Seeking Happiness God’s Way: an Introduction to the Beatitudes

We all want to be happy. We all want God’s blessing on our lives, but how do we go about it? And does God really want us seeking happiness?

Matthew 5:3-11 contains nine statements made by Jesus, each of which begin with the words “Blessed are…”

That word, “blessed,” literally means “happy.” And while the Bible has much to say against pursuing happiness in sinful pleasures, or in anything apart from Himself, the “beatitudes”, as these statements are called, give us a glimpse into the pursuit of happiness God’s way.

Matthew Henry once said:

“None will find happiness in this world or the next, who do not seek it from Christ by the rule of His Word.”*

The happiness this world longs for and chases after is fleeting and unsubstantial. True, lasting happiness is found in seeking to please God, to glorify Him by living life His way. As Psalm 128:1 says,

“Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways.”

The next nine weeks, I will be sharing a study on each of these “Blessed” statements, and in another post I will share about a Biblical person whom Scripture highlights for that week’s qualities.

But for today, I want to share a little of the background to these statements made by Jesus. In studying out any passage of Scripture, context is key, and this passage is no exception.

In Matthew 4:23-25, we are told,

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And His fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them. And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.”

Jesus had been very busy preaching, teaching, and healing, and now He was being followed by multitudes of people. Here is how He responded:

“And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: and He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying,”

From there, the narrative jumps into the substance of Christ’s teaching, but I want to point out a couple things about His audience.

First of all, it seems to me that the mountain must not have been far away from where the multitudes are gathered. The way it is phrased, I get the picture of Jesus walking partway up a hill, and settling Himself down to teach there, where He could be seen and heard better.

His teaching was obviously directed to His disciples, but the narrative does not indicate that the multitudes were excluded. Matthew Henry describes the disciples as those who “followed Him for love and learning, while others attended Him only for cures.”**

There were two types of people listening that day, those seeking Christ, and those seeking His benefits.

As we begin this series, I think it prudent for each of us to ask ourselves: which are we? Are we seeking God, or just the things God can do for us?

*Matthew Henry, Parallel Commentary of the New Testament. Tennessee, AMG Publishers, 2003. p.13

**Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible in One Volume. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1960. p.1219