a New Christianity

The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes are the teachings in the Gospel of Matthew which open the Sermon on the Mount. Some of those verses appear in similar form in the Gospel of Luke, but we won’t incorporate those verses into this series. There has been a lot of analysis done on these verses, and it is pretty well detailed on the Wikipedia website.

The word Beatitudes itself, comes from the Latin word beatitudo, which means happiness. The verses in the Beatitudes all start the same way: “Blessed are…”, and there are eight verses which are said to make them up: Matthew Chpt 5: 3-10.

Finally, we’re probably not the first person to consider the Beatitudes, and think of a more common syntax, in terms of the words ‘be’ and ‘attitudes’. In congratulating someone on a great play in sports for example, we might say “Way to be!” This also brings to mind a popular song from the mid-80’s by Bobby McFerrin. This way of using the word ‘be’ lends itself to our topic for this series on the beatitudes. Specifically, we could say that by following Yeshua’s teachings, we can put into practice the words of Bobby McFerrin when he sings “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” Now that’s a good ‘Be-attitude!’

Grace and peace to you all,
Paul

The Beatitudes – The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5 Verses 3 - 10

Introduction - The “Real” Good News

Conclusion - The Path to Happiness