When Matthew records the words of Jesus in Matthew 5-7, he captures the essence of the good news Jesus proclaimed. Earlier, Matthew summarized the preaching ministry of Jesus in a single sentence, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," (Matthew 4:17). Now, Matthew summarizes Jesus in a whole sermon. The famous Sermon on the Mount begins memorably:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:3-12, ESV, emphasis mine)
Much could be said about these wonderful words from Jesus. This post focuses on the word translated "blessed" Before getting to the nuts and bolts of this discussion, slow down and consider that word, "blessed." What comes to mind when someone says, "She is blessed," or "His is a blessed life."
For some of us, maybe a great deal of good things swirl through our mind. We might think:
- She is graced by God.
- She is divinely favored.
- She is set apart to God.
- She is being made holy by God.
- She is the recipient of God's special activity for her life.
No Christian would argue that any of the above descriptions are bad, but are these what Jesus was saying? Randy Alcorn in his book, "Happiness" argues that while there are many good things that God does for His children, the meaning behind the word Jesus used here is "happy" not "blessed." Alcorn states, "When Jesus looked at the crowds and said that poor, discredited, and persecuted people who honor God are not just holy but actually happy, his words were (and are) absolutely startling. Yet in English, because the word happy usually isn't used, we fail to recognize the surprise - and appeal - of his words," (Alcorn, Happiness, 218). So, Alcorn argues that Jesus meant the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry for righteousness, the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers, and the persecuted are and should be happy. Does that sound different to you than blessed? Read it again the way one renowned German scholar translated this passage:
“Happy are the poor in spirit,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Happy are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Happy are those who are kind,
for they will inherit the earth.
Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Happy are those who are merciful,
for they will obtain mercy.
Happy are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Happy are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Happy are you when they insult you and persecute you
and say all kinds of evil things against you untruthfully for my sake.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward is great in heaven.
Just so did they persecute the prophets before you.” (Ulrich Luz, Hermenia, 185)
This has a slightly different emphasis. In the first translation, the emphasis is on God's activity. In the second translation, the emphasis is on the effect of God's activity on a human life. The evidence will show that Jesus appears to have made the dramatic statement that humans can and should be truly happy because of the activity of God - that is happy are the blessed. In other words, Jesus does detail the blessings of God, but begins the Sermon on the Mount with proclamations on true human happiness.
Now, let's consider the evidence. First, what word did Jesus use? The Greek word was "Makarios" which is defined a few ways:
- "being fortunate or happy because of circumstances, fortunate, happy; favored, blessed, fortunate, happy, privileged" (BDAG, "Makarios")
- "pertaining to being happy, with the implication of enjoying favorable circumstances - 'happy'" (Louw-Nida, "Makarios")
So, the lexicons lean towards "happy" as the best way to capture the sense of Makarios.
Next, let's listen to some scholars as they comment on the passage:
- "'Blessed' is a misleading translation of makarios, which does not denote one whom God blesses (which would be eulogetos, reflecting Heb. baruk), but represents the Hebrew 'asre, 'fortunate', and is used, like asre, almost entirely in the formal setting of a beatitude. It introduces someone who is to be congratulated, someone whose place in life is an enviable one. 'Happy' is better than 'blessed', but only if used not of a mental state but of a condition of life," (France, TNTC).
- "For blessed many translations use expressions of a somewhat secular nature, such as 'fortunate' (AB) or 'happy' (JB). These bring out the joy that is conveyed by Jesus' word, but not its full religious content. There is more to blessedness than happiness," (Morris, PNTC).
Without going too much into the weeds, it appears that great commentators differ on whether it should be "blessed" or "happy." It is interesting that much of the argument against "happy" focuses on a bias against the word as "secular" and not spiritual enough (Morris).
But is happiness a secular concept? Certainly the Christian life is more than smiling a lot, but is it less? I mean, as Christians does God want us to be holy but not happy? Or, does Jesus die for both?
I would like to argue that Randy Alcorn is correct. Christian, Jesus died to make you right with God AND that should and does make us happy! In fact, so great is our experience of the grace of God when embraced, cherished, and enjoyed that Christians can and should be the happiest people ever.
That sounds pretty good, right? It should! Jesus shocked his audience by telling poor, downcast, mourning humans that He was there to make them happy. Thus, he commanded persecuted people to "Rejoice and be glad," not merely do "Do right and be holy," (Matthew 5:12). There is a crucial difference between the Christian who pursues holiness and sacrifices happiness and the Christian who pursues holiness because she wants to be truly happy. That's what Jesus holds out to us, "Do you want to know how to be truly, profoundly, and enduringly happy? Listen up! That's what the kingdom of heaven is all about."
Christian, may you explore the words of Jesus, and indeed the whole Bible, to find how you can be truly happy both now and forever in Christ.
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