Red Letters

Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the gentle/meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

This is clearly a temporal blessing. The meek - or as the NASB has it, gentle - will be blessed with dominion over earth, despite their violent counterparts who strive for it.
The meek are poster children for Christ’s program of humility and kenosis, and will be first instead of last, which would be their rank in a rat-race world.
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Matthew 5:6
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”


In the U.S. we rarely experience hunger the way it was experienced in occupied Judea by a significant percentage of the population at least occasionally. The constant, subtle desire for food experienced when fasting should be present in the spirit as well. Hungering for righteousness in one’s own life, in the church, and in the public square is in tune with the heart of God, who desires holiness in the innermost place.
When we hunger and thirst for righteousness we become vulnerable by relying on it as we rely on food and water. However, God promises to fill that desire and reward our vulnerability.
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Matthew 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”


The only directly reciprocal beatitude, those who show mercy to others will receive mercy from God. The oft-ignored lecture accompanying the Lord’s Prayer details the same principle, though in the negative. Those who are merciless will not be shown mercy. Forgiving, understanding, and bearing with others guarantees that our sins will be forgiven, difficulties understood, and inadequacies borne with.