Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Jesus first preached the message of repentance. However, he soon moved on from that beginning message to the foundational teaching of what the character of his disciples needed to look like. Today’s reading starts off by telling us that this message was for his disciples. Matthew doesn’t tell us if this meant only the twelve close disciples which he chose or if it meant the crowd of followers who wanted to learn from him. Either way, this was one of the first teachings where Jesus trained those who had repented on the markings of their new lifestyle.

What we refer to as the Beatitudes is a list of the defining characteristics of Christ’s followers. David Guzik said,

“There is no escape from our responsibility to desire every one of these spiritual attributes. If you meet someone who claims to be a Christian but displays and desires none of these traits, you may rightly wonder about their salvation, because they do not have the character of kingdom citizens.”

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) are more than a pretty saying to needlepoint onto a pillow or tapestry. They are the defining guidelines for each of us who claim to be a Christian. Because they are so important, we need to make sure we understand what Christ was teaching and just how we can implement them into our lives.

Before we look at the Beatitudes, we need to understand an important component of them: blessed. The word Jesus used was makarios which means “happy”. Barclay explains exactly what kind of happiness Jesus was referring to. He wrote,

“Makarios then describes that joy which has its secret within itself, that joy which is serene and untouchable, and self-contained, that joy which is completely independent of all the chances and changes of life.”

This is the type of joy that God offers us. This is peace that passes all understanding. This is God’s end of the bargain. Our part is the moral obligation that follows. In order to experience the joy and peace of the Lord here on earth, we must, according to the Beatitudes, embrace certain characteristics. Because these qualities are the defining markers of what a Christian’s personality should be, we are going to spend a few days taking a deeper look into them. So, let’s get started.

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It denotes a humility which understands that, apart from God, we have nothing worthwhile to offer. As Isaiah said,

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)

The Beatitudes have been described as a ladder. Each “Blessed are…” is another step for Christians to take. We are not expected to achieve the very nature and character of God on the first day after we answer God’s call. We will spend the rest of our lives building upon the lessons learned, never to achieve but always to grow in maturity of faith. Charles Spurgeon once taught,

“A ladder, if it is to be of any use, must have its first step near the ground, or feeble climbers will never be able to mount. It would have been a grievous discouragement to struggling faith if the first blessing had been given to the pure in heart; to that excellence the young beginner makes no claim, while to poverty of spirit he can reach without going beyond his line.”

God’s desire is not to discourage us. He wants us to grow in faith. That faith will require that we climb the ladder of righteousness. It will not be easy. We might take a few steps backward along the way. However, each step that we take molds us into the character of our Lord. This first step, being poor in spirit, is essential for us to understand every other step that Jesus lays before us. We have to understand that we cannot do it without his help.

Who is it that strengthens us… Christ himself. We have direct access to God only because of His mercy. We don’t deserve it. We cannot earn it. We must never think we have achieved everything it takes to be righteous.

Remember: our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags when compared with the true righteousness of God. Blessed is the poor in spirit because as long as we look to ourselves for salvation and help, we will never be truly and freely happy.