What Does "Blessed" Mean? (The Beatitudes Pt. 1)

Sermon on the Mount E4 – What does Jesus mean when he calls people “blessed” in the first section of the Sermon on the Mount? The Greek word translated as “blessed” is makarios, and its Hebrew equivalent is ashrey, which means “the good life.” But there’s another Hebrew word for blessing, barukh, which refers to blessings from God. In this episode, Tim, Jon, and guests unpack what it means to be blessed according to Jesus’ counterintuitive message as he ushers in the kingdom of the skies. 

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Timestamps 

• Chapter 1: What Jesus Means by “Blessed” (00:00-13:24)
• Chapter 2: The Meaning of Ashrey in Other Hebrew Literature (13:24-17:55)
• Chapter 3: What Is the Good Life? (17:55-21:06)
• Chapter 4: Jesus Reframes the Good Life (21:06-33:33)

Referenced Resources

• The Wisdom of Ben-Sira (Ecclesiasticus) by Yeshua Ben Sirach
• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• Original Sermon on the Mount music by Richie Kohen
• BibleProject theme song by TENTS

Show Credits

Dan Gummel is the Creative Producer for today’s show. Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer; Cooper Peltz, managing producer; Colin Wilson, producer; and Stephanie Tam, consultant and editor. Tyler Bailey and Yanii Evans are our audio editors. Tyler Bailey is also our audio engineer, and he provided our sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Special thanks to Ben Tertin, Breon Gummel, and Rick McKinley. Today’s hosts are Jon Collins and Michelle Jones.

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