The Sermon began with a promise of ultimate blessings. The first few verses are commonly known as the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are the starting point, and a foundation, directing us toward the end and purpose of the Sermon.
The Beatitudes are declarations of future blessings. In the Greek it just says, macharioi oi katharoi, or “Blessed the poor in spirit.” There is no verb expressed in these statements. We are expected to understand from the context what the tense of that connecting verb of being is. Usually the tense of the first phrase matches the tense of the second. So, it reads: “Blessed will be these people for they shall see.” This future tense implies that it is a postponed promise at the outset of this covenant-making and commandment-giving text. Indeed, the Greek word “macharios” does not mean “happy” or “fortunate” in a generic sense. It most often refers to the ultimate blessed state of the souls of those who go on into the next life with eternal joy and well-being.
These ultimate promises also act in a way as a set of entrance requirements. Psalm 24, for example, asks, “who shall ascend into the hill [the temple] of the Lord?” Having clean hands and a pure heart are then stated as entrance requirements. Thus, the Beatitudes given by Jesus also provide a kind of entrance requirement. Using language from Psalm 24, one of them requires and promises, “Blessed are [shall be] the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”