The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount is called the
“Beatitudes.” This is because the first word that Jesus utters is “makarioi” ( Μακάριοι) in
Greek. Our English Bibles translate this as blessed, happy, bliss, spiritually
prosperous, joy, etc. A lot of options have been chosen over the years by
various translation committees. It is a difficult word to capture in its
fullness of expression. However, it has to do with being in a state of
spiritual well-being flowing from the goodness of God. In the ancient Greek
world it originally carried the idea of being “free from daily cares and
worries.” In Jewish usage it tended to focus on one’s well-being. By Jesus’ day
these pronouncements of blessings did two things at once: conveyed God’s desire
for covenant life, and served to prepare the hearer for living the “kingdom
life’ in view of the end times.
The idea of
a blessed life is rooted in the Old Testament concept of blesses and curses.
Deuteronomy 11 is a good example of where Israel as a nation is challenged to
love and serve the Lord. This is God’s
challenge to Israel:
26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go
after other gods that you have not known.”
Blessings coming from God are closely
associated with ethical choices to honor Him. The Psalms of David commence with
a “blessing” for the entire book. This blessing is also attached to the choice
one makes of NOT walking in counsel of the ungodly, NOR standing in the way of
sinners, NOR sitting in the seat of the scornful (see Psalm 1:1).
ASHRE (’aš·rê, אַשְׁרֵ֣י Hebrew) “blessed,” is the state
before God that one occupies when heart, life, love and commitment are the
choices made to honor Him. The entire book of Psalms. In the Greek Old
Testament this word “blessed” is the same word that Jesus begins the Beatitudes
in Matthew 5. An amazing and challenging study would be to trace down all of
the times “blessed” is used in the book of Psalms to get the big idea of what
being blessed means.
In
Psalm 2:12 the reader/hearer is reminded that allegiance alone is due to the
“Son.” This is because “Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” The
idea of taking refuge in the Son is foundational to how we understand the
blessed life in Jesus today. Refuge has to do with shelter, protection,
dependence and safety. Such dependence is vital to living the blessed life.
In the Old
Testament, which provides the early basic lens for our seeing what blessedness
is all about, being blessed has to do fundamentally with making life choices
that honor God, depending upon Him for all of life, and living in a condition
of God’s undeserved favor. This undeserved favor (grace) becomes the very air
we breathe as Christians.
Are we aware
on a daily basis what it means to live the blessed life?
Is it possible today to live a
blessed and blissful life in such turmoil as we see in the news every day? Is
it even possible to live free from daily cares and worries?We may wonder what this has to do with Christian transformational leadership? Plenty! Years ago I was privileged to hear a presentation from Dr. Tony Ash from Abilene Christian University at the Geneva Encampment in Wisconsin on summer. He brought a series of lessons from the epistle of 1 John. I will never forget his reminder that leaders are in the business of blessing and not bossing! My, how we need to hear this today!
More than anything, Christian transformational leaders model what the blessed life looks like. There is a conscious effort of intentionally vocalizing and rehearses to others what God has done in one's life. There is a conscious and intentional effort to be grateful for what God is doing through our lives to touch the lives of others who may feel like they are not blessed. And, certainly, Christian leaders must model their dependence upon God.
May God continue to bless us with the blessed life!
In Christian love, Curtis
