3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt. 5:3-11, NIV)

Jesus has opened up his ministry in power and authority. He has gone through the land teaching and demonstrating the power of the Kingdom. Now, he comes away to see who will follow. To those who followed he opened up the riches of the truth of the Kingdom of heaven.

The truth he starts with is this: The kingdom is out to BLESS.

I am heavily influenced on this view by Dallas Willard: The Beatitudes aren’t a list of things to achieve. The Beatitudes are a list of cultural “losers.” Jesus isn’t declaring, “If you are these things, how blessed you are!” He is saying, “Look around you at those following. They are cultural losers. But the Kingdom can touch them. NO ONE is beyond Kingdom blessing.”

The big introduction Jesus gives to the purest teaching on the Kingdom of God found anywhere in Scripture is this: no one is beyond Kingdom blessing. 

He will demonstrate that time after time. The Kingdom doesn’t just attract the people “like me.” It attracts people I’m not attracted to! And that Kingdom blesses them. And if I am in that Kingdom, I learn to walk in that blessing as well.