Lately I have been ministered to by the Word, specifically the truths Jesus explained in the passage Matthew 5:1-10 known as the "Beatitudes". As I read this passage, a couple of things dawn on me: number one, In verse 1 it says "...when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down". The phrase "sat down" is not necessary to the passage and so it causes the reader to say, "Hmm. I wonder why it says Jesus sat down?" In the Hebrew way of studying the scriptures, this little clue is called a "remez" and it is put there so the ardent student will dig deeper.
Why was it necessary to say he sat down? Oftentimes, the text itself in the Bible will paint a wonderful picture. Here we have Jesus rising above the crowd, about to speak of some circumstances which the hearer may not think are ideal (such as being persecuted). The fact that he sat down indicates rest, but it also is a picture for us of God sitting on His throne in Heaven- reigning, sovereign and Supreme over all circumstances which could happen to us here on the earth. This is a beautiful and loving picture our Heavenly Father has given to every follower of Yeshua, to know that when we go through trials of many kinds in this life, and we decide to go through it rejoicing in Him, that God is ultimately in control, no matter what man may do to us and He is awaiting us, on the mountaintop, or rather in Heaven to reward us for our faithfulness. After all, Jesus said that if we give a cup of water to a child in his name, we will not lose our reward in Heaven. This begs the question...."If a cup of cold water, how much more so our very lives?"
Number two: I notice about this passage in Matthew that this seems to be a passage contained in itself- in other words, Jesus begins the Beatitudes with a phrase and ends the Beatitudes with the same exact phrase. In verse 3 it says:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
And then again at the end, a similar phrase:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
Notice that the phrase "For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven" tends to act as a door on each side of the passage. That is another hint to dig deeper. Deeper where?? Deeper into the content on the inside of the doors! In other words, Jesus seems to be indicating that the truths contained within this passage are very important to fulfilling one's role as his follower.
This is what the Lord has been showing me lately: the first Beatitude is of utmost importance if you want to follow the Messiah. Let's look at it again:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingom of heaven.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Is it like being poor materially? The word for spirit here is the Greek word pneuma. It means wind, or breath, but it also means things which are perceived as having no material substance, things such as spirit, heart, mind, the inner things of man which are also created in the image of God. But to be poor in spirit, one is emptied out of self, emptied out of one's own glory. As it is written in Phillipians 2:6 about Jesus, "Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, bing made in human likeness". (emphasis mine)
Jesus is our example of being poor in spirit. He emptied himself out of himself in a way. He took the nature of a servant. He was not prideful. As a follower of Christ, we are called to do the same every day of our lives.
To be poor in spirit means to not esteem yourself higher than you ought. It means I esteem others higher than myself, rather than try to pump myself up, oftentimes using exaggeration (which the Bible calls lying) in order to do so. Just as a beggar is poor of material wealth, the poor in spirit are lacking in their own importance, their own agenda, a sense of their own rights or the need to defend those rights. They have nothing of worth which the Lord has not given them.
Being poor in spirit also means being thankful in all circumstances. Actually thanking God for those circumstances! Wait a minute! You mean even when others (my spouse perhaps?) are treating me unfairly? Yep. That is exactly what I mean.
There is a story told by Corrie ten Boom in her book "The Hiding Place" of when she and her sister were in the Nazi concentration camps. They lived in a crowded barracks. Corrie was tempted to complain and be unthankful for being in such a dismal place. Her sister, however, encouraged her to be thankful. "Even for the lice?" Corrie asked her sister. "Even for the lice", her sister replied. As the days wore on, the two women were sharing the Lord with the other women in their barracks and even holding prayer meetings and worship times with singing. They noticed that the guards let them carry on, not entering the barracks to interrupt this special time with the Lord. They later found out why the guards did not enter those barrack- the guards were avoiding the lice, the very adverse circumstance Corrie had thanked God for!
Seeking to become poor in spirit has been a hard-hitting teaching for me. For don't you know that when God deposits truth into us, He often then sends a trial to test that truth and to see if it has stuck? I mean, I get angry if I am inconvenienced at the grocery store!! I have so far to go...and I am painfully aware of how much I am in need of His grace to do this. When I hit bottom in the realization that I have nothing...nothing of myself to offer to Him that is of any value...then and only then I think I will have just started to hit the tip of the iceberg of what it means to be "poor in spirit".
Right now I would just like to share a couple of stories that are examples to me of Christians, real flesh and blood people, who are poor in spirit, who are emptied out of themselves so that they may be filled with the grace of God to abound to others who need to know Him.
The first story a friend was telling me today at lunch. It is not a long story, but rather a description: 2 missionaries to a foreign country. They wanted to reach a certain group of people and share the gospel with them. They both sold themselves into slavery to these people, forsaking their family members and their friends, not knowing if they would ever see their loved ones again. Not knowing of whether or not their new masters would be merciful to them, or harsh. I said to myself : These people are the real deal!! They did not think it below them to do such a thing. They were truly slaves for Jesus the Messiah.
This reminded me of another missionary story I heard some years ago: a young girl (of which nationality, I do not remember), a follower of the Messiah, was placed in a horrible prison. Her cell was tiny. It was dank and oppressive. There was no latrine and so all the prisoners, each in their own cells, had to "go" on the floor and live in the filth. The prison guards would come by every few days to clean out the cells. Knowing that these guards did not want to do this, and seeing a possible opportunity to both share the gospel with the inmates and be a light to the guards, she offered to go and do the dirty job. The clincher: she had no tools with which to scoop- only her hands. And as she would reach her hands into the dark cells and scoop the excrement, she would whisper to the prisoner, "I know of a better Way...."
Does this story make you well up with tears? It does me. Does it do it for the right reasons, though? It brings me to my knees. It makes me cry out to God from the painful pit in my stomach and the knowledge that I claim to be a follower of the Messiah, and yet I know I do not have the inner substance this young girl had. But I want it. The flesh hates what I am about to write....but my spirit is so excited....I want what this young follower of Messiah has. I am hungry to know what it is like to be "poor in spirit".
I think perhaps the days might be coming soon, possibly during times of great persecution, when I will have the opportunity to be conformed to this aspect of the image of the Messiah,
"...who for the joy set before him endured the cross..." Hebrews 12:2.
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