When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful,
for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Setting the Scene: Remember that we are sitting at Jesus’ feet on a mountain listening to him teach. The Greek word, ptochos {pto-khos'}is translated “poor” and means destitute of wealth, influence, position, and honor … lowly, afflicted, helpless, powerless …in pneuma {pnyoo'-mah} translated “spirit” meaning the rational spirit, the power by which the human being feels, thinks, and decides. When Jesus uses the phrase “poor in spirit,” he is using the broad Hebrew sense of poor, in both a socioeconomic and a religious sense.
In the overview, we learned that the kingdom, basileia {bas-il-i'-ah} of heaven can be understood as the reign of God. This translation also encourages us to understand that Jesus is calling us to an inner space rather than a literal place.
Making Connections: Take a moment to think about your life and its challenges.
Have you known a time in your life that you consider yourself to have been “poor in spirit?”
Can you describe what that feel like?
How did you overcome your spiritual poverty?
How were you able to sense God in your times of spiritual poverty?
Going Deeper: The world tells us that we must be self-sufficient and independent if we want to succeed in life. If we listen, the world tells us that our wealth defines us and tells us how valuable we are.
We are often judged by the clothes we wear, the work we do, the car we drive, and the house we live in. When we step back, we can see how shallow that is. And yet, often we struggle to find our true value in the eyes of God.
Who judges you? Who do you judge?
What defines you? How are you defined?
Who accepts you? Who do you find it hard to accept?
Who encourages you? Who do you encourage?
In the classical sense of literary parallelism, each of the two parts of each phrase in the beatitudes would mean the same thing. If we read this beatitude in that way, poverty of spirit and kingdom of heaven (reign of God) would mean basically the same thing. This invites us to look at poverty in a different way.
St. Augustine said,
“Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.”
o Have you felt this restlessness?
o How do you calm your restless soul?
Blaise Pascal said something similar about our inner life as an
“infinite abyss can be filled only … by God.”
o What are the things that you are tempted to fill up that God-shaped void with
… other than God?
o How do you overcome this temptation?
In 1 Corinthians 6:19, the Apostle Paul said, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” Paul says that we do not belong to ourselves, we belong to God. This makes us completely dependent upon God.
So we wonder … what does this look like?
We can see a glimpse of this in Philippians 2:5-8 …
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.
Jesus emptied himself. Marjorie Thompson says, “Jesus shows us the true meaning of poverty of spirit: a mature, freely accepted dependence … the strength and transforming effect of Jesus’ ministry come from a willing surrender of his will to God’s.” (Companions in Christ: The Way of Blessedness, 29)
Pondering: I sometimes have the privilege to sit with a homeless or an incarcerated person and I am able to listen to a story here and there. I have come to know God, as One who comes to us right where we are, through their stories. These men and women may not have a pillow to lay their head upon but they know God in a way that many of us do not for when God is all you have, GOD is your all in all!
How do you understand spiritual poverty?
What is the source of your spiritual poverty?
How do you “know” God?
What images do you have of God?
What words would you use to describe the God that you know?
How much do you trust God?
What is your level of dependence upon God today?
How is God inviting you to change … to depend more upon God’s love and grace in your life?
Praying: A prayer from the heart of Thomas Merton … Take a deep breath and pray these words from your own deepest longing. Feel free to change the words and make this prayer your own.
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. -Thoughts in Solitude
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