The picture (Matthew 5:1-2)
Jesus sits down on a mountainside, after seeing a large crowd. His disciples come and listen to him.
I picture Jesus sitting partway up on a large hill with a crowd of people sitting below him. They have come to listen to what Jesus has to say.
The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:3)
What is being poor in spirit?
I can think of a few possibilities:
- Come to God to replenish your spirit. For example, in John 4:14 Jesus states "the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
- Being apart from God leads to spiritual poverty. Separation from God drains our spirit.
- Humility to ask God for replenishment. Jesus answered the requests of people who expressed humility. (See, e.g., Mark 9:24, a sick boy's father expressed doubt by declaring "I believe, help me my unbelief")
- Awareness of one's spiritual poverty. Awareness of the problem may itself be a blessing. (See, e.g., Ephesians 2:8-9, that faith is a gift from God. Hence, faith itself is a blessing).
- Summation of Jesus' ministry. It is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, but actually provides the basis of Jesus' ministry on earth. In short, everyone is poor in spirit. Jesus came to restore the relationship between God and mankind. It could be viewed that Jesus is saying, "blessed are you, those poor in spirit, because I am here."
Mt. 5:3 can also be translated: Blessed are the poor in the Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This translation would point to literally poor disciples (who in Mt. 4:18-22 have left their fishing businesses in order to fish for men) who are "in the Spirit." In Mt. 3 John the Baptist says Jesus will baptize with the Spirit in the future. Jesus himself is anointed with the Spirit at his baptism (with water), and then suffers hunger and temptations to escape such poverty (Mt. 4:1f.). When the new king is anointed with the Spirit (descending from heaven), the kingdom of (and from) heaven has begun. In Mt. 5:3 Jesus is telling his poor disciples that they will be part of this new kingdom, when he gives them the Spirit and they are in the Spirit and thus understand and live his commands.
ReplyDeleteCool. Interesting perspective. I never thought of it that way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input.