Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5:3, Luke 18:9-14, 2 Corinthians 8:9

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Jesus Sermon on the Mount is well known. It’s been heard often, as a matter of fact, so often that we probably don’t think anything of what he says as being unusual. Here is what Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, verse three.

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

Now, people, many people, anyway of Jesus time would have considered what he said very unusual because they thought. It’s people who are good. It’s people who have done great things for God. Those are the ones who are going to inherit the Kingdom of God. It’s the faithful people who are depending on their works to outdo the sins in their life. But Jesus was saying, No, it’s for the people who are poor in spirit.

And later he told a parable about two people who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and in part of his prayer, he basically just listed all the good things that he had done and how much better he was than everyone else. But his list did not impress God at all. The second man was a tax collector, a despised man among the people. He simply came to God and it says struck his chest, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And it was that man, Jesus said, who went home forgiven!

How can God do that? There’s only one way that he can do it, and that is that he had Jesus take that man’s place to suffer and die on the cross so that his sins could be forgiven. And so that to this very day, as people confess their sins and their poverty in their spiritual lives, we can say with certainty Jesus has forgiven you. Your sins are gone and you are now holy in God’s sight. This is the great blessing that we have in Christ.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Yes, Jesus humbled himself in death to take away all of your sins. He is the only reason that we can be certain of having the Kingdom of Heaven as our final destination. Trust in him at all times. We pray.

Dear Lord, we cannot earn heaven on our own. Our debt of sin is too great. But you sent your perfect Son to the cross to fully satisfy your justice. Help us always to trust in Jesus payment for full forgiveness and life in your kingdom. Amen.