Who are the poor in spirit?
It is not by accident that this is the first of the Beatitudes or blessed statements of Jesus. This one is primary in importance and sets the foundation for all the others. If we do not grasp or understand this one, then we will miss all the others.
Blessed is
makarios, which some translate as "happy", but the word means to have inner joy, fulfillment, inner peace, and bliss. The word is used to describe God the Father and Jesus. The Greek author, Homer, used
makarios to describe a state of existence that is unaffected by outside forces. (See MacArthur, p. 9, 36-37.)
Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor." The Greek word is
ptokas, which means abject poverty, those who are beggarly poor. There was another word Jesus could have used, and that is
penace, a less severe state of poverty. One writer describes this "poor in spirit" state of being this way: "Nobody ever entered on the basis of pride. The doorway is very low, and only people who crawl can come in. . . . Poverty of spirit is the foundation of all graces, yet so much of our modern Christianity feeds on pride. You might as well expect fruit to grow without trees if you think the graces of the Christian life grow without humility." (Ibid, p. 57)
Notice Jesus said "poor in
spirit," not poor in material possessions. This is the spiritual state of humbling oneself before God, regardless of worldly goods. Jesus is not calling people to a vow of material poverty or a life in a monastery. If so, then the worst thing we could do is have money or give money to others, but that is not the teaching here by our Lord. Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones does a great job explaining this verse in his excellent book on the Beatitudes. Lloyd-Jones was a successful medical doctor in England in the 20th century. He was also married to a medical doctor, Betsy, and the two of them enjoyed successful lives. But Martyn Lloyd-Jones surrendered to the call of Jesus to be a pastor. He served the Lord faithfully in Wales for ten years and then became the pastor of a great church, the Westminster Chapel in London, England. He writes, "What our Lord is concerned about here is the spirit; it is poverty of spirit. In other words, it is ultimately a man's attitude towards himself. That is the thing that matters, not whether he is wealthy or poor." (Lloyd-Jones,
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 35)
Are you proud in spirit or poor in spirit? Our lives give evidence of one or the other. The opposite of poor in spirit is one who is proud, haughty, and arrogant, who has a spirit of entitlement and a demanding personality. The humble know the secret to a blessed life. I visited one of our church members in the hospital last week. She is a remarkable 87 year-old lady full of zest and life. She fell and laid on the floor for 2.5 days before paramedics came to her rescue. I asked how she made it, and she said, "I cried and prayed a lot." She then said that God is so good and faithful, and you either trust Him or you do not. So true. We either humble ourselves before God and trust Him, or we do not.
Will you become poor in spirit today? Will you humble yourself before God and submit your will to His will for your life today?
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