What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
In the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declares, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). What exactly does it mean to be poor in spirit, and why does being poor in spirit result in the kingdom of heaven? Why is “poor in spirit” something God wants us to be? Why would God want us to be “poor” at anything?
Some propose that Jesus is speaking of financial poverty, that He is advocating being poor so that riches and possession don’t come between us and God. While it is true that Jesus elsewhere warned against seeking riches (Matthew 6:24), that does not seem to be Jesus’ point in Matthew 5:3. Jesus is speaking of being “poor in spirit”; i.e., being “spiritually poor.” In the beatitudes, Jesus is concerned with spiritual realities, not material possessions. What, then, does it mean to be spiritually poor?
To be poor in spirit is to recognize your utter spiritual bankruptcy before God. It is understanding that you have absolutely nothing of worth to offer God. Being poor in spirit is admitting that, because of your sin, you are completely destitute spiritually and can do nothing to deliver yourself from your dire situation. Jesus is saying that, no matter your status in life, you must recognize your spiritual poverty before you can come to God in faith to receive the salvation He offers.
Why and how does being poor in spirit result in the kingdom of heaven? While the phrase can be broad in meaning, “kingdom of heaven” essentially refers to salvation. The kingdom of heaven is both eternity in heaven with God after death (Romans 6:23) and the eternal quality of life with God before death (John 10:10). God offers us salvation as a gift, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the full payment for sin’s penalty. Before we can receive this gift, we must understand that we cannot make ourselves worthy of it. Salvation is by grace through faith, not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). We must recognize our sinfulness before we can understand our need for a Savior. We must admit our spiritual poverty before we can receive the spiritual riches God offers (Ephesians 1:3). We must, in short, be “poor in spirit.”
When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” He is declaring that, before we can enter God’s kingdom, we must recognize the utter worthlessness of our own spiritual currency and the inability of our own works to save us.
*https://www.gotquestions.org/poor-in-spirit.html
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Thanks! This is always a hard one for me to get. It’s one where I know the answer, but – yeah – it’s not like an answer that just “clicks”. I don’t “feel” the answer. It’s like – “Poor in spirit? Really? Am I reading this wrong?” A lot of nuance there, IMO.
I agree. I think I should have been more careful here. Realizing that you have nothing to offer to contribute to salvation is true, but it is an extrapolation of what Jesus is saying here. What Jesus is saying is simpler, and directly addresses the characteristic of some of the people before him in the crowd,
The Greek word used here and translated as poor, πτωχός (ptóchos) carries meanings of to be thoroughly frightened, to cower down or hide oneself for fear, one who slinks and crouches, often involving the idea of roving about in wretchedness; reduced to beggary, begging, mendicant, asking alms, poor, needy, destitute of wealth, influence, position, honors; lowly, afflicted.
Not just poor, but poor in spirit, πνεῦμα (pneuma), the vital principle by which the body is animated, the rational spirit, the power by which a human being feels, thinks, wills, decides; the soul.
Here, at the sermon on the mount, Jesus would have been followed by the typical masses of the day. Part of that group are poor in spirit . . . the downtrodden of the day . . . people who have figuratively been beaten to the ground by life.
And Jesus is telling them to be happy, because it is such as them who will [hearing His word and believing] be part of [inherit] the kingdom of heaven.
YES! This has to be the context! Basically, Christ is talking about the demoralized – the beaten-down “deplorables” of that time and place – the forgotten men, women and children. The people most in need of spiritual rescue, HOPING for spiritual rescue.
And there WERE so many such people!
Thank you Carl as always.
I always thought poor in spirit is to humble oneself before God recognizing once failings not holding on to them. Spiritually bankruptcy.
To lay oneself totally bare before God be vulnerable the awareness to be totally laid bare (naked) before God .
It is easier to be poor in spirit when one knows the Love of God.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
I should have been more careful. In retrospect, clearly, the reference I used added to what Jesus was saying. I’ve read others that go down the road of adding in much about merely being poor, as opposed to rich, and then talk at length about negative attributes associated with being rich.
I try to detect and avoid the pitfall of adding a bunch of meaning or specific applications that are not warranted by the circumstances and context of the teachings in the Bible.
One of my favorite passages, bakocarl. Thank you.
Like many, I never full grasped this and probably still do not to the extent it should be. What I do grasp is from my own personal failures that placed me in a position that led to my full submission to the Lord and His ways. I learned we cannot walk with one foot in the world and one foot on heavenly ground. Doesn’t work that way despite the world’s attempts to tell you otherwise.
singingsoul1 – I agree with you. He knows everything anyway – why try to hide oneself from reality as Adam and Eve did in the Garden? The Lord knew my heart was totally given to Him when I made that decision to lay it all down. He loves me and I love him. I have sinned since and will again in the future. However, it will not be because I have intentionally strayed from Him and His promise. He owns my heart and soul completely. Nothing comes before Him. If that means I am thrown down or lifted up – so be it. As a result my grip on things, people, etc. as well as the need to control outcomes was loosened.
Yet, there are times I have to fight myself to keep from taking it all back. Like the results of the upcoming election. I choose not to lose my mind over it despite the evil that could come from it being decided differently from my thoughts and desires. He decides – not me. I do my part and plant seeds. He takes over from there and the result will be for His glory whether I understand it or not.
The Holy Spirit continues to clean me up if you will. I am reminded of past sins as a method to teach me and bring me back to being “poor in spirit” – not to remove me from His grace. It humbles me and He knows I need that. It all combines to bring me into a state of being “poor in spirit”. I begin to understand the depths of my sinful state better, which leads me to appreciate more the extent of His grace and mercy for all of us.
Would Revelation 3: 16-18 offer a clue here as to the meaning of ‘poor in spirit’?
To the Church in Laodicea
…16So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.…
Very interesting. I think this shows that the “poor in spirit” can be both rich and poor – the poor knowing that they lack something – the rich already trying to buy off that emptiness. So perhaps Christ is implying that the poor in spirit will not REMAIN SO – that they will receive true riches, both on Earth and in Heaven.
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