The Beatitudes: Paradoxical Promises of the New Covenant

The Beatitudes, when read honestly and squarely, are very bizarre proclamations by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.

These sayings by Jesus are not just niceties or good wishes that we can simply gloss over; they are paradoxical promises about how suffering operates in the New Covenant Kingdom, and they are very difficult to comprehend and, quite frankly, to live out.

If they don't shock you, then you may want to take another look at them.

For, these sayings don't operate the way we would think.

Jesus calls those who are mourning, impoverished, and weeping as "Happy" (Makarios). This seems so counterintuitive.

In Deuteronomy, Moses promised physical and material blessings to those who kept the law and were faithful to God's covenant. Jesus seems to reverse this declaration.

Check out this video above, which comes from Dr. Pitre's series, The Mass Readings Explained, where he covers these topics.



You can also check out Dr. Pitre's Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew where he covers the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew:

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