(10)VERSE OF THE WEEK (10)
Matthew 5:3 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'
This is the first of what are commonly known as the beatitudes, a list of blessings spoken by Jesus at the beginning of his 'sermon on the mount'. The beatitudes are probably one of the most misunderstood passages in the New Testament. This arises because the occasion and the context of the sermon on the mount is not understood. Jesus is addressing the inner group of those who were following him. He is teaching them what the Kingdom of God is like when it is revealed and lived in the world of human society. He is telling them what it should be like. But in the course of giving this teaching, he is giving his hearers an unmistakeable impression.
The impression is that Jesus appears to be a second Moses, expanding the meaning of the Law! The first Moses went up the mountain called Sinai and descended with the Law (the Ten Commandments) that God had given him. Here is Jesus in his role as the new law-giver. His listeners would not have missed the parallel. Jesus himself declared that he had not come to destroy the old law but to fulfil it. He did this in two ways (1) by obeying it completely [on our behalf] and (2) by being the person to whom the law pointed. He is this person because the old law shows us that we cannot meet God's requirement for righteousness. Only Christ can provide the righteousness we need for heaven. For more on this issue, see 'Confidence in the Gospel - the gift of Righteousness' page.
But here Jesus is not giving a prescriptive list. He is describing the characteristics of the kingdom of God that he has come to open to us. Mark records (1:14,15) that Jesus proclaimed 'The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.' The characteristics of God's kingdom are going to turn upside down the characteristics of this world.
Many people seem to think the verse we are looking at means that it is the poor in an earthly sense who will enter God's kingdom. But that is not what is meant here. Jesus is not speaking about the poor of the world. Note it is the 'the poor in spirit' - meaning those who recognise themselves to be spirit-ually poverty-stricken. These are the people who turn to Christ because they know they need him to give them forgiveness. These people will enter the kingdom of heaven through putting their faith in Jesus Christ. They may be the worldly poor - like the Dalits of India, who being caste as the lowest of the low - eagerly grasp the promise of acceptance and welcome into the kingdom of God. But they may also include the worldly affluent who still recognise their spiritual need. This is God's Grace reaching down to those who know their need, no matter who they are.