These verses, the opening phrases of the Sermon on the Mount, hold some of the Bible’s most beautiful and best-loved poetry. Part of its beauty, though, lies in the fact that the meaning is not quite clear. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? What does it mean to “inherit the earth” or to be called “the children of God.” The fact that there are many possibilities causes us to linger over the phrases, pondering them.

Understood in the internal sense, these blessings show the spiritual states of the various people who could be receptive of the Lord and the new church he was launching. On a deeper level it shows that states within ourselves that can lead each of us to the Lord and to a deeper understanding of His truth today.

The “poor in spirit” are those who know little about spiritual things, but want to learn. Those that “mourn” are those who want to be good, but see no desire for good in their church. The “meek” are those who love to care for and serve others. To “hunger and thirst after righteousness” shows a desire to rise up, to learn about what’s good and to come to desire it.

The “merciful” are those who love their fellow people. The “pure in heart” are those who love only what is good. “Peacemakers” are those who are in harmony with the Lord, gaining knowledge from Him and wanting what He wants. And to be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” means acting out of love and care for others, even though you are condemned by others for it.

There’s something of a progression there, from those who simply want to learn to those who actively want to be good people to those who actually are good and acting out of love for others. None of it, though, describes those who are learned in the Jewish traditions, or even necessarily observant in terms of ritual; they are, rather, those who sense that it is possible to be a good person and are willing to make the effort.

And they are promised their rewards! The “kingdom of heaven” is the understanding the angels have of the Lord; “comfort” represents ideas that lead to the good of life; “inheriting the earth” is a state of loving others and being loved by them in return. The overall message is simple: If we truly wish to be good people, and are willing to let the Lord teach us how to be good people, we will end up filled with love and wisdom from Him. And that’s what we need to focus on: The desire to be good, and openness to ideas from the Lord. It’s not about ritual and intellectual “correctness”; it’s about ideas that lead us to be good.

But what of being reviled and persecuted? This depicts temptation, when the hells attack our newborn good desires and true understanding. They cause us to doubt our ability to be truly good and question the ideas that are leading us. And they can do it in many ways, reminding us of the fun we’ll be missing or reminding us of all the bad things we’ve ever done to render us hopeless. They will even attack the Bible and the ideas that come to us through it from the Lord; that’s represented by the idea that people also attacked the prophets.

These states, however, are blessed in their own way; only by battling these evils, which are rooted inside us, can we finally fully embrace the good life we have been striving for. That’s why it is pictured last, and that's why it leads to the “great reward” in heaven.

10149. 'And it will be sanctified in My glory' means reception of Divine Truth from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'being sanctified' as the reception of what is Divine from the Lord, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'glory' as Divine Truth, dealt with in 4809, 5922, 8267, 9429. 'Being sanctified' means reception of what is Divine from the Lord because the Lord alone is holy, and therefore everything holy comes from Him, 9229, and also because Divine Truth emanating from Him is what is meant by 'holy' in the Word, 9818. But at this point, where the children of Israel, burnt offerings and sacrifices, the tent of meeting, and the altar are the subject, that which is representative of it is meant by 'holy' and 'being sanctified'. The reason for this is that among the Israelite and Jewish nation all things were representative of the inner realities of the Church, which are matters of faith and love received from and offered back to the Lord. For the Church established among that nation was a representative Church.

[2] This being so, all outward objects served to mean and represent such things as the internal sense teaches about; and it is on account of this that those objects were called holy, such as the altar, fire on it, burnt offering, fat, and blood; the tent of meeting, the table there on which the loaves of the presence were placed, table of incense, lampstand, and all their vessels; in particular the ark with the Testimony in it; and in addition the loaves, cakes, and wafers - which were called minchahs - oil, and frankincense; as well as Aaron's garments, such as the ephod, robe, tunic, turban, and in particular the breastplate. Aaron himself was called holy, and so too were the children of Israel. But none of those objects or people were holy, other than for the reason that they served to represent and so to mean holy things, that is, Divine things which come from the Lord; for these alone are holy.

[3] People who do not look beyond outward forms to inward realities suppose that such objects were holy not by virtue of what they represented but because they were intrinsically holy after they had been dedicated. But those people are completely mistaken. If they venerate those objects as being intrinsically holy, they venerate earthly things, and are not far off being like those who venerate pieces of stone or wood, as idolaters do. But people who venerate the realities that are represented or meant, that is, holy and Divine things, are the ones who engage in true worship; for to them outward objects are merely mediate causes ¹ enabling them to think about and desire such realities as constitute the essentials of the Church, which, as has been stated above, are matters of faith and love received from and offered back to the Lord.

[4] The situation is similar at the present day with the Holy Supper. When those attending do not think, as a consequence of their belief, about the Lord and His love towards the human race, and about renewal of life in keeping with His commandments, they venerate simply the bread and wine there, and not the Lord. They think that the outward objects of bread and wine are holy; but they are holy not in themselves, only by virtue of what they are the signs of. For the bread there is a sign of the Lord in respect of the good of love, and the wine a sign of the Lord in respect of the truth of faith, and at the same time of a person's reception of Him, those two entities being the essential elements of the Church, thus the essential elements of worship, see 4211, 4217, 4735, 6135, 6789, 7850, 8682, 9003, 9127, 10040.

From all this it may now be seen what 'holy' and 'being sanctified' mean in the Word.

Footnotes: