Matt 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This verse is the first verse of an uninterrupted sermon from Jesus that takes up chapters five, six and seven of the gospel of Matthew and is known as the Sermon on the Mount. Matt 5:3 is also the first verse of a short section of verses that we refer to as the Beatitudes. I pray God will speak to our hearts as we take a closer look at the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount in the weeks ahead.  

The Greek word blessed in Matt 5:3 can also be translated as happy. Blessed (happy) are the poor in spirit. How can the poor in spirit be happy and blessed? Because the poor in spirit see their need of God while the proud do not see their need of God. Humility is the key to God’s help. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:5… “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The poor in spirit are happy and blessed when they recognize their need of God because that is when God shows up to meet their need. We are poor in spirit without the Lord and are on the road to being happy and blessed when we realize it.

Jesus told a parable that fits this beatitude well. It is found in Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The tax collector is a perfect example of a person who was poor in spirit, but, went home justified as God proved faithful to meet his need.

A post I saw on FB the other day fits here…The poorest person is not the one without money. It is the one without God. Aren’t you thankful, like me, that you are a child of the living God?

Tim