Poor in spirit

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

POOR IN SPIRIT

Matt 5:1-12

5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

NIV

We have come to what is referred to as the Beatitudes. Certainly we cannot deal with all of these in one devotion. So as would be expected we will take one at a time and dissect it and see just how these words of Christ have an impact in our lives.  This is the first time we are privy to any of the teachings of Christ, at least in Matthew’s gospel. Luke does have other teachings of Christ before he sat down here and spoke these words. Why Matthew chose not to include what Luke did is uncertain, however we are here now and should deal with what Matthew presents to us.  We would expect them to have a great deal of importance as he chose to start of his teaching with these conditions or attitudes we should display or think about ourselves. The first is,

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Luke also records this teaching of Jesus, but he does not include “in spirit”. So then the question is whether Jesus meant the poor in material things, or the poor in spiritually things. It would seem our scholars have such a wide variety of opinions on both matters that is would be wise to rely on the Spirit who leads us into all truth. First we should note the word blessed is to imply happy, well off, satisfied, content. This is not to imply glad, joyously jumping up and down in glee. This is an internal condition of the heart of our being. We are well off within us, being satisfied and content because of our relationship with God. Blessed is not the word used as an act of God giving us some blessing, so to speak, it is an inward peace knowing him. This is how we feel inwardly not when we are poor in material things, but when we are poor in spirit. So what does it mean to have poverty in the inner being of ourselves? This is the opposite of being haughty in spirit. Those who refuse to accept Jesus are the haughty in spirit. They do not need the crutch of Christianity, as the weak minded do, is their thought. But to be poor in spirit implies we know we are lost without Christ. We have nothing without him. We are spiritually destitute unless we have Christ in our lives. Jesus spoke of this issue in his address to the churches.

Rev 3:17-18

17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

NIV

These who think we are the weak minded because we trust in Jesus, thinking they are rich, and perhaps they are in worldly ways, yet without Christ they are truly the wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. They lack the inner peace we have in Christ. They lack everything we have in Christ. This being poor in spirit carries the whole of our knowing we are nothing without Christ. This attitude should not be influenced by the world in how we behave in and out of Church. We should not ever think we are better than anyone, in or outside of church. We should always have an attitude of humility, first humbling ourselves before God, and then before men. Because we have a quiet sense of peace and calmness within, it should show outwardly. When we acknowledge our poverty before God, accepting his grace, his mercy, his salvation, then we will experience this attitude of blessed.