beatitude is found in the book of Matthew chapter five verses eight, it’s a beatitude between man and God and its futuristic in nature. It states blessed are the pure in heart for there will see God. A pure heart is a heart that has only one objective and that is pleasing God. Here Jesus tells the multitudes that those who please God will go to heaven.

The beatitudes are just a sample of the many teachings that this book has to offer.

The Beatitudes are a guide that tells followers how to live in God's kingdom and shows the values that he cares about. when translated, beatitude means blessing. each beatitude calls its followers towards holiness , commitment and promotes positive human values. Many believe that the beatitudes are the center of Jesus' teachings.

     Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the first Beatitude. It tells us that we should accept people for who they are and not the material things they have. You should not treat a person who lives in a nice house and drives a nice car any different then someone who lives in a less desirable house and drives an old car. You should treat everyone how you would like to be treated. Just because someone can not afford some of the things as you might be able to does not mean that they are a bad person. We should accept everyone into our community.

The various gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in Scripture are conveyed according to the will of the Holy Spirit to every man for the eventual purpose of the edification and building up the church body.