blessing – HIS WORDS, HIS WORKS, HIS WAYS

The word “blessed” has become a commonly-used cliché in Christian circles. I recently heard someone suggest, while giving advice on how to be a Christian witness in the workplace, that we signal our Christian faith by saying “I am blessed” rather than “I am lucky/fortunate” when something good happens in our lives. For further insight, check out #blessed on Twitter. Or maybe not. It’s a pretty shocking display of the phenomenon I’m about to describe, which is not at all in line with how “blessed” is used in the New Testament.

Contemporary believers love to invoke the word “blessed” in reference to their achievements – buying a new, lavish car or home, sitting down to an extravagant meal, receiving recognition for talent, etc. After following #blessed on Twitter for a little while, I can conclude that it’s particularly well-used among high school and college athletes sharing their accomplishments. Well, we love to share the great things in our lives, and I admit that I do myself sometimes. But the question came to me: “When we find the word ‘blessed’ in the Bible, what does it mean? Is it used the same way we are using it?”

First of all, I do believe that the Old Testament looks at “blessing/blessed” in a broad sense. Material blessing (livestock and other property) is bestowed upon people like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. David and Solomon are blessed with a strong kingdom. Others are even blessed with victory over their enemies. Still others receive a “blessing” from their fathers (remember the blessing that Jacob stole from Esau?) Wealth, land, political sovereignty, physical protection, all are considered “blessing” along with spiritual blessings given by God. I would contend that this understanding is pretty much in line with how many Christians use the term today.

But what about the New Testament? As Christians, when we discover that a concept is used radical differently in the New Testament than the Old, we need to consider that and take seriously the New Testament understanding. Jesus is the Word of God in a more fundamental way than the words of Scripture, and we use His teaching as a lens to understand the whole Bible. I have undertaken to study how “bless/blessed/blessing” is used in the New Testament, and share some observations.

First, there are two sets of Greek words that are used for bless/blessed/blessing. The first is makarios and the words related to it. This is used about fifty times in the New Testament. This word generally carries the sense of “fortunate, prosperous, happy.”

The other family of words is eulogeo (the verb) and eulogia (the noun, meaning “blessing”) and other related forms of the same word. These are used about sixty-five times, many times in reference to God. The basic meaning of this word is “to speak well of.” People can be spoken well of, or receive a well-spoken word. One form, eulogetos, seems to be reserved for God, as in Mark 14:61 when the high priest asks Jesus, “Are you the Christ, the son of the Blessed?” Forms of this word are also used in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament, produced before the time of Christ) in Genesis 12:2-3 (when Abram is “blessed to bless all the peoples of the earth”) and in reference to the “blessing” that Jacob stole from Esau in Genesis 27.

Although there are these subtleties, I don’t think it makes a great difference which of these words is used in each case. More importantly, we should consider how they are used and in what ways people are called “blessed.” I’ve done a careful study, and made the following observations.

1. When Jesus arrived on the scene, one of his first teachings was a set of statements we call the Beatitudes.:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:3-12

Anything about a nice car or house in there? Nope. Anything about winning sports games or having good-looking, well-behaved and successful kids? Nope. In fact, in a similar teaching in Luke 6, Jesus simply says “Blessed are the poor.” Let’s read the whole thing.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” Luke 6:20-23.

And let’s not neglect to keep reading.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” Luke 6:20-26.

So, if the Old Testament idea of blessing includes material prosperity, comfort, physical protection, land, children, etc., and Jesus takes it upon himself to talk about blessing in a completely different way, do you think He’s trying to tell us something? Do you think we should pay attention to this? Just maybe.

2. Even earlier in the gospels, Mary is called blessed

Mary, the mother of Jesus, after the visitation of the angel who announced the conception of Christ, went to visit her relative Elizabeth. Upon seeing her, Elizabeth said:

“Blessed (eulogeo) are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed (makarios) is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed” (makarizo, meaning “call me makarios”). Luke 1:43-48

Let’s remember how Mary’s life turned out. Did she end up with a big house, and roll around in a fancy chariot? Nope. Lots of servants? Doesn’t seem that way. When Mary and Joseph presented Jesus at the temple, they offered a sacrifice of two birds – the sacrifice required of the poor. They weren’t cheapskates, they were poor. They probably weren’t worse-off than others; most people in their community would have been poor. But they weren’t wealthy either. There is no reason to believe this changed over time.

Not only was she poor, but Mary suffered in other ways. During this time in the temple they met a man named Simeon. Among other things, he told Mary, “a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:35). Mary suffered as a result of the suffering of her son.

Yes, Mary was blessed, she was honored to be the mother of Jesus! But she was not blessed with a life of wealth and ease. She lived a life of poverty and suffering. So, we too can be blessed through poverty and suffering.

3. There is another kind of blessing even greater than that given to Mary

In Luke 11:27-28, we see the following interaction: “As [Jesus] said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed [makarios] is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (That’s a bit awkward; the NIV softens this by saying “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you,” which gets at the meaning. Anyway, Jesus is saying that we, who hear and keep God’s word are even more blessed than Mary! The honor that Mary has received during and since her life on earth is pretty much on par with the blessing given to those who hear and obey the word of God. Amazing.

