What is this blessing we receive from Jesus? The second half of each beatitude lays it out clearly.

• They possess the kingdom of heaven, and they inherit the earth.
• The mourners are comforted and the hungry are satisfied.
• They receive mercy, they see God, they are called the sons of God.
• Their heavenly reward is great.
• And all these blessings belong together.

Just as the eight qualities describe every disciple of Jesus (at least in the ideal) as we work out our faith at work, so the eight blessings are given to every disciple of Jesus.

• True, the blessing promised in each case is appropriate to the quality mentioned.
• At the same time, it is surely not possible to inherit the kingdom of heaven without inheriting the earth, to be comforted without being satisfied or to see God without receiving his mercy and being called his children.
• The eight qualities together constitute the responsibilities, and the eight blessings the privileges, of being a citizen of God’s kingdom.
• This is what the enjoyment of God’s rule means.

Are these blessings present or future? Personally, I think the only possible answer is ‘both’. Some commentators, however, have insisted that they are future, and have emphasized the ‘eschatological’ nature of the beatitudes. Certainly, the second part of the last beatitude promises the persecuted a great reward in heaven, and this must be future.

It is plain from the rest of Jesus’ teaching that the kingdom of God is a present reality which we can ‘receive’, ‘inherit’ or ‘enter’ now. Similarly, we can obtain mercy and comfort now, can become God’s children now, and in this life can have our hunger satisfied and our thirst quenched. We even begin to ‘inherit the earth’ in this present time. We enjoy the first fruits now; the full harvest is yet to come. ^[1]

^[1] Stott, J. R. W., & Stott, J. R. W. (1985). The message of the Sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian counter-culture (pp. 33–35). Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.