Matthew 5:1-12

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“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[a] 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 5:1-12

Jesus has begun his ministry and has called his first disciples.  He has also gathered a large following since great crowds are coming to him from all over.  Now that we have come to chapter 5, this begins Jesus' first big teaching in the book of Matthew.  The sermon on the mount begins with what is often referred to as The Beatitudes.  There are a number of different things that Jesus says here that starts with "Blessed are...".  I don't actually understand this very well nor can I speak on this with great confidence.  I know there have been a number of different teachings from this that sprout all kinds of weird things.  The most notable that comes to mind is that the afterlife consists of "heaven on earth".  While this may or may not be true, I don't think we can gather strong scriptural evidence of this merely from "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth".  Rather, the beatitudes probably point us towards a way in which Jesus is a blessing as opposed to a curse.  Though, I guess you could argue the other way since he will in a sense become a curse for us as we read about in Galatians.  Jesus seems to speak to all people of all different kinds and he speaks blessing to them.  Jesus is not exclusive as if to be directed only to the Jews or only to the healthy.  In him there is hope and in him there is blessing.