“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
Many of us who grew up in church know what this statement introduces. Matthew 5:3 is the beginning of what would be the greatest and most impactful sermon ever preached in the history of mankind. Christ Himself preached “The Sermon on the Mount”, as we know it, to a multitude of 5,000 people. Little did anyone know, the greatest sermon of all time began with a riddle-like statement: “Blessed are the POOR in spirit”. How can this possibly make any logical sense? To make sense of such a profound proclamation, we must understand three specific parts of this verse. What does it mean to be “blessed”? What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? And what does it mean to “inherit the Kingdom of God’?
The Greek word for “blessed” that is used in this passage is “MAKARIOI”, which can also translate to “happy”. This is crucially important in the understanding of the rest of this statement. When we think of what it means to be blessed, we think of it being a transaction from God to us; In other words, God is giving us something. In a sense, that is what is going on here. However, there is something else going on that we must take note of. Since “blessed” also translates to mean “happy” , being blessed is not necessarily a transaction from God to man, but moreso a state of being of man’s soul. Being blessed is something that we feel, it’s something that we are. “HAPPY ARE those that are poor in spirit…”. Changes the perspective, doesn’t it?
To make sense of what exactly we’re supposed to be happy about, we must now shift to what it means to be “poor in spirit”. Some would say that “poor in spirit” means those who are literally poor. However, I would go a step further as to say it is not directly implied to those who are physically poor. I say that because of the two words that Jesus uses following the word poor. “in spirit”. Now, it is possible to be poor both in body and in spirit. But the reason “poor” surpasses the bodily realm alone is the commonly known fact that those who have the greatest material wealth are also some of the poorest of souls. They can be the most tired, weary, depressed, heavy-ladened of men despite seemingly having the entire world in their grasp. The poor in spirit are simply those who have hungry and thirsty souls, souls that groan and beg for nourishment, peace, rest, and contentment. Would it shock you to know that these types of people were who Jesus pursued the most? I hope that it wouldn’t, because they are me and you.
I say Jesus pursued the poor in spirit the most because, Jesus once told the disciples “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”-Mark 2:17 (ESV). I believe this same train of thought applies to Matthew 5:3. Jesus came into this world to save sinners, not praise the “righteous”. He did not come to pat the Pharisees on the back for keeping the commandments and scold everyone else for not being like them. Instead, He came into the world to open the eyes of the spiritually blind and heal the soulfully sick. A close study of His ministry reveals the Pharisees were the spiritually sickest of their day!
Later on in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes on to say things like: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;” (Matt. 5:21-22) and “if any man lusts after a woman in his own heart, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (5:27-28) The purpose of this was not to make the guilty feel worse and the “righteous” to feel better about themselves. Rather it was to show them that EVERYONE is guilty before God. NONE is righteous, NONE is good but God alone. So yes, brothers and sisters, WE ARE the poor in spirit. No matter the amount we put in the plate or the times we have sat in the pew. We are poor in spirit; we did not have what it required to pay the cost of our sanctity! But blessed be God, Christ Jesus did! He used every dime of His righteous wealth to be made the poorest of sinners, all so that filthy wretches like you and I could be clothed in His perfect glory!
With a truth such as this to be known, the poor in spirit that follow Christ have no choice but to rejoice in the promise that He has guaranteed through His purchase on Calvary! Through the blood that was shed, we who were once starving and thrusting ourselves to certain death, now have access to the endless supply of the Living Water and the Bread of Life. THAT is what inheriting the Kingdom of God is, folks! NOT in becoming cured of whatever disease or ailment that we may have or being saved from financial debt, but by our dead souls being revived by the life of Christ, our orphaned hearts being adopted into the family of God, and what our poor spirits lack being satisfied through His abundance is to inherit the Kingdom of God! What a blessing it is to be the “Richest of Poor Souls”!