Blessed or Happy?
And he opened his mouth, and taught them saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:2, 3.
In Matthew 5-7 we find the most famous sermon ever preached. The Sermon on the Mount begins with eight sayings that we have come to know as the Beatitudes. Each of them begins with the Greek word makarios, which we can translate in several ways, including "blessed" (NIV, KJV, RSV) and "happy" (Philips and TLB).
But we have a problem if we render it "happy." After all, we all have our unhappy days in spite of our faith in Jesus. Of course, there is a sense in which believers are always happy and have a right to be so, because they are already members of God's kingdom. But even citizens of the kingdom still have some miserable days when "dumpy" is the only adequate way to describe their feelings.
And "feelings" is the key word in that sentence. I would like to suggest that "happy" is an inadequate translation of makarios because most of us view happiness as a subjective state. That is, happiness is how we feel. We feel either sad or happy.
But the Christian life is not based on a subjective feeling. I once had a young student come to my office saying that he was upset because he didn't feel happy. Those feelings had led to deep spiritual discouragement. After all, didn't Jesus repeatedly say that if people were Christians they would be happy? Therefore, since he wasn't happy he must not be a Christian. Something must be wrong with his life, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He had arrived at the pit of despair.
I explained to him that he had it all wrong--that our acceptance with God does not rest on subjective feelings of happiness or sadness, but in the objective fact that Jesus died for our sins and that all who accept His sacrifice in faith have already been forgiven and become citizens of the kingdom of heaven. In other words, my student friend was blessed by God no matter how he felt.
Thus even though I may not feel happy about being "persecuted for righteousness' sake" (Matt. 5:10), I can still have peace because I have been blessed by Jesus. That is a fact. And while there is a sense in which I can be happy about that peace of heart, blessedness is more than happiness. Blessedness is a reality that no dumpy day can take away from me.
And he opened his mouth, and taught them saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:2, 3.
In Matthew 5-7 we find the most famous sermon ever preached. The Sermon on the Mount begins with eight sayings that we have come to know as the Beatitudes. Each of them begins with the Greek word makarios, which we can translate in several ways, including "blessed" (NIV, KJV, RSV) and "happy" (Philips and TLB).
But we have a problem if we render it "happy." After all, we all have our unhappy days in spite of our faith in Jesus. Of course, there is a sense in which believers are always happy and have a right to be so, because they are already members of God's kingdom. But even citizens of the kingdom still have some miserable days when "dumpy" is the only adequate way to describe their feelings.
And "feelings" is the key word in that sentence. I would like to suggest that "happy" is an inadequate translation of makarios because most of us view happiness as a subjective state. That is, happiness is how we feel. We feel either sad or happy.
But the Christian life is not based on a subjective feeling. I once had a young student come to my office saying that he was upset because he didn't feel happy. Those feelings had led to deep spiritual discouragement. After all, didn't Jesus repeatedly say that if people were Christians they would be happy? Therefore, since he wasn't happy he must not be a Christian. Something must be wrong with his life, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He had arrived at the pit of despair.
I explained to him that he had it all wrong--that our acceptance with God does not rest on subjective feelings of happiness or sadness, but in the objective fact that Jesus died for our sins and that all who accept His sacrifice in faith have already been forgiven and become citizens of the kingdom of heaven. In other words, my student friend was blessed by God no matter how he felt.
Thus even though I may not feel happy about being "persecuted for righteousness' sake" (Matt. 5:10), I can still have peace because I have been blessed by Jesus. That is a fact. And while there is a sense in which I can be happy about that peace of heart, blessedness is more than happiness. Blessedness is a reality that no dumpy day can take away from me.
RSS Feed
