Life requires life as a sacrifice. In bygone days, all mothers knew that bearing children was risky. Far too often, mothers died in giving birth. There never was any question as to who was to live and who decided who lives. Mothers did not play God as they do today. Fortunately, the women who lived prior to our enlightened sexual age did not have eager physicians to tamper with prenatal life. Even the pagan doctors feared the gods too much to meddle with the regeneration process. Only evil people dared to disrupt the domain of the deities. For both, pregnant women and physicians, it was their divine duty and great honor to bring children into the world. Their world celebrated pregnancy while our world has become a mortuary.

The Makarioi are the dispensers of God’s blessings to mankind and Mary gave to the world the greatest gift, her Son our Savior. One of the most stunning words in the Gospels came from the lips of Elizabeth, cousin to Mary mother of Jesus. We begin our study with Mary because she was chosen to bring the Savior into the world. Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, welcomed Mary into her home with these words, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Lk. 1:42). Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the first member of the “Makarioi” family.

The new heavenly kingdom, or project on earth, will call for a new breed of people that will believe and do what the author, namely Jesus the Christ, has set forth in the Sermon on the Mount. At the time, Jesus spoke about being “makarioi,” his disciples and those to follow had no inkling what it would take to survive as a follower of Jesus in this world. In time, however, circumstances and condition will necessitate the adoption of Jesus life and teaching to build God’s kingdom on earth. They are not born as special people or made so by a divine decree, but they will become by their choice to loose their lives for Christ and their fellowmen’s redemption.

The Bible opens with these words, “In the beginning Elohim (Gods in plural) created” and one expects a definition or at least a description of Elohim; instead we get a description of their creation of a universe with the world in particular as a place for life with man in charge. The Bible is all about man and his understanding, or at least his attempt to understand his Creators and their purpose for man’s life on earth. Simply to exist and do discover the reason for being in this world, and man will find many reasons, is the need for land to make bread, will always be the primary reason. Israel’s history is about a piece of real estate where one small family of humanity wants to live and needs to live to raise their own bread. That same reason motivates all men.