A thought on the meaning of "blessed" in the Beatitudes
I am currently preparing to launch a new sermon series in my church on the Beatitudes. One of the reasons I chose this series and wish to preach an introductory sermon to start of the series is my concern that there is a lot of misunderstanding about God's blessings, and happiness among Christians. Things like being blessed means just having a trouble free life, financial wealth, good health etc. So as I delve deeper into this subject and try to clarify my own thoughts, knowing that a little mist in the pew will be a thick fog in the pews (to paraphrase a well-known preaching aphorism), I came across the following from Kenneth Bailey in his book " Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels" Here's a part of his helpful observation. In Hebrew (as in Greek) there are two words that are translated into English as “blessed.” The two Greek words parallel the Hebrew words, and it is important to understand the differences between them. One of the...