WE now come to look at the Beatitudes themselves, and again there are some overall thoughts for us to consider. Each Beatitude begins with the word ‘Blessed’. The meaning of this word is to be blessed or happy. The idea is to possess something that is of priceless blessing which does good to the soul and brings happiness that is lasting and deep. This blessedness is not a passing happiness such as the world gives, but a lasting and eternal happiness which supports a person through all the trials and troubles of this life, because it is a possession of a blessedness that lasts for eternity.

This blessedness is better than great riches. This blessedness is better than great success and the praise of men. This blessedness is better than any passing excitement which the world may offer. This blessedness remains when earthly happiness is lost, and strengthens the soul in time of need.

This blessedness is spiritual. It is a blessedness and happiness that brings us to God.

Then we need to notice that each Beatitude is accompanied with a description of the blessedness that is received. When we look at these descriptions we see that they all relate to spiritual matters, which concern the deep things of the soul, and the knowledge and experience of God. It is this factor that is the source of the blessedness and lasting quality of it. This is happiness that is real, whereas all the happiness that people seek in the world is passing and eventually lost.

These Beatitudes also speak of deep things within the soul. They are all concerned with experience, and experience before God and in God. These Beatitudes describe the life and experience of the person who has real aspirations after God and has met with God. It is because of this that we can say with assurance that if a person does not identify with these Beatitudes then we can say they know little of God, and have not yet had real dealings with God. If we have met with God and God has had dealings with us, then the experience and aspiration of these Beatitudes will mean something to us, because we have to say ‘I have experienced that.’

This proves what was said in the previous meditation that the Sermon of the Mount was written for true disciples of Jesus, and only they can truly appreciate the teaching and have any desire or power to live the life the sermon presents to us. If the experience of the Beatitudes is not known to a person, then the Sermon will not be truly appreciated, and it will be impossible to live it.

Looking at the the eight Beatitudes and studying them, we will be able to perceive that they are not simply eight different individual sayings, but that they are all connected. The first leads into the second and the second into the third, and so on right through the whole of the eight. It is true to say that unless we know the meaning and experience of the first Beatitude, we will not be able to identify or understand the second. Perhaps with the mind we can see some meaning, but as each Beatitude is describing a condition of soul, unless we have an experience of the first Beatitude we will not have any identification with the second. The reason is that the experience of the first Beatitude leads us into the experience of the second, and so on. It is only when we are poor in spirit, and this experience is powerful in the depth of our being, will we begin to mourn. This progression proceeds through the whole eight of the Beatitudes.

The order in which Jesus speaks these Beatitudes are of real importance. The order could not be any different. If the order is changed then there is no making any real sense of the meaning of the experience. The Beatitudes describe the progression within the soul of the person which leads to salvation and living in the presence of the Lord.

As we look closer at the Beatitudes we will be able to see that there is a dividing point between the two groups of four. The first four lead up to a climax which can be summed up as the soul being saved and brought to acceptance and fellowship with God. The last four describe the soul in fellowship with God and the experience of the soul living in this world in fellowship with God.

Having said this, we must not suppose that we move from one Beatitude to another, and when we have moved from the first to the second, that we have nothing more to do with the first. Nor can we say that having been filled with righteousness that we need never consider being poor in spirit or have any need to mourn or to be meek. The fact is that every true disciple of Jesus finds in these qualities a condition of heart and mind that is our constant position. This does no mean that we are miserable all the time, and never happy. This can’t be true because if we have these qualities we are blessed and so happy in a deep and lasting way. We are blessed, but the ongoing experience of blessedness is founded on these experiences being the foundation of our faith.