To Be Blessed - Part Two

Last week, I wrote about what it means to be blessed. Oxford Languages defines blessed as being holy and consecrated. The Hebrew word for blessed, ‘Barak,’ means to bless or to kneel, as in we kneel to God in our acknowledgment of Him, His power, and authority. To be blessed is more about our holiness, consecration, acknowledgment, and pursuit of God than it is about our possessions and personal relationships with others. Yes, it is a blessing to be blessed with health, wealth, and relationships, but to be truly blessed is to be holy towards God through Christ—for we cannot be wholly blessed outside of being one with the Blessed One, who is Christ Jesus.

But there’s more to this blessed business. In my studies, I’ve come to realize that what the Lord calls blessed is not often what we consider as blessed. In Matthew 5, Jesus preached to multitudes of people, and He listed various groups of people he called blessed:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are those who mourn,for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

For further clarity, I researched the meaning of blessed in this scripture. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, whereas the New Testament was written in Koine Greek. So, ‘blessed’ in Koine Greek is translated as “Makarioi”, which means happy, blessed, to be envied, fortunate, well off, and supremely blest.  

Now, here is Jesus telling us that these people are blessed … those who thirst and hunger for righteousness, those who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, and peacemakers. Calling these people blessed makes sense because they are seeking God and the things of God. These people seek holiness in God and shall be filled because they pursue a faithful Lord; therefore, it is understandable that they are called blessed. They are well off and fortunate because they desire God and receive God. Indeed, they are blessed.

But, reader, to be called blessed when facing persecution is a type of blessedness that most people would not define as blessed. To endure false accusations and the physical and spiritual war that comes with following Christ doesn’t feel blessed. Yet, Christ explains that the blessedness isn’t necessarily in the persecution… the blessedness is what happens after the persecution. Christ says, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven.” The blessedness is in the reward.

Christ also tells us blessed are those who mourn. It would be considered weird and downright rude to tell someone that they are blessed in the midst of their grief. In my better judgment, I’d avoid doing so for the sake of the person’s grieving process. But Jesus called those who mourn blessed, not because they mourn, but because they would be comforted. To be comforted by God, is a type of comfort that no pillow on earth can provide. To be comforted by God is a type of security that is divinely given and cannot be duplicated or replicated by mankind.

Blessed are those who mourn because they are given an opportunity to be consoled by God in indescribable ways. Philippians 4:7 tells us that God offers a peace that surpasses all understanding through Christ. Only those who are mourning can experience this exceedingly high level of peace due to their high level of grief. Though it may be odd, those who mourn are blessed because they can receive abnormal peace, a heaven-sent peace that they couldn’t describe even if they tried.

Jesus calling those who mourn blessed may appear just as odd as what Jesus’s brother, James, wrote in James 1:12. He said, “Blessed is that man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” These proclamations of what it means to be blessed involve hard times, and hard times are never perceived as a blessing. But receiving heavenly rewards makes the believer blessed in the end despite the hardship.

Even upon reading the Book of Revelation, the author calls those who read his letter blessed. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3). The Book of Revelation is the revealing of Christ. It reveals what will happen in the end, so we are blessed to know about Christ and what will transpire.

Dark times and tribulations will occur, but it will all end in victory. No more tears, a new heaven and earth, a restored Eden, but best of all, restoration to our King and God the Father… being with the Love of our life and the Light of the world will be the real reward. And for those who will receive that, for those who are on track to retrieve that great reward at any cost, those people are and will be blessed.

And so, although trials don’t feel like a blessing, it is a blessing to be shaped into who God wants us to be—a holy, complete people perfected in our faith in Christ. No heartache is easy to endure, but if we endure it, we will become pure as gold and one day walk on streets of gold, which is undoubtedly reserved only for those who are blessed—the holy, consecrated people of God.

Reader, I bid you farewell once again. If it’s the Lord’s will, I’ll return next week and conclude this series on what it means to be blessed. Until then, take care, and may God bless you and keep you.

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God bless!