Matthew 5:1-12
When Jesus spoke these words, he had sat down with his disciples. These are not generic "words to live by" that get published in the Sunday magazine section. These are words Jesus spoke particularly to the disciples. That is why they went up the mountain to be alone.
The word translated as "blessed" is commonly translated today as "happy." Robert Schuller wrote a book titled The Be Happy Attitudes. There is a joy the word implies. The problem with the word "happy" is that it is rooted in the old English word "hap" which means chance. These are not things that occur by chance. They are part of the structure of the Kingdom of God.
A number of years ago the cartoonist Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts cartoon strip, produced a series of books under the title Happ…