Matt 5:3-4
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
blessed: 25.119 maka/rio
pertaining to being happy, with the implication of enjoying favorable circumstances
(from Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domain. Copyright © 1988 United Bible Societies, New York. Used by permission.)
So ~ blessed, to be happy and enjoy favorable circumstances, are the poor in spirit, and those who mourn. So this is Jesus' opening salvo -- hmmmm. Besides those who quote the Bible, do you know anyone who says "poor in spirit"? Yeah, didn't think so. When I am confronted with phrases like that one as I read, I think, "wow -- must be something they all understood and we are missing" ~ and I go do what I can to look it up, cross reference, do some digging. Here is what I found.
"Poor" as in "poor in spirit" means poor. It comes from a word that means to crouch, like someone would if they were begging. OK, I see the picture, but why would Jesus BEGIN a sermon with this kind of statement. Yeah, yeah, I know . . . I have heard lots and lots of sermons that said, "there were lots of poor people in this crowd, and he was comforting them". I think there has got to be something else...some other thing He was getting at, especially since He tells them they will be/are continually happy and in favorable circumstances because they will inherit the kingdom of heaven. And no, I do not think it is just "you are poor now and you will be rich later when you get to heaven." He says "poor in spirit."
So ~ I went to the Old Testament and looked for phrasing that Jesus might have been referencing.
Why? OK, some background. When we say we "know" the Word, we mean we are familiar with the Word ~ like we have heard sermons preached and we read it devotionally ... OK that sounds pejorative, but usually, you know. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew which only has consonants. The vowel sounds (made with a complex system of dots and dashes) have been added by some really smart smart smart guys called the Masoretes. They did this between the 7th and 11th centuries A.D. In Jesus' day scripture was a series of consonants without breaks between words, sentences, paragraphs. It looked like this:
nthbgnnnggdcrtthhvnsndthrth . . . really like this: בראשיתבראאתהשמייםוהארץ
Got it ~ right? OH -- you don't know what that says? It says,
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." How do I know? I knew what I wrote.
See, they knew what it said, cuz they knew what it said. They KNEW the word. My point is that when Jesus made a reference of a word or a phrase from the scriptures (remember they only HAD the Old Testament, right??) the people listening knew the context.
So I looked back in Isaiah, the book Matthew quoted in Ch. 4. I started reading in Isaiah 64 and 65 where God was telling the people why they had been judged and sent into captivity and what the promise of hope was. There are passages like these: (Yeah, there are a lot; go ahead and read them. In fact what I REALLY suggest that you do ~ go get your Bible and read ALL of Isaiah 64 - 66. But here are some pertinent examples that I think refer directly to Matthew 5:3-4)
Isa 64:6-7
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and made us waste away because of our sins.
NIV
Isa 64:8-12
8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD;
do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look upon us, we pray,
for we are all your people.
10 Your sacred cities have become a desert;
even Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised you,
has been burned with fire,
and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
12 After all this, O LORD, will you hold yourself back?Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? NIV
Isa 65:11-12
But as for you who forsake the LORD
and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and you will all bend down for the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me." NIV
Isa 65:13-14
"My servants will eat,
but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
but you will go thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will sing
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit. NIV
Isa 65:17-19
17 "Behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more. NIV
Isa 66:2
"This is the one I esteem:he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word. NIV
Isa 66:12-13
"I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." NIV
The people listening to Jesus' sermon were "poor in spirit" and "mourning" because, though they were not in captivity in another nation as they had been in the Assyrian and then in the Babylonian nations, they were in captivity in their own nation. The Romans occupied their land. They were crying out for God to come save them and restore them. Jesus comes with comfort -- but His message is not exactly what they want -- but it is what they need. He promises them restoration and He promises them comfort. The restoration Jesus promises is a restoration of relationship and intimacy with God that will result in them inheriting "the kingdom of heaven" . . . not merely getting to have national sovereignty and calling a free Israel "the kingdom of God".
