One of the best gifts I have given myself is to listen repeatedly to a reading of the Sermon on the Mount. I put on my headphones, recline in my chair, and imagine Jesus—not the narrator—speaking directly to me.
Before I push play on the video, I tell Jesus that I want to hear from Him. Through this process, various aspects of His sermon have truly come alive for me.
Here is a link to the version of the sermon that I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZmtKnWJQpI&t=50s
The first thing we discover as we travel up the mountain with Jesus is His deep compassion for the broken.
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he began to speak and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 5:1-3)
Who are the poor? Why does Jesus call them blessed? And what is the “kingdom of heaven” all about? Exploring the answers to these questions will greatly enhance our understanding of Jesus’ message.
Who are the Poor, and Why are They Blessed?
Dallas Willard understands the “poor” in this passage to be the oppressed, downtrodden, and vulnerable people who were naturally attracted to Jesus. They were the victims of the powers of this age, systematically excluded from our world’s benefits.
Jesus declared the poor in spirit to be blessed because they were not excluded from the benefits of God’s kingdom.
In his commentary on Matthew, R.T. France draws on Isaiah 61 to help us better understand the nature of the blessed poor in spirit:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn.” (Isaiah 61:1-2)
The oppressed, the brokenhearted, the captives, and the prisoners could all be lumped together as the “poor in spirit.” As we read through the Gospels, we see Jesus actively fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy.
Jesus turns the world’s system upside down. He includes those who are normally excluded and lifts up those who are customarily put down.
I recently visited with a group of men who perfectly fit Isaiah’s prophecy. They are outsiders on the margins of society, often captive to their addictions, and many have criminal records. I told them that their “rock bottom” experience was actually a blessing because it ultimately led them to Jesus.
One man, who fit the description of the poor in spirit, had spent eight years in federal prison. He told me, “I hate the addiction and crime that brought me to Jesus, but I wouldn’t trade eight years in prison for the joy of having Jesus as my Savior.”
What about you? I have referred to Dallas Willard and R.T. France for a theological understanding of being poor in spirit, but have you asked Jesus to show you what it means personally? Have you asked Him why He pronounces a blessing on the broken? Please give it a try and see what you discover.
What is the Kingdom of Heaven?
The idea that the kingdom of God has come, is coming, and will come may sound strange, but it is the reality of God’s activity on earth. What do we mean by this?
(1) The Kingdom has come: God has always been the King of all kings. When Jesus came to earth, He proclaimed the definitive arrival of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15).
(2) The Kingdom is coming: The effective reach of God’s power is present today, will be present tomorrow, and each day thereafter. If we respond in faith and obedience to Jesus, we will recognize His rule and actively live in His kingdom. Most of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and Jesus’ other teachings in the Gospels are instructions on how citizens of God’s kingdom should live here and now.
(3) The Kingdom will come: The ultimate goal of all history is aimed at the time when God’s kingdom will be fully realized. Evil and death will be completely defeated, and the full blessings of God’s reign will be established forever.
The Upside-Down Message of the Beatitudes
Beginning with the poor in spirit and continuing to those who are persecuted for aligning with God’s purposes, Jesus completely upends the world’s values.
How can the poor in spirit—and the others mentioned in these verses—truly be blessed?
In the here and now, the kingdom of God is available to them. Their earthly circumstances may not immediately change, but to some extent, they know the profound blessings of being intimately connected to the Ultimate Being of All.
When the kingdom of God is fully realized and His power rules the entire universe, those who have joined Jesus in fulfilling God’s purpose on earth will experience the heavenly bliss described throughout the New Testament.
Karl Marx famously believed this kind of message was the “opiate of the masses.” He thought that preaching God’s blessing to the poor in spirit was like putting flowers in the chains of humanity to make their suffering tolerable.
However, Marx has been proven wrong by millions of humble, poor people who have discovered God’s genuine love and blessings through Jesus. They experience God’s joy even in the most difficult times, confident that they will receive God’s very best in the end.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 