Mateus 5

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,*‘Meek’ is not ‘weak’, it is power under control. It was said of Moses that he was the meekest man in his time, precisely because he was also the most powerful. Jesus said of Himself that He was ‘meek’, and He was also powerful.

for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those hungering and thirsting for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.*In James 2:12-13 we read: "Speak and act as being those who are about to be judged by a law of liberty (the judgment will be without mercy to the one not showing mercy). That law exalts mercy over judgment." This accords with the description that Jehovah gave of Himself to Moses, on that rarest of occasions: "Jehovah, God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth; keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children unto the third and the fourth generation" (Exodus 34:6-7). He keeps mercy to the 1000th generation, He punishes to the 4th; the proportion is 250:1. That is why it is important that we show mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted on account of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.*These ‘beatitudes’ are in the third person and so presumably of general application. From verse 11 on Jesus uses the second person and so the specific application is presumably to His disciples. The first and last of these ‘beatitudes’ say, "theirs is the kingdom of the heavens". In Matthew 18:3 the Lord will say we have to become like little children to enter the Kingdom—that is being ‘poor in spirit’. To face persecution, you must be committed.

For disciples

11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and speak all kinds of evil against you, lying, because of Me. 12 Rejoice and exult, because your reward in the heavens is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.