Matthew 5:3: Poor In Spirit, and Eternal Blessing

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most recognizable portions of scripture.

However, I think that when it comes to the sermon on the mount, we skim over sections of it, and don’t stop to think about what the statements that Jesus make really mean.

Matthew 5:3 KJV 1900

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Verse 3 of Matthew 5:3 is precisely one of those verses. I finally understood what this verse meant just a few weeks ago. If only I would have stopped to think about it deeply when I was younger, I would have realized that:

Jesus sums up the Gospel message is a span of 13 words.

So, I want you to indulge me for a minute, while we break down a profound and deep and glorious part of scripture, and understand what Jesus really means when He speaks the first 13 words of his Sermon on the Mount.

Blessed (What)

Blessed, or Bless-ed as some would like to say, is the first word used in each of the lovingly titled Beatitudes. Blessed, what does that mean? When we read words in Scripture, we should really pause more often and ask ourselves, “What does that mean?”. So lets do that with Blessed!

This really is a bold word to start a sentence with because most of us use it so lightly. However, Jesus uses it in a wonderful way. When you look into the word blessed in the context in which Jesus is speaking, you find the definition that:

Blessed means “happiness and highly favored, typically by Divine grace”.

I love the term highly favored. If we are blessed, that means we are highly favored, not by our own merit, but by divine grace.

Are The Poor in Spirit (Who)

Now we get to the who part of the verse. Who are blessed? Well the poor in spirit of course. Says so right there in the verse, but again, what does that mean?

For starters, what is Jesus saying when He says poor in spirit? Looking into this word in the greek language, it definitely means poor in the sense that we understand it, poor financially. It also has a little bit deeper of a meaning that I want you to hold on to:

Lexham Theological Wordbook πτωχός

poor means: especially so poor as to be dependent on others for support.

“Blessed are the especially poor as they are dependent on another in the spirit….”

To speak plainly, being poor in the spirit is to be humble to realize that we have to be dependent on something else in order to be whole, in order to be good. Now why is this important? Why is it important to realize that our spirit is not good unless we have something to help it, and if something needs to help our spirit, what is supposed to help it?

Let’s start with Romans 3:10-18

Romans 3:10–18 KJV 1900

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

I think carefully studying this passage gives us the background of what we need to realize, how our spirit is not good on its own.

There is no one who can claim to be righteous ever. No. Not. One!

We are no good. There is nothing about us that is good. The Bible says we don’t understand, we don’t seek God, we aren’t good, we are bitter and we curse, we are angry, and ready to hurt when we are angry, we know no peace, and we do not have the fear of God in our lives.

This entire portion of scripture is Paul speaking to Jews and Gentiles in Rome as a conclusion to his first two chapters in Romans. Paul goes into the fact that those who do God’s righteous law should be fine, and those who do it, won’t die. However, he follows this up making the bold and quite offensive point, NO ONE HAS EVER MET GOD’S RIGHTEOUS LAW, AND THEY NEVER WILL!

The most important realization any of use can ever make, is that we are not good. I am not good, I sinned this morning, I sinned the days that I worked on this sermon. I am angry, I can be mean, I struggle with sexual temptation, I struggle with laziness and procrastination, I have stolen money from work by not working my full time, I have lied, I disobeyed my parents, I can can continue to list the reasons of why I am not good.

*Look at congregation: I hate to tell you, but you guys aren’t good. I know a lot of you personally, and there is nothing good about you. Not of yourself. There can never be. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 “23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” All have sinned and fallen short! In order to be worthy and have the righteousness that would be enough for God, you would have to go your entire life, from day 0 without sin! Which in of itself is impossible, and the Bible backs this up.

Mark 10:17–22 KJV 1900

17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

This story has a lot of layers. The first thing to realize is that this man thought himself worthy of eternal life. He came to Jesus, knowing that he kept the commandments (at least, in his mind he did, its probable that he did not keep them like he said he did), but Jesus says he is lacking one thing. He has committed the sin of idolatry, he had great faith in his riches…

This was the man’s fatal flaw, Jesus however showed compassion, and asked one thing of him, to lay down his money, and follow Him. Jesus asked for him to humble hisself, and the ask went without reply.

Jesus also rebukes him early on, saying why do you call Me good? There is no one that is good but God.

Brief talk, Jesus is not denouncing His deity here, He is God. But I believe He is calling out the fact that the man didn’t believe Jesus is God, but just a man. So the man gets corrected in his thought, that if he is referring to just a man, then there is no way that man is good, because only God can truly carry that title.

Isaiah 64:6 KJV 1900

6 But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The prophet Isaiah calls out that our righteousness are as filthy rags… filthy rags! All the good that we can muster up on our own is only as good as a filthy rag.

Depressing isn’t it? Now my point here is not to depress you, but to encourage you. In order to encourage you in truth, and not in lies, I have to show you the truth that we are not good, we can never be good, and we can never attain eternal life, on our own.

This is the poor in spirit that Matt 5:3 refers to.

Has anyone heard of “I am” statements? “I am enough, I am strong, I am able to do it all!” The truth of the Gospel is that their are only two I am statements you can make that are true, is “I AM NOTHING” and (if you are saved “I am His”) You are not enough, you are not strong, and you are not able to do it all.

Now my point is to realize the humbleness we are supposed to have in our spirit. This is itself the most beautiful thing ever to learn, its wonderful to learn that we are not enough. Why? Well Paul puts it this way: 2 Corinthians 12:9 “9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

The point is not moping around like I’or, “I can’t do anything right, I am worthless, I will never do it on my own”. The point is: “Praise God, I can’t do anything right, Praise God that I am worthless, Praise God I will never do it on my own!” Why? Because His grace, is sufficient, for me. Only through His grace are we whole. Only through grace and Holy Spirit, can any good come out of our lives.

So we need to humble ourselves, my question now is, as we have described being poor in spirit, what does alot of this sound like? Knowing that we are nothing without God, admitting that we need to rely on God for everything? That sounds a lot like how Jesus calls us to come to him for salvation.

2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV 1900

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

We believe on Jesus and He saves us! That’s amazing, and what happens when we get saved? The Spirit comes upon us:

Acts 1:8 KJV 1900

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

This is why it is so important to be poor in spirit, coming to God with humility not only is the heart we carry to go the Lord for salvation, but we are helped by the Spirit to continue in this humbleness, that way we can better serve the Lord and keep His commandments.

For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (How)

Matthew 5:3 “3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

So Blessed, is the what part of the sentence, poor in spirit is the who part of the sentence, and for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven part of the sentence is the how. That is to say, how are the poor in spirit blessed, well theirs is the kingdom of Heaven! This is beautiful. All of that realization, and acceptance of Christ into our lives, and believing in His name, and our gift is eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Romans 6:23 “23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This is one of the many verses that points us to the fact that faith in Jesus Christ our Lord leads to eternal life and that is what we receive. Only the poor in spirit, the ones who humble themselves enough to realize they need Jesus, are welcomed into the kingdom of Heaven.

It’s like I said at the start of the sermon, Jesus’ opening statement, His first 13 words of His sermon on the mount, carry the entire gospel message within its meaning. Humble ourselves before the Lord of the universe, and our gift is entry into the kingdom of Heaven!