Today we start our dive into the beatitudes. As I said last week, “beatitude” comes from the Latin for blessed. Blessed is one of those words that is used so much it sometimes loses its meaning. Think of happy or joyful as every time you read “blessed” in these verses. It might change the way you understand some of them!
Each of these blessings has the same structure; there’s a description of a group of people and the reason they will be happy and fortunate. The word beatitude helps me to remember this pattern; if I be like (have the attitude or actions of) the people in the group, I will have the blessing.
Let’s look at the first one.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3, ESV)
This first blessing is for those who are poor in spirit. So how do we know if this is for us? The poor in spirit are those who have recognized their sin and their inability to rescue themselves from their fate by their own power. These are those who have humbled their hearts and accepted Jesus as their savior.
When I saw my sinfulness (my spiritual poverty) and admitted to Jesus how lost I was without Him, I became part of this group. Now, the kingdom of heaven is mine. The kingdom of heaven is used a couple of ways in the New Testament. Here, this means that I am part of God’s family on earth right now (notice the present tense).
That’s so cool!
Through Jesus, I have brothers and sisters to encourage me and help me up when I fall. I have many children to love and pour into; I have mothers and fathers to teach me and discipline me when I need it. I have found so much joy in being part of God’s family.
One more thought about this first blessing. When we recognize our spiritual poverty and devote ourselves to Jesus, we become spiritually rich, with wonderful, imperishable treasure stored up in heaven for us. I love how God replaces our poverty with His riches. (Check out Matthew 6:19-21.)
Think About: Are you among the poor in spirit?
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