Thank you so much for reading “Lectionary Help.” This installment is for the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany, Year A, February 1, 2026.
The following is an excerpt of my message on the passage from three years ago, along with a link to a one-minute video clip where Eugene Peterson tells the story I reference. The link for my full message is at the end of today’s article.
“Blessed”
Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible, tells the story of how he wanted to translate this passage. He mentioned that after preaching one Sunday, a woman came up to him afterwards and mentioned how “lucky” she felt to have found his congregation.
Peterson ruminated on that a bit, as he was in the process of writing the paraphrase at the time, and thought “lucky” might be a more contemporary word that could be used in place “blessed.” However, when he floated that idea with his publishers, they shot it down pretty quickly because there’s a large segment of Christianity that associates the word “luck” with “Lucifer.” That might be a buzz kill for someone wanting to publish a Bible translation.[1]
Whether that connection [between “luck” and “Lucifer”] is true is not relevant to understanding the word μακάριος (makarios), however. The word “blessed” implies that something is coming from someone who has the power to give you something special or grant you a special permission in his kingdom. “Luck” has nothing to do with that. Peterson eventually accepted the word “blessed” here, because he recognized the word best represented the meaning of the text.
Respecting the Form of the Text
My textbook for Preaching class in seminary was Fred Craddock’s Preaching. Our seminary had a vast cassette tape library (yeah, that dates me, I know) of sermons from a variety of preachers, but I always loved to check out Craddock’s messages and consume them on my weekly drive to and from Lincoln, IL. One chapter in Craddock’s book was on the “form” of the sermon. He made the point that at no time in Christian history has there ever been a “standardized” form for the message given on Sunday morning (or whenever the saints gathered). But I do remember him talking about how it might be a good idea for the sermon to reflect the form of the passage it’s based on in certain instances.
When I preached on this passage three years ago, I had a choice, then, it seemed. I could robotically work my way through each of the individual Beatitudes and share the results of the appropriate word study for the key word in each, or I could shape the message more poetically as it seemed Matthew (or at least Matthew’s record of Jesus) had done. Most of the key words in the Beatitudes seemed to begin with one of three consonant sounds, so there was at least some hint of alliteration in the passage. I wound up crafting my own “amplified” version of the Beatitudes to capture some of the nuances of the various key words. It all came together rather quickly, as I recall, maybe two hours tops.
Here is the amplified form of the first Beatitude as I wrote it for my message that day. The entire message (including audio file) is found at the link at the end of this post.
When doubt creeps in
Because you see so much sin:
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
When your vision gets blurred
And you can’t see God’s word:
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
When life drains you
But God’s hope sustains you
And His people maintain you:
Blessed are the poor in Spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Meek”
Just a quick note on the Greek word for “meek” [πραΰς praus] in vs. 5. The word is used three other times in the NT (Matthew 11:29; 21:5; 1 Peter 3:4), all of which are translated “gentle” in the NIV. But if you look at the context of each of these verses, you’ll see that it has nothing to do with passivity. Psalm 37:8–11 is a good OT passage that parallels (and is perhaps the source for) Matthew 5:5.
Living in the Beatitudes Beat | Sunday Morning Greek Blog
As always, your comments and insights are welcome here.
Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.
My views are my own.
[1] Eugene Peterson: Translating the Beatitudes, accessed January 19, 2026.
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