This desire to live fulfilled lives—to wake up with a sense of purpose and bed down with the satisfaction of having lived well—is the ultimate goal for most people in the West.

Some call this, “happiness.”

Aristotle called it eudaimonia, which translated from ancient Greek to English has a wide range of meaning: “blessedness, prosperity, good fortune,” and yes, “happiness.”[i] According to Aristotle, human virtue, ethical living, and, of course, philosophy helps the self-made person arrive at human flourishing.[1] 

Nearly 400 years after Aristotle, Jesus swings for the fences and maps out flourishing in a single word:

“BLESSED.”

Upside-Down Happiness

The Gospel writers chose to capture Jesus’ vision for the “good life” in his famed, “Sermon on the Mount,” with yet another complex Greek word: makarioi (Matt. 5:3-12). Like Aristotle’s eudaimonia, it’s difficult to nail down a perfect translation for this loaded adjective: “blessed, happy, fortunate, favored, privileged.”[ii]

My former Greek professor, dear friend, and Chair of New Testament at Denver Seminary—Dr. Joseph R. Dodson—sometimes favors this translation for makarioi:

“Blappy” (i.e. “blessed” + “happy”).

9 “Blappy” statements appear in the Sermon on the Mount. Sometimes called, “The Beatitudes,” these proclamations open a window to the mind of Christ and his vision for “the good life:”

• 6 of 9 indicate that weakness or hardship lead to the blessed or happy life
• The blessed person is primarily in a place of receiving, not conquering or striving
• The “Kingdom of Heaven” and its rewards are given generously to those whom the King shows mercy and grace

Contrary to Aristotle’s self-made man of the city and society who achieves happiness with his own two hands and sound mind, Jesus’ happiness is received as a gift (not earned). What’s more, as we observed in a previous post, the barriers to entry in the “Kingdom of Heaven” are LOW—even the “meek” (humble, gentle), “hungry, persecuted,” and “insulted” are welcome!

As inspiring and beautiful as this upside-down vision of happiness might be,

how do we live it out?

How to Live Happily

We want to live “blappy” lives, even if it looks dramatically different for each of us:

• Stay-at-home moms want to find purpose and significance in their daily, sometimes rote rhythms
• Men and women with careers desire to integrate who they are with what they do in a position that will somehow make a lasting impact
• University students long to discover and connect with their true selves, mine new fields of knowledge, and make sense of the world around them

This is our life; we want to make it count and flourish along the way.

In Jesus’ teachings, as well as his life, we have clear direction for how to live a blessed, happy life:

1. RECEIVE the King’s Blessing:
   • the beautiful thing about Jesus is that he meets with anyone, at any stage or station in life. Living blessed in his upside-down Kingdom begins with surrender to his love. It starts with acknowledging our “poorness of spirit” (Matt. 5:3) so that we may first receive all of who God is with open hands.
2. PURSUE the righteous life:
   • “righteousness” is seeking to live in right relationship with God, others, and the world. As we’ve received so much from the King, we no longer live as orphans struggling to survive in some land of exile. Rather, we live freely and generously in our relationships with others. Therefore, we “let our light shine” (Matt. 5:16) by doing good—defending the poor, serving others, speaking up for what’s true, and pursuing justice for all.
3. INVITE others in:
   • throughout the Gospels, Jesus likens the Kingdom to a party of some kind (weddings, feasts, banquets). And it’s clear the King wants as many to come in as possible. As we pursue Jesus’ Kingdom and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33), we share our story of how Jesus filled our empty cup. We invite others to receive the love, power, and goodness of the King who gives life without cost (Is. 55:1; Rev. 22:17).

This happy living in an upside down Kingdom is different, to be sure. But there’s freedom in knowing we can rest as children in the safety and security of a King whose only requirement is that we come with open hands and hearts.

Lay down the striving, “manifesting,” pressure, or expectations of the bogus world system. Rest in the green pastures of a free land, where the weak are strong, the unloved are embraced, and poor are rich with a wealth that can never be fully spent or taken.

THIS is the enduring, eternal life of Jesus.

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[1] Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

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[i] εὐδαιμον-ία , Ion. -ιη, ἡ, A. [select] prosperity, good fortune, opulence, h.Hom.11.5, Pi.N.7.56, Hdt.1.5,32, Hp.Ep.11 (v.l.), etc.; χρημάτων προσόδῳ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ εὐ. Th.2.97; of countries, Hdt.5.28, 7.220, etc.; “μοῖρ᾽ εὐδαιμονίας” Pi.P.3.84: pl., E.IA591 (anap.), Pl.Phd.115d. 2. [select] true, full happiness, “εὐ. οὐκ ἐν βοσκήμασιν οἰκεῖ οὐδ᾽ ἐν χρυσῷ” Democr.171; εὐ. ψυχῆς, opp. κακοδαιμονίη, Id.170, cf. Pl.Def.412d, Arist.EN1095a18, Zeno Stoic.1.46, etc. b. [select] personified as a divinity, SIG985.8, Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek-English Lexicon, p.

[ii] μακάριος, ία, ιον, BDAG, p. 610.