Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This was the first of Jesus'
statements that we refer to as the Beatitudes. As I mentioned last
time, these are very counter-cultural in that they make statements
about happiness that we would not naturally say.
In Psalm 34:18, the writer says that
God is near to those with a broken heart and He saves those with a
contrite heart. A contrite heart is one that feels regret and sorrow
for sins and offenses.
In Psalm 51:17 he writes that “The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” Isaiah tells us that God
dwells with him who has a contrite and humble spirit.” (Isaiah
57:15)
And so we find that the first thing
that Jesus wants us to know is that down is the way up. Being poor in
spirit, recognizing ones spiritual bankruptcy and inability to bring
anything to the table is God's first step in bringing us into his
kingdom. We usually want to come to God with our list of
accomplishments and perfections. We're hoping that when we show up at
those “pearly gates” God is going to examine us to see if our
good deeds outweigh the bad. That's not what Jesus or the Bible
teaches. God wants us to come empty handed.
The promise associated with this
Beatitude is that those who are poor in spirit will inherit the
Kingdom of Heaven. There is a kingdom and there is a king. God is
that king. Someday He will extend that kingdom beyond sort of the
spiritual dimension to include the physical world and everyone and
everything in it. Jesus is telling us here who that kingdom will
belong to. It belongs to those who are poor in spirit.
Next Tuesday we'll look at Jesus'
statement, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted.”
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