¹When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
 ³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 ⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
 ⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
 ⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
 ⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
 ⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
 ⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
 ¹⁰“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 ¹¹“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

-oOo-

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

I’ll bet you thought we were done with Epiphany, didn’t you?  Well, today is the Fourth Sunday after the acknowledgement of the Wise Men that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the foretold king of the Jews.

But, as we learned last Sunday there were epiphanies before these three astrologers visited Jesus in his infancy, and many more acknowledgements of Jesus’ nature were to come after them.  This morning finds Jesus preaching his very first sermon, and this may be the most important epiphany of all, as he sets the stage for the manner in which his entire ministry will unfold.  He has been healing the crowds that have begun to follow him and now he ascends the mountain to teach his first disciples.  He wants them to know right from the start, that things aren’t going to be the way they have been.  In this, his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ very first public preaching, he turns everything upside-down.  How’s that for an epiphany?  The long-awaited Messiah, in his very first sermon announces that those hearing his words are “blessed” if they are poor, meek, hungry, etc.  Makes you wonder if this is the message they were expecting and if his disciples and the crowds might already be having some second thoughts about this Jesus.  After all, people who are experiencing persecution or are in mourning don’t tend to feel that they are particularly blessed.

Let’s take a look at the Greek word that the bible version used by Lutherans defines as “blessed”.  It is ‘makarios’, and while “blessed” is one of the ways it is translated, the more suitable uses are “satisfied”, “contented”, and most appropriately, “happy”.  In fact, this word appears in the very first line of the very first Psalm.  It states that one who is righteous and loves obeying the Word of God is ”truly happy”.  Perhaps it’s best to consider this different translation when hearing Jesus’ words from his Sermon on the Mount.  The Bible has been translated in over 700 languages and there are 104 different versions in English.  Let’s not forget that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek, while the original speakers, including Jesus spoke Aramaic.  One of these versions is the Common English Bible, and here is their version of Jesus’ first sermon, replacing “blessed” with “happy”.  This leads the hearer to affirm a more interior contentment with the knowledge of how the current state of the world, and their individual lives will be radically different with the fulfilment of the Kingdom of God.  “Blessed”?  Yes, indeed, but more so, reassured, content, satisfied.        

Hear the Holy Gospel according to Matthew, in the fifth chapter, from the Common English Bible:

1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. 2 He taught them, saying:

3 “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.  4 “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad.  5 “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.  6 “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full.  7 “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy.  8 “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God.  9 “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.  10 “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 11 “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. 12 Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you. 

This use of “happy” for ‘makarios’ emphasizes the ultimate contentment and satisfaction of the people Jesus describes, who would otherwise be considered unfortunate.  Again, this upside-down nature of the way Jesus describes the world as it is in relation to the way the Kingdom of Heaven will be, declares that they, and we ought to take comfort in the promise of the assurance of a better life to come.  The Hebrew people, up until the time of Christ were bound fully by adherence to the Law of Moses, and a great deal of the Old Testament writings center on the predicted wrath of God and the punishments thought to come from a God who was portrayed as being angry or dissatisfied by the actions of the people.  There was a sense of reward and punishment; “obey God’s Law and you will be rewarded; disobey and a wrathful God will punish you for your disobedience”.  It would have been shocking to those listening to Jesus’ sermon, to hear that their sufferings now would become blessings when God’s reign on earth would come to fruition.  And surely, people ought to be happy at hearing this news.  For us, this makes a great deal of sense, knowing as we do about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the eternal life he secured.  But, for those listening on the Mount, nothing would have sounded more upside-down.

Whether they heard that they were “blessed’ in their meekness, hunger, persecution, or mourning; or whether they ought to be “happy” that they faced these circumstances, Jesus’ is letting them know that no matter their tribulations now that they will nonetheless receive God’s promise of the kingdom.  So, where do find ourselves regarding the translation of the Greek?  Do we accept the traditional use of blessed, or are we more comfortable with the more accurate rendition of happy?  And how does any of this result in an epiphany?  Well, taken together, it all adds up; we can take this away from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. 

The epiphany is that Jesus Christ the Son of God proclaims that his entire ministry will consist of him continually turning everything the world thinks is true on its head.  The unfortunate ones now will receive joy at the coming of the kingdom of God.  And ‘makarios’?  Well, it’s probably best if we hold tight to both translations.  For, by the will of God, we will be blessed with comfort, mercy, and righteousness, in spite of the afflictions we endure now.  And that promise, that assurance of these blessings to come should make us very happy, indeed.

Will you pray with me?  Good, and gracious, and holy God, you promise your people blessings beyond compare.  You assure us that your heavenly kingdom will reverse all the trials that befall us in the earthly realm.  We imagine the blessings that await us and we are happy to know that we are the inheritors of your mercy and grace.  And we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the One who teaches us that we are blessed.  And the One whose Word brings us happiness.

God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good.  Amen.