“Follow a Compass: The Beatitudes”, extracted from Christian Citizenship: Endangered in America, Part II: God’s Domain, (Chapter 5)
When Jesus gathered his followers together, he gave them compass directions—what has become known as the Beatitudes. I have studied and prayed over them to discern how we might apply them in the twenty-first century. I’m indebted to the scholarship of William Higgins and Jim Forrest (1), and to the lives of other Christians who, by their example, have lived their lives as followers of Jesus.
Eight Beatitudes are found in the Gospel of Matthew (5:3–12) at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount and summarized into five in the Gospel of Luke (6:20b–23) in what has become known as the Sermon on the Plain. Jesus’ sermon points gave his followers good orderly directions.
Markarios, the Greek word, in English becomes beatitude and means the same as being especially praised by God if one demonstrates these qualities in one’s daily life. According to Jonathan Pennington’s new theological commentary on Matt 5–7, they are “declared observation[s] about a way of being in the world.” (2) They express a kind of wisdom similar to Proverbs that a parent might say to an upset child who is having a tough time at school or losing an important sports game. Chill out. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you win. It’s the way you play the game that counts.
When bad situations occur in our lives, we think we deserve better, especially if we’re Christians. Aren’t we entitled to wealth, prosperity, and admiration? But that’s not God’s way, as Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes and illustrates through his parables and healings.
Pastor William Higgins describes the Beatitudes in the context of the ancient literary structure of parallels. (3) For this reason, I will discuss the first eight in his format, putting the first and third together, then the second and fourth together.
BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
When Matthew writes “poor in spirit,” Luke writes just “poor” in the first beatitude. The Hebrew word for “poor” in Matthew and Isaiah, anawim, are the same. In both cases, Jesus really meant the poor, the hungry, the destitute. He reminds members of the synagogue congregation of this when he reads from the prophet Isaiah. Those who heard could identify their present time with the suffering of their ancestors in exile in Babylon, remembering how they had been driven like cattle by the Babylonian army away from their homeland into captivity. Now, they were once again captives, in Rome, this time in their own land, their hopes not yet realized.
The Greek word “poor” in the Gospel of Luke literally means without resources or desperate, like Jonah when he found himself in the belly of the big fish and cried out to God for help. Those who lose all their early possessions in a flood, a fire, or an earthquake and have no insurance or other resources to cover their losses understand this meaning; as do those who become addicted to a drug or a behavior that pulls them down. They experience blessedness when they are willing to reach out for help by calling a hotline phone number or attending a recovery meeting.
BLESSED ARE THE MEEK, FOR THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH
The word “meek,” the same Hebrew word, anawim, used in the third beatitude (Matthew), can also mean humble, gentle, or even powerless. The same meaning appears in Ps 37. Make the most of it, the psalmist writes; “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their evil ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes” (Ps 37:7 NIV) This psalm reflects—despite what the world says or does—that followers of Jesus need to continue to serve those in desperate need, with actions such as rebuilding and restoring after a hurricane disaster and protecting refugees who came seeking asylum in America and are now facing deportation or imprisonment. We may have to put up with misfortune, trials, and tribulations, but we know who we are, made in God’s image. We rest assured that God is with us and will never forsake us.
One of my spiritual directors encouraged me to go on a silent retreat with the task of meditating on the word “humble” or “meek.” God taught me during that retreat humility does not mean humiliation but finding and claiming my actual self, as distinguished from my damaged self, or trying to fulfill the expectation of others. Humility means trusting that God has made each of us unique and special as his child.
Thomas à Kempis wrote,
It is the humble man whom God protects and liberates;
it is the humble whom He loves and consoles. To the
humble He turns and upon them he bestows grace, that
after their humiliation He may raise them up to glory. He
reveals his secrets to the humble and with kind invitation
bids them come to Him. Thus the humble man enjoys
peace in the midst of many vexations, because his trust is
in God, not in the world. (4)
The humble man or woman receives God’s special honor and a proclamation from the heavenly throne, “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:21 RSV).
- Forrest, Ladder of the Beatitudes.
2. Quoted in Hill, “Strange New World,” para. 5.
3. Higgins, classes taught at New Providence Mennonite Church, Lancaster, 2018.
4. Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 37.
Excerpted from Christian Citizenship: Endangered in America, © 2026 Mary Theresa Webb, Wipf and Stock.
