Matthew 5:1-5 (ESV) - When Jesus began to teach His disciples with the Sermon on the Mount, He began with the Beatitudes. Even though our English Bibles say “Blessed are such-and-such,” the Beatitudes are not blessings as we normally think of that word. Instead of announcing a blessing, Jesus was saying, “The people with these characteristics, they have an irrefutable good thing, a nearly transcendent ideal. As long as they have that good thing, that good life, they are fortunate and blessed beyond measure.” But the sort of characteristics Jesus describes are not the sort we call happy or fortunate. Having a poor spirit? Being mournful and meek? Where’s the blessing in that? As we prepare to begin reading through the Beatitudes, let us pray for humility to learn from the feet of Jesus and willingness to be shaped by His good will for us.