Blessed Are: The Poor In Spirit

Over the next several days I'd like to take a closer look at the teachings Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew 5:3-12

Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

What does it mean to be poor in spirit?

For years I saw it as an unhealthy form of humility: A brokenness in spirit like an animal trained too hard - beaten down and hopeless. Later, I thought that it meant to be weak, or lacking, in spirit. This conjured images of those who just didn't know any better and followed blindly. I wondered how a loving Father could ever expect and desire for me to be poor in these ways.

I've come to realize, however, that a lot of the issues we have when hearing this verse stems from the fact that in America we are bred on success: Pulling ourselves up by the seat of our pants to gain an advanced education and money, money, money. While there is nothing wrong with hard work and commitment, we have placed way too much emphasis on self. We are told we are special. We can do anything if we just put our mind to it. We have the power within ourselves to accomplish our dreams. We have the right...

I love the line from Disney's movie The Incredibles. The young boy Dash complains to his mother, "But Dad said our powers made us special!"
"Everyone's special, Dash." she replies.
He mutters back to her, "Which is another way of saying NO ONE is."

There can only be One who is Special. And we are not Him.

The New American Commentary summarizes it well. "'Poor in spirit' as a virtue, must refer not to a poor quality of faith but to the acknowledgement of one's spiritual powerlessness and bankruptcy apart from Christ".

We can not live as though we, as individuals, are the most one important to God. Yes, He loves us and has gone through all this trouble for us, but apart from Jesus we are nothing. John 14:6 states, "Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one come to the Father except through Me.'"  Again in Acts 4:11-12 we hear, "This Jesus is The stone despised by you builders, who has become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved."

Jesus Himself wonderfully defines what it means to be poor in spirit:
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angles in the glory of His Father, and then will reward each according to what he has done.'" Matthew 16:24-27

This is what we need to understand to be poor in spirit:   Stop trying to be your own Jesus.

Say, “Shibboleth”

Recently I've been reading in the book of Judges. When I came to chapter 12, I was amused by how the Gileadites determined if a traveler was a refuge from Ephraim. They were told to say “Shibboleth”. If they couldn't pronounce it correctly and instead said “Sibboleth”, they “seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, 42,000 from Ephraim died.” v.6

Forty-two thousand! All because of how they said a word.

As I started thinking about this, I was reminded of another passage: Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus is telling the people that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Many will say, “'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!'” They knew the right word, they just didn't know THE WORD.

I found something interesting in the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary: “Shibboleth, means "a stream"; Sibboleth, "a burden." The Eastern tribe had, it seems, a dialectical provincialism in the sound of Shibboleth; and the Ephraimites could not bring their organs to pronounce it.” The correct pronunciation of the word meant “a stream”. When we submit our life to the Lord, Jesus says, “...the water I give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.” (John 4:14) However, if said wrong, the word meant “a burden”. Isaiah 53:4 prophesies about Jesus that, “...He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains...” When we cannot truly claim Jesus, we have no one to carry our burdens and must have them laid upon our own shoulders.

Notice there was no faking it either? They couldn't say the name correctly unless they were truly sons born of the right region. There is no faking it with God either. Unless we are born again as His children, we can NOT claim the name of Jesus.

How many people around you know that Jesus is Lord, that “...there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we might be saved.” (Acts 4:12), that do many wonderful things in His name, yet do not know Him?

Pray today for the wisdom to recognize these people, even if one of them is yourself. Also, ask Him for guidance in helping them get to truly know the Lord Jesus the Christ.
Pray for them to be able to say “Shibboleth”.