The beatitudes begin the sermon on the mount, found in the gospel of Matthew, chapters 5 through 7. This sermon starts with Jesus saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What does “poor in spirit” mean, though? We cannot obey the Bible if we do not understand it, and I must be honest, I read this for years and years without knowing what Jesus was telling us to do!
To understand this, I first looked into what the words actually mean. The word translated “poor” means beggar or pauper, referring to the state of poverty not the act of begging, so it refers to a condition of need. Spirit is more difficult to understand. It is similar to soul in that it can refer to our mind, will, and emotions, but the clearest difference is that animals have souls but not spirits, because spirits are the part of us that is eternal. Our human spirit is what makes us special and different, it is what connects us to God in a way that animals cannot.
Therefore, one who is poor in spirit is one who draws near to God with their inner being from a condition and perspective of need.
This state of need implies we understand that God is our Creator and the highest authority in our life. He is also our source for everything: provision for daily needs, protection from physical and emotional and spiritual harm, wisdom and guidance, happiness and satisfaction, and especially for our salvation from our sin and wickedness.
We must appeal to Jesus for every single thing we need. For most of what we do, this means giving God the credit, such as thanking God for the strength to do our jobs, the faithfulness we give to our marriage, and the wisdom to make good choices. This seems simple, but I do not believe many of us do this, because most of us do not realize that we cannot do anything for ourselves without God’s help. It takes humility to recognize how much we truly need, that we are completely helpless without God.
Our core nature always wants to believe that we are sufficient either in our self or something other than God, like our work or society or money. This is the nature that Jesus commanded us to deny within ourselves before we follow him (Matt 16:24), because our flesh will always lead us away from God. It is impossible to reach God if we are following something going a different direction.
We also need to understand the meaning of “blessed” in “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The word blessed is also translated as happy in other translations. This word is used throughout the beatitudes, so understanding it is key to understanding this whole introduction to the sermon. This word refers to what we seek for happiness and fulfillment, to what satisfies us.
Another way to think of it is by asking what gives our lives meaning and purpose. Compare the beatitudes to what we spend our days chasing after to make us happy. For most of us, this would be family, money, career, recreation or the like, and church is something we use to feel okay with ourselves about what we have done. Jesus wants to realign our thinking on happiness.
Blessed are the poor in spirit is like saying that we are seeking satisfaction in giving up our self sufficiency to come to God in humility and seeking happiness in embracing a state of need, dependence and struggle. This could be very austere if it ended there, but it does not.
The verse concludes with the result of coming to God in humble need, and that result is the promise of a place in heaven! This is the ultimate desire of a Christian, to live in the presence of God in his kingdom of heaven. This is where we belong (Phil 3:20).
As Christians, we believe that God is all good and without any evil, and our desire is to exist with him where there is no sin, no death or mourning or crying or pain (Rev 21:4). We renounce this world as our home, claiming to be strangers here and citizens of a heavenly kingdom (Heb 11:13-16). Many of us would agree, yet we still do not approach God poor in spirit.
I believe most of us fail to commit to changing our thinking and working on living differently. If we want to be with God, it is because we value who he is, which means we should want to be like him. Here, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus explains who God is and what it takes to be like him, and it is not an easy calling! We will never complete this task in this life, but we must desire it and strive toward it, every day with all our heart and mind and soul and strength (Mark 12:30).
Blessed and satisfied are the poor in spirit, who approach God in a state of dependence on Christ, in humility and full submission to him, for this is the foundation of any genuine relationship with Christ, and is the only way to secure a place with him in his kingdom of heaven. I encourage you to think about what you seek in your heart for fulfillment and joy, and compare it to what Jesus spoke of in his sermon on the mount.
Blessings! – Shamar Covenant