4. Those who are blessed are the ones who recognize, accept, and follow Jesus.

Let’s take a quick look at some of those who Jesus and the apostles call “makarios”:

The one who does not fall away/be offended/stumble because of Jesus. Matt. 11:6
Those who extend hospitality to the poor, crippled, lame and blind. Luke 14:13-14.
Those who follow Jesus’ example of service. John 13:17, after the washing of the disciples’ feet.
Those who believe without seeing. John 20:29.
Those whose sins are forgiven and not counted against them. Rom. 4:7-8.
The one who remains steadfast under trial. James 1:12 and 5:11.
Those who suffer for righteousness’ sake. 1 Peter 3:14.
Those who are insulted for the name of Christ. 1 Peter 4:14.
The one who reads the words of the prophecy, along with those who hear and keep it. Rev. 1:3.
The one who keeps the words of the prophecy. Rev. 22:7.

And a few of those called “eulogeo”. Jesus did not use this word a lot.

Those who inherit the kingdom because they fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, invited the stranger, visited the prisoner, and helped the sick. Matt. 25:34.
Those who have faith. Galatians 3:9

Also, the “blessing” (eulogia) is for:

The Gentiles who receive the Spirit through faith. Gal. 3:14.
The earth, which receives the blessing of rain. Hebrews 6:7
We who receive spiritual blessings in Christ. Ephesians 1:3.
We who bless those who are evil to us. 1 Peter 3:9.

5. The idea of blessing from God being material things that we can use as we wish is simply not present in the New Testament.

In this extensive study, I have found only a couple times when “blessing” refers to something physical.

One is simply an illustration from nature: “For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.” Hebrews 6:7-8. This is in the context of calling believers to hold to their faith (faith and the spirit being gifts of God) and not fall away. So, it’s actually about spiritual things.

Another is Acts 20:35, when Paul quotes an otherwise unknown saying of Jesus: “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed [makarios] to give than to receive.'” So, this may refer to material blessing, but Jesus is calling us to give them away.

Finally, we have a passage in Romans, in which Paul is discussing the collection for the poor in Jerusalem. The ESV says, “For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.” (Rom. 15:27). So, is this makarios or eulogeo? Neither. The original Greek only says “spiritual things” and “material things.” The KJV, NKJV and Arabic Van Dyke all get this right, but the ESV and NIV feel the need to put “blessings” in there for some reason. The NRSV, interestingly, splits the difference by saying “spiritual blessings” and “material things.” Hmmm. Anyway, this passage is not really relevant to our study.

So what?

What does this mean for us? Why should we care? First, we should probably stop talking about “nice stuff” as blessings. Scott, at Accidental Missionary talks about how we should stop saying this

Also, we should probably confess that we use the word a lot, and it does not mean what we think it means.

Next, we need to have a clear understanding of how everything changed when Jesus came. All those material blessings (flocks, food, a promised land, family, etc.) were meant to point to the greater blessing in Jesus. When Jesus came, he relativized all of that. Think of a man and woman who are engaged to be married and the man is called off to war. As he leaves his beloved, he gives her a photo of himself in a locket to remember him by. It’s a beautiful photo and a beautiful locket. The whole time he is away, she treasures that photo as it helps her remember him and focus on him, as she prays and longs for his safe return. After he returns, imagine that she continues to gaze at the photo, while virtually ignoring him. She is stuck on the item that is supposed to be a reminder, while the real thing is right there. That’s what material blessings are for us. Forget them! Focus on the real thing! Actually, the photo is still nice, but its value is minimal compared to the real thing. So are physical blessings. In fact, their value is so minimal, we should be ready to give them away to help ourselves and others grow closer to the real thing, Jesus.

Cars, homes, money, etc. are all tools given to be used for the glory of God. If we make them about our personal enjoyment or showing off our success, we have missed out. Sure, get a reliable car, so that you can get around to fulfill God’s calling in your life. Buy a Toyota or a Ford. But if you’re set on getting a new Mercedes or Porsche, maybe you should look at your priorities. Sure, buy a home where you can rest and rejuvenate for the good deeds God has called you to, and consider a spare room for someone in need. But if you’re in the market for an opulent home to show off your success, you should look at your priorities.

Now, what about calling children a blessing? The New Testament doesn’t refer to them that way, but I still think it’s okay to call children a blessing. But consider: if your children aren’t perfect, are they still a blessing? If they have disabilities, or emotional and psychological struggles, or if they rebel, are they still a blessing? Don’t reserve your use of “blessing” only for children who are attractive, athletic, intelligent and well-behaved. Children are one way God works to change us, and our children have certainly caused us to grow and to understand more deeply God’s love and character. In that sense, they are very much a blessing.

Thanks for sticking with me through this. As I studied these concepts, I was personally affected, and I hope you will be too.

Finally, remember the blessing that comes in suffering. Remember what Peter wrote: “even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed” (1 Pet. 3:14) and “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. “ (1 Pet. 4:12-14).