poor in spirit – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

A couple of things strike me in this passage.

First, the kinds of people who joined David. They were desperate, in debt, and discontented. In short, they were as Jesus put it, “poor in spirit.”

They were far from perfect men, but they became part of David’s kingdom.

It’s the same with us. Many us come to Jesus in weakness. We are hurting and struggling, and the things of this world just don’t satisfy us.

We also see how broken we are because of our sin.

But Jesus receives us, and says to us,

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. (Matthew 5:3)

The second thing is that through David’s sin (his lie to the priest at Nob), many perished. He took responsibility for his own sin, and gave the priest Abiathar shelter.

We, on the other hand, caused the death of David’s descendant Jesus through our sin. And yet, he took responsibility for our sin, taking upon himself the punishment we deserved on the cross.

So now when we come to him, humble and broken, he says to us, “Stay with me. Don’t be afraid…You will be safe with me.”

And he gives us peace.

Sermon on the Mount: Not for the “spiritual”

We’re skipping back to Matthew 5 at this point, and we’ll be combining the two sermons on the Mount and the Plain, as they have very similar themes.

Jesus’ words here are slightly different from those we read in Luke. Instead of saying, “Blessed are the poor,” he says “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

While in the former, he seems to be talking to those who were monetarily poor, in this passage, he seems to be saying something different.

There’s no doubt that some Pharisees, teachers of the law, and other religious folk in the crowd were listening to Jesus speak that day.

And when others looked at them, they thought that these people must be the specially favored of God. They were so spiritual. They knew the Bible so well. They lived such righteous lives.

And probably as people looked at themselves, they felt spiritually inferior.

Jesus’ 12 disciples must have especially felt that way. They had no religious training that could compare with the religious elite. They were just fishermen. One was a despised tax collector.

They were a short-tempered, proud, bickering group. A group that Jesus often chided for a lack of faith.

And yet, Jesus said to them, “Yes you are spiritually poor. But the kingdom of God is for people just like you.”

On the other hand, many of the people they considered spiritually rich would find themselves locked out of God’s kingdom when they came to heaven’s gate. Why?

Because the truth is, we are all spiritually poor. None of us have anything we can bring before God that allows us to say, “See, you have to let me in.”

More than spiritually poor, we are spiritually bankrupt.

The Bible says,

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

In fact, all our righteous works are but filthy rags to God. (Isaiah 64:6)

Because of this, we all need Jesus. All of us need his forgiveness and grace, from the Pharisee to the tax collector, from the pastor to the prostitute. And without it, none of us will enter his kingdom.

Do you feel spiritually poor? Know that there is hope for you.

Even if you don’t have a seminary degree, even if you’re just an ordinary person with no special qualifications, and even if you have totally messed up your life, the kingdom of God is for you.

Why? Because whether you’re a pastor, an office worker, or a prostitute, we are all the same. Sinners in need of grace.

The kingdom of God is not for the “spiritual.” It’s for the sinner.

Do you feel you’re not good enough for the kingdom of God? Cheer up. None of us are.

But if you will humble yourself before God, ask his forgiveness for your sins, and if you will receive Jesus as Lord of your life, he promises you eternal life.

And no matter who you are, there are no second-class citizens in his kingdom.