Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, 

For they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

 

- Matthew 5:1–10 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: . . . My study Bible states that in the Old Testament, only a select few were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  Here, it is God Incarnate who is speaking to the multitudes face to face.  The mountain is a place where divine action enters into human history; this is the place where God reveals Himself to human beings (Matthew 17:1; Genesis 22:2; Exodus 3:1, 19:2; 1 Kings 18:20).  Additionally, to be seated is the traditional Jewish position for teaching with authority.  Some early Christian preachers, such as St. John Chrysostom, sat while the people stood.  My study Bible tells us that St. Matthew using the expression that Jesus opened His mouth emphasizes that this teaching is "one way," that in fact He has come to speak with authority (Matthew 7:29), and the disciples are not there to discuss or to debate, but to listen.

 

 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  To be blessed in the sense that Jesus uses it here in the Beatitudes indicates heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  My study Bible explains that in Hebrew, "poor" means both the materially poor, and the faithful among God's people.  Those who are poor in spirit are those who have the heart of the poor; that is, the same attitude as the poor, and complete dependence upon God.

 

 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  Those who mourn, my study Bible explains, sorrow over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and their own sins (Luke 7:36-38).  All of these are comforted by the power of God both in this world and in the age to come.  My study Bible adds that holy sorrow is part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action, and is the firstfruit of infinite joy.  This is distinguished from ungodly sorrow, a sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).

 

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  Meekness is an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  This is an imitation of Christ, my study Bible says, who is the one who told us, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  My study Bible further explains that the meek are those who are God-controlled and have mastery over their passions, especially anger.  It notes that meekness is not passive weakness, but rather strength directed and under control.  The earth that will be is to be inherited by the meek is not power or possession in this world, but it is the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).  

 

 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."  My study Bible tells us that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness see the presence of God and God's Kingdom as the most important thing in life.  It says that they have a desperate craving for what is right before God, comparable to a starving person's craving for food (see Matthew 6:33).  

 

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  What does it mean to be merciful?  Mercy is love set in motion, according to my study Bible; that is, love expressed in action.   It says that God's mercy in taking our sufferings on Himself in order to grant us God's Kingdom sets us free from captivity to the evil one.  In view of God's mercy to all, we in turn are to be merciful to all.

 

 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."   According to my study Bible, to be pure is to be unmixed with anything else, unadulterated.  The pure in heart are those therefore who are completely devoted to the worship and service of God and accept no compromises.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, those who achieve purity practice all virtue, have no conscious evil in themselves, and live in temperance.  This level of spirituality, it says, is attained by few, but all may strive for it.  When the soul's only desire is God, and a person's will holds to this desire, then that person will truly see God everywhere.  

 

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  As Christ is the source of peace, He found no price sufficient for peace other than to shed His own blood.  In this sense He is our sacrifice shared in communion, and reveals Himself as the Reconciler, the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 2:14-16).  According to my study Bible, the Holy Spirit gives peace to those who imitate Christ.  Therefore, peacemakers share God's peace with those around them, imitating Christ's sacrificial love and participating in His work.  By God's grace, peacemakers become sons of God themselves.  

 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  My study Bible declares that children of God uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and give themselves to no other (Matthew 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Like Jesus, these will be persecuted for righteousness' sake (see John 15:18-20).  Christ's kingdom is the crown which awaits the righteous. 

 

My study Bible tells us that the sense of blessedness conveyed in the Beatitudes indicates a heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  In our every day lives, we think of our blessings as all the things we might possess, or perhaps our talents, or health.  But these are the blessings of the Kingdom that Jesus is telling us about, and the Kingdom does not necessarily operate as does the world and our material lives.  In fact, it is these blessings of the Kingdom that may color and add light, or illumine, our experiences of the world.  The things we might think of or experience as loss might not feel as loss according to the Beatitudes of the Kingdom, the blessings we may very well experience, that don't necessarily make worldly sense.  This is akin to the "peace that passes understanding" found in Philippians 4:6-7.  That's a peace that doesn't necessarily correspond to worldly understanding of peace, and may even be found in the midst of tribulation and difficult circumstances.  It is a sense in which these beatitudes, or blessings of the Kingdom, transcend not only circumstances but even time, for they come from Christ's eternal kingdom.  These blessings are not simply transcendent, but they are also transformational.  Like Christ's presence, they transfigure whatever they touch.  A sad circumstance, like the illness of a parent, or the struggles of a child, can be transfigured through our perception of such blessings. When we practice mercy, we find an added dimension to life, another meaning layered over whatever we are experiencing, a giftedness of blessing even in a sad or difficult circumstance.  When we learn meekness, or perhaps we should say the particular kind of "meekness" implied here, we grow in learning both humility, and to perceive capabilities inherent in a perhaps limited circumstance that we didn't see before.  We give up manipulation when we are not able to change something, but in exchange find some grace that allows us to change and accept God's plans wherever we are.  To be poor in spirit is to accept God's kingdom and dominion, authority and power, as the fullest expression of authority we know, reaching into the places of grace and transcending everything else.  We are meant to live for this kind of life, this kind of blessedness as our experience, for this is what it is to "walk with God," and to know Christ in our lives.  Let us consider what it is to be poor in this sense, to exchange our fullest dependence upon the riches of the world, and accept instead the great grace of the blessedness of God, which remains even when all else is gone (Matthew 5:19-20).  There are many wealthy people who can tell us how hollow and empty such a life can be in and of itself; but with God all things are blessed.