What are the Beatitudes?
The Beatitudes are the blessings Jesus pronounced at the start of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), describing the surprising, upside-down values of God’s kingdom.
Jesus opened his great sermon with a series of ‘blessed are…’ statements: blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted (Matthew 5:3–10).
These flip the world’s values upside down. Rather than the proud and powerful, Jesus blesses the humble and needy who depend on God, promising them his kingdom, comfort, mercy, and reward.
The Beatitudes paint a portrait of the kind of people God blesses and the character he forms in his followers — not a checklist to earn favor, but a description of life shaped by grace.
Original BibleDawn answer · reviewed 2026-06. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.