That is the message of the Sermon on the Mount: you can have freedom IN relationship and intimacy with God, even if you do not have freedom FROM your circumstances. Jesus' message is a message about life in His Kingdom.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
blessed: 25.119 maka/rio
pertaining to being happy, with the implication of enjoying favorable circumstances
(from Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domain. Copyright © 1988 United Bible Societies, New York. Used by permission.)
So ~ blessed, to be happy and enjoy favorable circumstances, are the poor in spirit, and those who mourn. So this is Jesus' opening salvo -- hmmmm. Besides those who quote the Bible, do you know anyone who says "poor in spirit"? Yeah, didn't think so. When I am confronted with phrases like that one as I read, I think, "wow -- must be something they all understood and we are missing" ~ and I go do what I can to look it up, cross reference, do some digging. Here is what I found.
"Poor" as in "poor in spirit" means poor. It comes from a word that means to crouch, like someone would if they were begging. OK, I see the picture, but why would Jesus BEGIN a sermon with this kind of statement. Yeah, yeah, I know . . . I have heard lots and lots of sermons that said, "there were lots of poor people in this crowd, and he was comforting them". I think there has got to be something else...some other thing He was getting at, especially since He tells them they will be/are continually happy and in favorable circumstances because they will inherit the kingdom of heaven. And no, I do not think it is just "you are poor now and you will be rich later when you get to heaven." He says "poor in spirit."
So ~ I went to the Old Testament and looked for phrasing that Jesus might have been referencing.
Why? OK, some background. When we say we "know" the Word, we mean we are familiar with the Word ~ like we have heard sermons preached and we read it devotionally ... OK that sounds pejorative, but usually, you know. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew which only has consonants. The vowel sounds (made with a complex system of dots and dashes) have been added by some really smart smart smart guys called the Masoretes. They did this between the 7th and 11th centuries A.D. In Jesus' day scripture was a series of consonants without breaks between words, sentences, paragraphs. It looked like this:
nthbgnnnggdcrtthhvnsndthrth . . . really like this: בראשיתבראאתהשמייםוהארץ
Got it ~ right? OH -- you don't know what that says? It says,
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." How do I know? I knew what I wrote.
See, they knew what it said, cuz they knew what it said. They KNEW the word. My point is that when Jesus made a reference of a word or a phrase from the scriptures (remember they only HAD the Old Testament, right??) the people listening knew the context.
So I looked back in Isaiah, the book Matthew quoted in Ch. 4. I started reading in Isaiah 64 and 65 where God was telling the people why they had been judged and sent into captivity and what the promise of hope was. There are passages like these: (Yeah, there are a lot; go ahead and read them. In fact what I REALLY suggest that you do ~ go get your Bible and read ALL of Isaiah 64 - 66. But here are some pertinent examples that I think refer directly to Matthew 5:3-4)
Isa 64:6-7
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and made us waste away because of our sins.
NIV
Isa 64:8-12
8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD;
do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look upon us, we pray,
for we are all your people.
10 Your sacred cities have become a desert;
even Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised you,
has been burned with fire,
and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
12 After all this, O LORD, will you hold yourself back?Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? NIV
Isa 65:11-12
But as for you who forsake the LORD
and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and you will all bend down for the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me." NIV
Isa 65:13-14
"My servants will eat,
but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
but you will go thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will sing
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit. NIV
Isa 65:17-19
17 "Behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more. NIV
Isa 66:2
"This is the one I esteem:he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word. NIV
Isa 66:12-13
"I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." NIV
The people listening to Jesus' sermon were "poor in spirit" and "mourning" because, though they were not in captivity in another nation as they had been in the Assyrian and then in the Babylonian nations, they were in captivity in their own nation. The Romans occupied their land. They were crying out for God to come save them and restore them. Jesus comes with comfort -- but His message is not exactly what they want -- but it is what they need. He promises them restoration and He promises them comfort. The restoration Jesus promises is a restoration of relationship and intimacy with God that will result in them inheriting "the kingdom of heaven" . . . not merely getting to have national sovereignty and calling a free Israel "the kingdom of God".
That is the message of the Sermon on the Mount: you can have freedom IN relationship and intimacy with God, even if you do not have freedom FROM your circumstances. Jesus' message is a message about life in His Kingdom.
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