What does it mean to be blessed?
Blessing is one of those words people use loosely — for good weather, good health, a good week. Scripture uses it with far more weight: it names both what God gives to people and what people give back to God, and it locates true happiness somewhere other than in circumstances.
The word itself
Commentators point out that the term reaches beyond a passing mood. It describes a condition God confers.
Arend RemmersThe expression "blessed" appears 50 times in the New Testament. It means more than being emotionally happy, because certain circumstances may produce such happiness. To be blessed is more than that. It is the state the Lord Himself gives to those who put His word into practice in their lives.
The original languages use more than one word here, and the difference matters for how we read a passage.
Plumstead ConferenceThere are different words that are translated "blessed" in English, quite a subject in itself... The word 'makarios' means happiness in the highest imaginable state, not from human sources but from God. In the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, when the Lord says "Blessed", it is not quite the same word as in Ephesians; it is not a verb there, but an adjective, which means the highest form of blessing conferred by God. It cannot be equalled by anything on earth from God's side.
Where blessedness starts
The first person Scripture calls blessed is not the successful person but the forgiven one. One writer takes the root idea of the word and turns it toward eternity.
G. V. Wigram"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." What do we understand by being "blessed"? The primary idea of the word is "prosperous." A prosperous man before God is one who knows his sins, and finds the answer to them in God; such a man is marked by happiness. When we look at man, not only as in time, but for eternity, there is no man so prosperous as he who says, "I have nothing but sin in myself, but all my rest is in God."
This blessedness rests on how God reckons, not on what the person has achieved.
James BoydDavid describes the blessedness of the man to whom God reckons righteousness, having no works of his own that would make him righteous in the presence of God... If He dealt with the man according to the man's own works, He would reckon nothing to him but sin, but dealing with him in grace, and on the ground of the blood of Jesus, He reckons him to be righteous.
A fact, not a forecast
For the Christian, blessing is not something still being negotiated with God. It has already been given in full.
Leslie M. GrantThis statement of verse 3 is so amazing and sweeping that many suppose it cannot mean what it says. But it is as plain as language can make it, and absolutely true. It is not a promise, as was given to Abraham, and certainly not a conditional promise on the ground of obedience to law, as was given to Moses, but a present fact absolutely and eternally established. What are these blessings? Two elementary and basic ones are found in verse 7 — redemption and forgiveness of sins. Added to these are a host of others mentioned elsewhere — justification, sanctification, new birth, eternal life, peace, nearness, reconciliation, the gift of the Spirit... He may not understand this, nor enjoy his proper blessings, but this in no way affects the fact that God has blessed him with them all.
Writers note the kind of blessing in view. It is spiritual in character and heavenly in sphere, and it belongs to us only because we belong to Christ.
F. B. HoleOur blessings are spiritual as to their character, heavenly as to the sphere of them, and "in Christ," that is, ours solely because we are identified with our great and glorious Representative and Head.
Blessedness turns human judgment upside down
If blessing depended on comfort, most of the people Jesus called blessed would not qualify.
Andrew MillerPeople in general would say, "Blessed are the rich, who can surround themselves with every comfort; blessed are the joyful, the high-spirited, the independent, who know nothing of hunger and thirst." But the Lord, who was from heaven, and knew the character that suited the kingdom of heaven, says, "Blessed are the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungering and thirsting ones." ... What an unspeakable mercy for all classes that happiness does not depend on our circumstances, nor on how much we possess of this world's goods, but on the state of the mind; or, in one word, on character — a character conformed to Christ; for the Beatitudes are essentially the character of the blessed Lord Himself.
Owning it and enjoying it
Having the blessings and tasting them are two different things — and the difference is where the battle is fought.
Arend RemmersThese cannot rob him of the possession of the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places (for these are secured "in Christ"), but they can deprive him of the enjoyment of them. Therefore, the Christian needs the "whole armour of God" to be able to fight against Satan.
Summary
- Source. Blessedness is happiness of the highest kind, and it comes from God rather than from human sources or circumstances.
- Start. It begins where sin is forgiven and not counted — the truly prosperous person is the one who admits he has nothing but sin in himself and rests wholly in God.
- Scope. For the Christian it is not a promise waiting on conditions but a settled fact: every spiritual blessing, already given, in Christ.
- Shape. It reverses what people assume, resting on a character conformed to Christ — poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering — not on comfort or possessions.
- Savour. No enemy can take these blessings away, but he can spoil your enjoyment of them; that is why the armour of God is needed.