Jesus begins his portrait of redeemed humanity with the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). As Matthew, who was penning his gospel in Greek, sought to accurately convey Jesus teaching, originally given in Aramaic, he had two Greek word choices for “poor.” The one, penes, described a man who barely ekes out his living, existing on a subsistence wage. That is not the word Matthew chose. Rather, Matthew chose ptochos, which describes the poverty of one who is reduced to begging. It is connected to the word ptossein, which means to crouch or to cower and sounds like spit upon. Penes describes one who has nothing superfluous: ptochos describes one who has nothing at all. The attitude of being poor in spirit means that you recognize that you are utterly, completely destitute, when it comes to the spiritual resources you need to live.
It is only when we recognize our utter spiritual poverty that God imparts to us his kingdom resources—the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Remember as we have seen earlier, the term kingdom of heaven does NOT refer to Christ’s sovereign rule but his preceptive (from the word, precept), or righteous rule. The first beatitude, then, could be stated, “O the satisfaction of constantly recognizing your spiritual helplessness and trusting therefore in Christ to provide the righteousness you need.” Both James and Peter express this same principle, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6, I Peter 5:5).
Here are some examples of how this heart attitude changes us:
a) It is the basis of kingdom membership. Conversion to Christ is acknowledging that we do not have the righteousness we need to be fit for the presence of a Holy God, and trusting Christ’s death as the Atoning sacrifice for our sin, clothing us in His righteousness. Entrance into the kingdom and all its benefits are only received when we recognize our abject spiritual poverty.
b) True poverty of spirit extinguishes a judgmental attitude towards others. In Luke 18:9-14, we read, Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
c) True poverty of spirit causes us to be quick to forgive others who have wronged us. The more I realize I have offended a perfect being, God Himself, by my sin, the more unable I am to require perfect treatment of me by others! How dare I demand perfection from others when I fall so far from it. As Paul wrote, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Eph 4:32).
d) True poverty of spirit increases my gratefulness to God and love for him. There is nothing worth redeeming in me. God did not look down the corridors of time and see that I would one day repent from my sin and turn towards Him. When I was an unrepentant rebel, he set his unconditional love upon me, made me spiritually alive, and drew me irresistibly to himself with the cords of love. I never would have turned to him, had he not changed my heart. Looking at the woman who had washed his feet, Jesus pointed out the principle that one who is forgiven much loves much (Luke 7:36-50).
e) True poverty of spirit means daily dependence upon Christ for the spiritual power to follow him. Just as Jesus’ righteousness, not mine, is the basis for my justification (declared righteous by the judge) so Jesus’ righteousness living in me is the basis of my sanctification (grow in righteous character) Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5).
f) True poverty of spirit means I know I need building up by connection in the Body of Christ. The spiritual transformation I need to grow up into Christ only happens through connecting honestly with other believers about the intersection of our lives and Scripture. "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love" (Eph 4:15-16).
g) True poverty of spirit means I want to learn from the perspective of others instead of always sharing my opinions. Prov 23:23 says, Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. Recognizing my spiritual poverty means that there are many things I do not see that others do and humbly asking their opinion.
It refreshes my soul (Makarios) to realize that my God never tires of helping me in my weakness. He does not expect me to have the spiritual resources I need. He knows I am spiritually bankrupt, destitute. In fact, he wants to turn my very weakness into an opportunity to show HIS strength. About his thorn in the flesh, Paul wrote. "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (1 Cor. 12:8-10).
