How "Happy" are You? (Matthew 5:3) [Makarios]; Outline of Matthew

"Happy are those who are poor in spirit, for it is to them that the kingdom of heaven belongs" (R. T. France).

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:3, NIV).

"God blesses the beggars in spirit because theirs is Heavens' Empire" (Scot McKnight).

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Lk 6:20).

• "To be poor in spirit means that you have nothing, and your heart relies on nothing of your own doing, but you depend entirely upon the grace and mercy of God." Martin Luther.
  
"Man has to be humbled to the dust before he can be a Christian. Until a man knows his spiritual bankruptcy, he can never truly receive the kingdom of heaven." D. Martyn Lloyd Jones.

Utter misery precedes unprecedented joy

"Blessed/Happy..." (Ps 1:1; 32:1-2; 40:4; 119:1-2; 128:1; Mt 11:6; 13:16; 16:17; 24:46; Lk 1:45; 10:23; 11:27-29, etc) [Gk adjective makarios; verb makarizō (Lk 1:48; Jas 5:11); derivative noun makarismos (Rom 4:6, 9)]. Such "macarisms" are normally single statements; they are essentially commendations, congratulations, statements to the effect that a person is in a good situation, sometimes even expressions of envy.

No English word fully captures the sense of makarios; the translation of "happy," despite its inappropriately psychological connotations, could be regarded as the least inadequate option in current English, for makarios does not state that a person feels happy (Mt 5:4), but that they are in a "happy" situation, one which other people ought to wish to share. "Fortunate" gets close to the sense, but has inappropriate connotations of luck. "Congratulations to..." would convey much of the impact of a "macarism," but perhaps sounds too colloquial/informal. "Good on you" or "Well done" [Australian idiom "Good on yer" is perhaps as close as any to the sense]. "White is their world" [Welsh rendering of the Beatitudes], an evocative idiom for those for whom everything is good. Beautitudes are descriptions and commendations of the good life.

Outline (The Gospel of Matthew, R. T. France. The New International Commentary on the New Testament):

I. Introducing the Messiah (1:1-4:11).

II. Galilee: The Messiah revealed in word and deed (4:12-16:20).

* The Messiah's authority revealed in his teaching: The Discourse on Discipleship (5:1-7:29).

III. From Galilee to Jerusalem: The Messiah and his followers prepare for the confrontation (16:21-20:34).

IV. Jerusalem: The Messiah in confrontation with the religious authorities (21:1-25:46).

V. Jerusalem: The Messiah rejected, killed, and vindicated (26:1-28:15).

VI. Galilee: The Messianic mission is launched (18:16-20).

"Blessed are those who mourn..."

John Calvin: "Mourning here does not mean a mere fleeting sorrow, but a deep grief of the soul over our sins and the miseries of this world that separate us from God."
Charles Spurgeon: "Holy mourning leads to holy comfort. The tears of repentance water the soil where the flowers of paradise grow."

"Blessed are the meek..."

A.W. Tozer: "Meekness is not weakness. It is the glory of the quiet heart that has ceased to struggle for its own way and rests completely in God's hands."
Augustine of Hippo: "Meekness yields to God. It does not resist Him when He corrects us, but accepts His gentle guidance."

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness..."

C.H. Spurgeon: "A man does not merely wish for righteousness when he hungers and thirsts; he aches for it, he cries out for it as a starving man craves bread."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "The follower of Jesus hungers for the ultimate justice and righteousness of God's kingdom to break into a broken world."