The Sermon on the Mount which Jesus preached to his disciples at the beginning of His earthly ministry is found in chapters 5-7 of the book of Matthew. Jesus intended this sermon not only for his disciples of that day but for the church today. Jesus uses the sermon to teach his followers about the thoughts and behaviors that should characterize the children of God by reflecting the character of God. Jesus commands a high standard for the lives of believers by demanding no less than the perfection of God (5:48). Of course we realize that only our Lord Jesus Christ is capable of perfectly fulfilling the standard of conduct. Nevertheless, our goal is Christ-likeness but the only way we can approach this demanding desideratum is by seeking the grace and mercy of God, by asking forgiveness when we fail, and by relying on the Holy Spirit when our faith is under assault.
It is appropriate that Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount with an axiomatic series of blessings, since he came into the world to purchase and pronounce blessings for and on us (Acts 3:26; Gen. 12:3). And He pronounces them here as one whom Scripture informs us has the authority to command such blessings (Matt. 7:29; 28:18; John 7:16, 10:18).
The blessings Jesus spoke here are referred to as the Beatitudes. These blessings are precepts of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is speaking about the citizens of the kingdom of God as He describes their character and the blessedness that arises from that character.
Jesus meant these beatitudes to describe what all Christians are to be, not just specially exceptional Christians. And Jesus did not mean that some Christians possess some of the characteristics and other Christians possess one or more of the characteristics. These beatitudes describe each and every Christian. All Christians are meant to possess all of these characteristics. The beatitudes are the standard characteristics required of all Christians. In fact, “every Christian is meant to be all of them, and to manifest all of them, at the same time.”[1]
Also, none of these Christian characteristics are part of a person’s natural state. These characteristics can only come from the grace of God through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit.
EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Blessed are” People in their fallen state of depravity have a false view of blessedness. To the world, the blessed state is one that maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain. This hedonistic view of blessedness has as its goal a life of riches and approval from a licentious and covetous world. They see blessedness as happiness or a life of carnal pleasure and contentment.
But Jesus came to correct this erroneous view of a blessedness consisting of temporal satisfaction. Jesus taught that to be blessed by God is to be in a state of spiritual well-being and approval by God that is manifested through communion with God. Scripture clearly states what God-given blessedness is when it states “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night (Ps. 1:1, 2).
“the poor in spirit.” Now Jesus identifies the only people who are blessed by God. He states in this context that only those people who are “poor in spirit” are blessed by God. But what does “poor in spirit” mean?
The Greek word that is translated in verse 3 as the English word “poor” is πτωχός (transliterated from the Greek as ptóchos). This word can be translated into English as either “poor” as in a pauper (Luke 14:13, 21) or in the beggarly sense metaphorically regarding one’s spirit as being in a state of spiritual impoverishment without any means of spiritual support; one who is powerless to enrich one’s self and whose support must come from elsewhere (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20).
“If the word used here for poor (πτωχός) is used in its primary or basic sense, as may well be the case, it would indicate not the pauper, one so poor that he must daily work for his living (πένης, transl. penes, 2 Cor. 9:9), but the beggar, one who is dependent on others for support.”[2]
The word poor in this verse does not mean financially poor or destitute; it is not speaking about a state of material want. Some commentators support this “financially poor” meaning by referring to the parallel passage in Luke 6:20 which omits “in spirit” from Jesus’s statement. They say that since Luke left out “in spirit” from his passage, this must mean that Jesus was referring generally to anyone with meager material possessions.
However, since the word of God contains no contradictions, Matthew and Luke, who both wrote of the same event, must be saying the same thing. Matthew’s addition of “in spirit” is simply more descriptive of the same people that Luke writes about. Both Matthew 5:3 and Luke 6:20 correctly present the teaching of Jesus as something more than mere material poverty or someone so poor financially that he has to work daily for his support. Jesus was speaking of all who come to Jesus and believe through faith and not just those in a condition of impecuniosity. It is poverty of the spirit, a spirit of humility and self-denial that receives the reward of citizenship in the kingdom of God, not meager financial means. Jesus is speaking of believers’ recognition of their own spiritual impoverishment and “the dependent humility that receives God’s favor.”[3]
Those reading this verse must also understand that this poverty of spirit is an “all-in” condition. Not only are the people who reject Christ not classed as the “poor in spirit” and thus will not be saved, but so are those who are lukewarm and not fully committed to Christ (Rev. 3:15-17) regardless of church membership or attendance (cf., Matt. 7:21-23).
“for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Here we see the blessing given to the poor in spirit. The blessing of citizenship in the kingdom of God and membership in Christ’s church which is referred to as the congregation of thy poor (Ps. 74:19 KJV). The reward for those who humble themselves before God in this life is exaltation to eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.
SUMMARY
The term “poor” in this verse does not refer to one’s financial condition but to their spiritual poverty. This beatitude speaks to those sinners who are emptied of spirit to a state of spiritual impoverishment and humility/ These are sinners rely not on themselves for salvation but solely upon the grace of God to believe by faith in Jesus Christ as the Lord and master of their lives. To such believers, God promises and guarantees eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.
[1] D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, Studies In The Sermon On The Mount, (Eerdmans 1971, 1976). 26.
[2] William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Matthew, n. 265 (Baker Academic 1973), 269.
[3] R.C. Sproul, gen. ed., The Reformation Study Bible, Matthew, n. 5:3, (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2015 (ESV)), 1678.
