Beatitude Adjustment

I don’t know what I believe. I was raised Roman Catholic. I think I stopped believing in God before I stopped believing in Santa Claus. I don’t actively recall a time where I believed in God, but I do remember the Christmas that I asked if I could setup the camcorder to catch Santa on his way out of the fireplace. If I do believe in god, it is certainly not the god I was raised to believe in, so where does that leave me?

In Matthew 5, the beatitudes, Jesus lays forth blessings for eight groups of people. Historically this has been translated into eight “conditions of the heart” that can be attributed to the followers of Jesus. In contrast, we look to the woes in Matthew 23 to see an outline of the characteristics Jesus opposed. However, a few key observations, specifically in the first and eighth beatitudes, make me question the root of this translation.

There are two things that make these beatitudes stand out. First they share the same blessing: theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The remaining six beatitudes provide unique blessings to each respective group. Second, use of the word is, instead of will. Theirs IS the kingdom of heaven. It’s already true. Each other beatitude speaks to what will be, rather than what already is. The meek will inherit the land. The clean in heart will see God. So let’s take a look at these two groups that have already been given the kingdom of heaven…