Tag Archives: Matt5:3

Poor In Spirit – Sat – 21-08-21

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It has to be hard to be homeless. Besides needing food and shelter, it has to be difficult to remain clean! The homeless often wear their clothes continuously and showers are infrequent at best. I had a friend who understood this. A man came to our church asking for help. We were in a small town, so there were no services or missions for the homeless to help him. So, my friend, Sid, took him home to make him lunch. While he was fixing the meal, Sid offered the man the use of his shower. The man accepted. He left Sid’s house full and clean.

This provides another illustration of the word poor in the Beatitude about the poor in spirit in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”(NIV)

You see, like the financially poor, the poor in spirit realize they need to be clean spiritually. However, they also know they can’t provide any cleansing for themselves. Rather, they must rely on the mercy and grace of God to provide the spiritual cleansing they need. That cleansing is provided by Jesus.

Are you poor in spirit? Do you realize that you can’t feed your spiritual hunger or provide any spiritual cleansing? Do you approach God with the dependence of a beggar, that is, seeking his mercy? If so, then yours is the kingdom of heaven!

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Poor In Spirit – Fri – 21-08-20

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Several years ago, my wife and I were part of a short-term mission team that traveled to Nicaragua. We provided a children’s program, traveling to cities and remote villages. We also took a day to do some tourist things. I remember going to the shopping area in one town. It was a well-known area frequented by tourists. It was an outdoor, walking mall with several shops and small restaurants. Elaine and I decided to eat lunch at a restaurant with outdoor tables. As we ate our food, we noticed a young boy standing not too far away. We were not overly hungry and didn’t finish our food. When we rose to leave, the boy who had been standing nearby sat down at our table and began eating our left-over food. He ate quickly until the restaurant staff chased him off.

When I think of the poor in spirit, this young boy comes to mind. The poor do not have money to buy food. They are hungry and looking for a meal. Jesus said in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”(NIV) Being poor in spirit involves spiritual hunger. We need the mercy and grace of God to fill us, because we can’t satisfy the spiritual hunger ourselves.

The poor in spirit are blessed because God satisfies their spiritual hunger by giving them life in his kingdom.

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Poor In Spirit – Thu – 21-08-19

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In May, a homeless man in Piccadilly, York in the United Kingdom was kicking at pedestrians as they passed on the sidewalk. A security guard crossed the street and tried to calm him down. The drunken man threatened to slit the guard’s throat. Then, two street marshals intervened and the man threatened to bite off the nose of one of the officers. The homeless man was arrested and promptly spat on the floor of the police van. Later, he pled guilty to a public order offence and to damaging the police van. He was sentenced to community service and has since found a place to live.*

Here, we see an attitude that is the opposite of the first Beatitude. Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”(NIV)  Being poor in spirit not only recognizes God is the source of blessing, but has a humble dependence on his mercy —  unlike the homeless man in York. He was certainly financially poor, but his belligerent attitude did not express humble reliance on the mercy of God, or of anyone else.

Remember, the word poor used in Matthew 5:3 means someone unable to work, who owns nothing and can only beg for the mercy of others. We must approach God with full reliance on his mercy and grace to meet our needs. That’s what it means to be poor in spirit.

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Poor In Spirit – Wed – 21-08-18

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Sometimes in order to understand something, we examine the opposite. We’ve learned that the phrase “poor in spirit” refers to an attitude of dependence on God. This attitude can also be understood by looking at the opposite. The church in Laodicea was the opposite of “poor in spirit.” In Revelations 3:17, Jesus accused them with these words: “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.”(NIV)

Wow! What a description! These followers of Jesus thought everything was going well. They were financially prosperous. Yet, Jesus said they were really as spiritually poor as beggars — as if they were blind and naked. In fact, Jesus was also sickened by their lukewarm efforts to follow him. As he said in verse 16, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”(NIV)

What can we take away from this? First, it is harder to be poor in spirit when we are financially prosperous. We so often think our material state reflects our spiritual state. Second, we really do depend on God’s mercy, just like a destitute beggar depends on the generosity of others. And finally, aren’t you glad that God is merciful and showers us with both spiritual and material blessings?

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Poor In Spirit – Tue – 21-08-17

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This week we’re exploring the meaning of the phrase “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” We learned that the word poor indicates someone who can only beg for what they need. But what does the word spirit mean?

The word in the original language can mean wind, breath, God’s spirit, or a person’s inner being. In fact, that last meaning is clear from Mark 2:8-9, which says, “Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things?’”(NIV)

So, let’s put the meaning of poor together with the meaning of spirit. The Beatitude is referring to people who approach God with the attitude of a beggar.

I know, that probably isn’t appealing to you. I know it isn’t to me. But think about it! We can’t approach God with spiritual wealth, looking to direct him as our servant. Nor can we approach him like a business person looking to make a deal. We can’t even approach God like a day laborer seeking to earn just a bit from him. No! We are beggars. We have no ability to earn anything from God and we must rely on his mercy to meet our needs, whether spiritual or physical.

We could paraphrase the Beatitude this way: blessed are those who approach God as a beggar, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Poor In Spirit – Mon – 21-08-16

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” said Jesus. To understand this phrase, we start with the word poor. In ancient Israel, the society could be divided into different economic groups. The wealthy lived in luxury, as they do today. Next was what might be called a “middle class,” although they were certainly poorer than the middle class today. These people owned property and ran businesses, but did not live in luxury.

But when it came to the poor, there were two groups. We know this by studying different words translated as “poor.” The first group did not own property, but they were able-bodied and worked as day laborers. The second group were the truly destitute. They were not able to earn any wages and were beggars. They were often physically disabled or blind. Sometimes they were victims of circumstance, like a widow without children. In their society, widows did not own property and were unable to inherit.

This word for the destitute poor is used in Mark 12:41-42, which reads, “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.”(NIV) It goes on to say this was all she had to live on.

This is the word poor Jesus used in the Beatitude. Now that we understand the word poor, tomorrow we’ll look at the word spirit.

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Poor In Spirit – Sun – 21-08-15

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Have you ever heard something that sounded good, but you wondered what it really meant? Some poems and song lyrics are like that. I remember, years ago, hearing The Beatles’ tune Yellow Submarine and wondering what it was about. Was it just a silly song, or was there a deeper meaning? At the time, many thought it was code language for drugs. However, Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote it as a children’s song. It later inspired an animated motion picture.*

And what about Jesus? Did people hear him speak and puzzle over what he really meant? I’m sure they scratched their heads over many of his parables. Then there is the Sermon on the Mount. It is recognized by many people as the greatest sermon of all time. Its teachings on ethics and morality have been held up as an example, even by those who are not believers in Jesus.

Do you know how it begins? It is one of those intriguing passages. The first line as recorded in Matthew 5:3 is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”(NIV)

What did Jesus mean by this? Who were the poor in spirit? What was the kingdom of heaven? How is that a blessing? In fact, this is the only time Jesus used the phrase “poor in spirit.” This week on the podcast, we are going to explore what it means. I’ll talk with you again tomorrow!

*”Yellow Submarine (song)” Wikipedia, last updated May 27, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Submarine_(song)

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Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.