In Matthew 5:3-9, Jesus describes seven characteristics of people who are blessed. According to theologian, Herschel Hobbs, those descriptions symbolized “the nature of the kingdom citizen.” He interpreted them as follows:

• The Poor in Spirit. “Those who recognize that they are sinners, who possess nothing which merits their approach to God.”
• Those Who Mourn. People who feel deep sorrow “as for the dead” over their own sins and the sinfulness of others.
• The Meek. “The teachable ones who submit themselves to God.”
• Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness. People who are “never satisfied with their achievements,” but who instead constantly desire to see God’s perfect will on display in life.
• The Merciful. A person who is able to figuratively “get inside another’s skin so as to see his needs as one’s own.”
• The Pure in Heart. Those who are “clean, sincere…with nothing between the soul and the Savior.”
• The Peacemakers. Those who work toward reconciliation and harmony “between God and man, and between man and man.”

Works Cited:

[ILJ, 89-90]

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