Jesus began his monumental and earth changing "Sermon on the Mount" with what we now call "the Beatitudes." This group of sayings or teachings has brought hope, inspiration, comfort, and even a little bit of confusion to people from that day up until the present day. Over the next few days, I want to examine Jesus' Beatitudes and prayerfully, bring a little hope, inspiration, comfort, and clarity into your life.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
Once during a children's sermon the preacher asked his little listeners, "What must you do to receive God's forgiveness of your sins?" A child quickly declared, "First of all, you have to sin." How profound! If you have children, you already know that it does not take long for them to get right to the point. This young child has the right idea to understanding what Jesus meant when he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Until a person realizes they are in sin, they will never turn to God for forgiveness. I know that may sound simple, so simple that it does not deserve to be examined but really, do we all realize that truth? As we look at our society today, we see many lines being blurred. What is the difference between Christians and the rest of the world? If I am a good person is that not good enough? I submit that the question we need to ask people is this, "How has Jesus changed your life?"
Some translations of the bible and a few paraphrases have suggested that instead of the word "blessed" we use the word "happy." In the case of Matthew 5:3 the bible would read, "Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." I will not deny that happiness is a true result of the transformation that comes through Jesus but I'm not sure that the word happy goes far enough in explaining what we receive when we give our lives to Christ. When Jesus said that the poor in spirit would be blessed he capped it off by telling us the blessing, which was the kingdom of heaven! To be blessed means supremely blessed and the promise to the poor in spirit is that they will be blessed by God with the Kingdom of Heaven. Happiness does not even begin to describe what Jesus is saying here and I'm not sure that this side of heaven any of us can explain it satisfactorily.
So what does Jesus mean when he says this blessing comes to those who are poor in spirit? Poorness in our vernacular acknowledges a lack of something, usually in our day and time, a lack of money. Poorness could also refer to lacking in aptitude or certain skills, weakness, being timid or passive, but rare is the occasion that we would equate being poor in something as the key to attaining anything. Yet there it is straight from Jesus himself, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Being poor in spirit is that moment when we acknowledge our total spiritual poverty before God. It is a personal acknowledgment of our own spiritual bankruptcy. It is that instant when one realizes, "I am nothing; I have nothing; I can do nothing; and I stand in need of all things." An example of this can be found in the life of Peter, while still a Galilean fisherman he experiences a life changing, paradigm shifting event, we call it the miracle of the great catch of fish. After fishing all night and catching nothing, Jesus encourages Peter and his fellow anglers to give it one more try. When they do, the results were astonishing! They caught so many fish their nets started breaking and their boats were filled to the point of sinking. The bible tells us that when Peter recognized what Jesus had done he exclaimed, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5:8) Peter recognized that he was poor in spirit.
Recognizing our poorness of spirit is fundamental to salvation. When we acknowledge that we have nothing to offer God, it is then and only then that we are open enough to allow God to fill our lives. Poorness of spirit is closely related to repentance. Repentance is what follows when we recognize that we are poor in spirit. Another good bible example is found in Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee stood to pray and talked on and on about all the good things he has done while the tax collector could not even bear to raise his head. The tax collector was broken and in need of God. He "beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." (Luke 18:13) We cannot be filled until we are empty, we cannot be made worthy until we recognize our unworthiness; we cannot live until we admit we are dead.
So, how has Jesus changed your life?
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