Here we see Jesus begin His famous Sermon on the Mount. He begins His introduction with a series of paradoxical statements, famously known as the beatitudes. While many have thought this is a sermon on ethics, it is a sermon on salvation. It is a declaration of who is in His kingdom and who is not. In these for four statements -or beatitudes- Jesus gives us an opportunity to self-reflect. They are four marks of a converted soul. Are we of Him and among the blessed, or are we not of Him and among the cursed- This is the question He wants His audience to wrestle with, and it is His question to us. These are the indicators of a redeemed heart, and therefore, who is blessed.