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The Beatitudes of Jesus |
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BeatitudesThe Beatitudes (from Latin, beatitudo, happiness) is the beginning portion of the Sermon on the Mount of the Gospel of Matthew. Some are also recorded in the Gospel of Luke. In the section, Jesus describes the qualities of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of heaven and indicates how each is or will be blessed.
Jesus Christ gave us the eight Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded for all posterity in the Gospel of Matthew, the first Book of the New Testament of the Bible. Jesus offers us a way of life that promises eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven. THE EIGHT BEATITUDES OF JESUS"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Gospel of Matthew 5:3-10
The Beatitudes of Christ encourage us to develop deeper qualities in our lives.A beatitude is a declaration of happiness or promised blessing because of some virtue or good deed.Matt. 5:1. And seeing the multitudes, he ascended a mountain: and when he was seated, his disciples came to him: Matt. 5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Matt. 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matt. 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matt. 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Matt. 5:6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Matt. 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Matt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Matt. 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God. Matt. 5:10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matt. 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Moral Law and the Ten Commandments of the Bible convicts us of our sin and brings us to Christ for salvation. "Where fore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Galatians 3:24. This was the focus of evangelism by Dwight L. Moody. Many resources of Biblical evangelism with a major point of convicting people of their sin, using the Bible and the moral law, known as God's Ten Commandments. Each of the beatitudes tells us something about what our ATTITUDE should be. Each one is described in the story above. Each one starts with the word "Blessed". Hand them the Ten Commandments as a way to live under God.
One of the meanings of "blessed" is happy or joyful. Each of the "blessed' statements describes a person who puts God and other's interest above his or her own interest. We cannot be blessed if we live selfishly.
Display the beatitudes and the teaching of Jesus on hand fans and bumper stickers.
Hebrews 12:28 "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:"
After the conquests of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great (336-323), the land of Israel became part of the empire of the Ptolemies, a Macedonian dynasty that ruled Egypt and the southern Levant. In the late fourth century, Israel migration to the country along the Nile started, and in the third century, we find colonies of merchants and mercenaries in Alexandria and elsewhere. According to Philo, a Jewish author from the early first century CE, about a million Jews were living in Egypt. Most of them spoke Greek, not Hebrew or Aramaic, and were in need of a translation of the Bible.
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Bust of Ptolemy II Philadelphus from the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum. National Archaeological Museum, Naples (Italy). Photo Marco Prins.
Bust of king Ptolemy II Philadelphus, from the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum; now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples
According to the Letter of Aristeas, a document maybe written in c.170 BCE, the initiative for this translation was not Jewish but Greek. King Ptolemy II Philadelphus (282-246) wanted to build a library that contained all the books in the world. The first librarian was Demetrius of Phalerum, who thought that such a collection ought to contain a translation of the Law of Moses. Consequently, he sent a letter to Eleazar, the high priest at Jerusalem, asking him to send seventy-two translators, six from every tribe.
Septuagint
The translation of the Septuagint undertaken in Alexandria at the behest of the Egyptian King, Ptolemy, who wished to expand the celebrated library of Alexandria to include the wisdom of all the ancient religions of the world. Because Greek was the language of Alexandria, the Scriptures therefore had to be translated into that language.
The Letter of Aristeas, the oldest known source we have for the origin of the Septuagint, details how Ptolemy contacted the chief priest, Eleazar, in Jerusalem and asked him to send translators. Six were chosen from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, giving us the commonly accepted number of seventy-two. (Other accounts have the number at seventy or seventy-five.) Only the Torah (the first five books) was translated initially, but eventually other translations (and even compositions) were added to the collection. By the time of our Lord, the Septuagint was the Bible in use by most Hellenistic Jews.
Septuagint online
Thus, when the Apostles quote the Jewish Scripture in their own writings, the overwhelmingly dominant source for their wording comes directly from the Septuagint (LXX). Given that the spread of the Gospel was most successful among the Gentiles and Hellenistic Jews, it made sense that the LXX would be the Bible for the early Church. Following in the footsteps of those first generations of Christians, the Orthodox Church continues to regard the LXX as its only canonical text of the Old Testament. There are a number of differences between the canon of the LXX and that of Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Christians, based on differences in translation tradition or doctrine.
The Septuagint Bible
Jesus and the Law and Commandments
Matthew 5:17-22 All Ten Commandments of Exodus HOME PAGE Moses and the Ten Commandments
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