The Beatitudes Expanded Part 1

Matthew, Chapters 5-7 are known as the "Sermon on the Mount". Matthew 5, verses 1-12, are known as the "Beatitudes," meaning "blessings." JESUS outlines eight characteristics of Christians who have the right attitude for salvation, ie, the attitude that we need to be blessed. The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Like modern English, Greek was the business language understood my most people in the ancient middle east. The English words used in a word-for-word translation of the BIBLE often do not give full justice to the layered meanings of ancient words. Here is an expanded translation of the blessings and a short discussion of the rest of Matthew Chapter 5, in modern English.

Verse	Explanation
1-12	JESUS said, blessed are:   The poor in spirit. (People who are humble enough to recognize that they are spiritually weak and need to beg GOD for the spiritual improvement/perfection that leads to salvation.) Those who mourn. (Those who are troubled about their own sinfulness, the sinfulness of the world, and sad (in mourning) for sinners who are spiritually dead (unless they repent). The meek. (Meek doesn’t mean weak like a baby. Moses was described as the meekest man in the world, but as GOD’s spokesman, he presided over the destruction of Egypt, the most powerful nation on earth. Meekness means to exercise power and authority gently and with kindness.) Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. (People who desire to be Christlike and go after it every day. They look forward to the time that GOD will rule with true justice.) The merciful. (Those who treat others like they want to be treated, and forgive in order to be forgiven by GOD.) The pure in heart. (People who have the right internal attitude for salvation - not double minded or hypocritical.) The peacemakers. (Those that make peace between GOD and the sinner – ie, those who bring the lost to Christ by action and example.) Those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me”. (Notice that this is the ultimate blessing. People who withstand trials, attacks, and suffering while maintaining their Christian example have a favored place in Heaven.)
13-16	Be an example and draw men to CHRIST.  Your “candle”, ie, righteous behavior is a light in the darkness of the sinful world.
17-20	JESUS fulfilled, accomplished or satisfied the prophecies and promises concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament. HE also satisfied the terms of the agreement (salvation) that the Jews had misunderstood. Belief in JESUS - through a sinless inner attitude - is the way to greater righteousness than can be obtained by external obedience to ritual religion – like that of the Pharisees.
21-42	Verses 21-42 restate the Old Testament law as spiritual requirements. JESUS points to having the correct inner attitude (reflecting the Beatitudes), as opposed to maintaining the appearance of righteousness (ritual religion) which characterized the Pharisees.
21-22	Hate and prideful contempt for other people; looking down on and judging them worthy of damnation is an attitude that is as bad as murder.
23-26	The accuser can be seen as satan reminding GOD (the judge) of your sins. Your time to make peace, ie, to admit and repent of your sins is your time on earth (while walking in the way).
27-30	Lust, even when not acted on, (per the New Testament) is as bad as physical adultery because it is your real internal desire – your true self that GOD sees just as plainly as the people around you see your face. The poor in spirit and pure in heart are sincerely seeking relief from sinful inner thoughts and attitudes.
31-32	Divorce and remarriage is adultery. One must look at the other New Testament verses concerned with divorce to determine how this applies to their life. Bottom line – dumping one spouse just because you want to marry someone else meets the BIBLE definition of adultery.
33-37	Do not make oaths or take vows. Occult religion is dominated by oath taking and is emblematic of man exercising his own will. The Pharisees had a tradition of making false oaths with hidden meanings as a way to lie, (especially to non-Jews) while feigning righteousness.
38-42	Do not exact revenge. Allowing GOD to repay those sinning against you, instead of fighting back, is a show of faith in real time. To lend or give without expecting a return is the right attitude.
43-48	Loving your enemies is approaching the perfection of GOD. JESUS forgave his murderers while HE was being tortured to death on the cross. The Pharisees didn’t realize that they were being driven by satan and demons to mock JESUS. We often don’t realize, in the heat of the moment, that when people are coming against us for no reason – they are being driven by demons.