In the Gospel of Matthew, starting in Chapter 5, Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount, beginning with the Eight Beatitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of eaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your Reward will be great in Heaven.
Thus they persecuted the Prophets who were before you.”
Jesus exhorts us to persevere and take comfort that God is Just and Merciful, and that God’s Way will prevail in the end.
We see a before-and-after focus for each point Christ makes. He speaks of what is experienced, endured or exemplified now, and what will happen later.
We also see Jesus exhort us to certain virtues and virtuous action, such as:
- humility
- mercy
- purity, cleanness of heart
- peacemaking
- perseverance in fidelity to God, even in the face of persecution
- Jesus also speaks of hungering and thirsting for righteousness
- when Jesus speaks of mourning, is that to promise comfort? or is He praising the capacity to mourn, because it implies caring and valuing other persons, as opposed to apathy
