Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
December 9, 1984
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Matthew 5:1-3
James Boice once heard a statement given by an actress named Sophie Tucker. She was being asked by reporters about her early struggles before she became a success, and whether or not she had been happy in her years of poverty. She answered, "I've been rich, and I've been poor. Believe me, honey, rich is better!"
People have always clambered for wealth and success. Just look at the most popular TV shows. Millions of people every week watch Dallas, Falcon Crest and Dynasty, each of which is loaded with glamour and glitz. The shows don't take place in homes like ours; their wives don't look like ours. The constant theme is: money may not buy you happiness but it can get you just about anything else.
This attitude is the exact opposite of what Jesus Christ teaches about happiness. In the first verse of the Sermon on the Mount, in the first beatitude, Jesus says, "Blessed or the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." According to Jesus, happiness is related to some kind of poverty, and God's children will be the only ones who find it.
But what kind of poverty is Jesus talking about? Luke's gospel also has this list of beatitudes but the form is a little different. In Luke 6:20 it says, "Blessed be you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Because of Luke's version many people think Jesus is talking about material poverty, the kind of poverty people on welfare have. If you take it this way, Jesus sounds like a modern revolutionary.
God loves the downtrodden and oppressed but he's going to gun down the rich people. They say Luke has the authentic version of this beatitude and Jesus is making a social statement about poor and hungry people. They also say that Matthew spiritualizes it by saying the "poor in spirit."
This interpretation is popular with liberals but it I do not think it is the right one. For one thing the authors of the gospels would not have Jesus contradict himself. For another, Jesus consistently refused to set up a physical kingdom to help out the poor people. He could have, but he didn't. When he was tempted in the wilderness, Jesus refused to turn the stones into bread. By this he was saying that there are higher priorities than having a full stomach or a fat wallet.
You should also notice that the blessing in verse 3 is in the present tense. If Jesus is talking about material poverty, then Jesus is saying poverty is the blessing right now. He would be praising poverty. Some Christians have done this but the church has always been wrong when it uses this beatitude to condone poverty. Jesus had compassion on the poor, and he told his followers to do the same. Yet the blessing of his kingdom is not primarily economic.
The true meaning of "poor in spirit" is found in the Old Testament. The Hebrew concept of poverty as a four-fold development. The words for poor can mean simply that -- material poverty. They can also mean someone who is poor and therefore has no power or influence. These words can also mean someone who is poor, has no power or influence, and is therefore oppressed by other people. Finally, the words for "poor" came to describe someone who is powerless, oppressed by men, and therefore has to trust totally in God because no one else will help him. Especially in the Psalms and the prophets, the poor person is one who humbly depends on God no matter what their financial condition may be. Therefore in Psalm 34:6 King David says about himself: "this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles."
When Luke says "poor," and Matthew says "poor in spirit," they are really saying the same thing. To be poor in spirit is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty before God. He is not talking about material poverty. Nor is he talking about a lack of spiritual awareness, or depression, or a poverty of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is talking about poverty that admits we are spiritually bankrupt. We are sinners and deserve nothing but God's judgment. We have nothing to offer God that makes him indebted to us. When we have this attitude, Jesus says we can enter his kingdom. In this passage Jesus is teaching what the apostle Paul calls justification by faith alone, and it is significant that this is the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount.
Some people fail to see this. For example in old Scofield Reference Bibles a note says the Sermon on the Mount is based on law, just like the Old Testament. Because of this, Scofield says the sermon does not apply to Christians but only applies to those who will live on earth in the millennium. The newer Scofield Bibles don't go this far and for good reason. Properly understood, the Sermon on the Mount applies to all Christians and deals with life here and now. The key is grace. In Jesus is saying that salvation is a gift we cannot deserve. Since we cannot earn it, we are driven to plead for God's mercy. We cannot buy it but only accept it as a gift.
Jesus himself gave an illustration of this teaching in his parable about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the Luke 18:9. The wealth or poverty of the two men is not mentioned but from their professions it is not hard to figure out. The Pharisee would have been poor, because most Jews were at that time. The tax collector was probably rich because their profession has always been known for its greed and extortion. But regardless of their financial status, the Pharisee expressed an inner need for nothing -- and got it. The tax collector, who realized he was a sinner, expressed a deep need for God's mercy -- and that is what he got. Each man received what he felt he needed. The rich tax collector was actually the one who was poor in spirit, and Jesus says he received God's acceptance. He measured himself against God's standards, whereas the Pharisee was content to measure himself against other people.
Another example in the Bible is the church of Laodicea. Turn in your Bibles to Revelation 3:17. The Laodiceans were a wealthy church and took pride in that fact. In response to their attitude, Jesus says in verse 17:
"Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I counsel you to buy refined gold from me, that you may be rich..."
The church in Laodicea was rich in pride instead of poor in spirit. They are exact opposites.
This brings up an important point. To be poor in spirit means you acknowledge that you are a sinner and totally need God be saved. But once we realize this and accept Christ as our Savior and become believers, we shouldn't let poverty of spirit fly out the window. Many believers to this -- they throw themselves on God's mercy and beg for forgiveness, but then turn around and deny forgiveness to anyone who wrongs them. True poverty or humility of spirit is a lifetime trait. It doesn't just apply on the day you are saved. The church of Laodicea forgot this and was disciplined by Jesus.
What is the condition of YOUR spirit? Are you rich or poor? Americans place a premium on self-sufficiency and financial security. Can you humble yourself and place all your security in God's hands?
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Typed on February 2, 2005, by Wendy Ventura of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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