Lent - Day 11: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Now when Jesus saw the crowds,

He went up on a mountainside and sat down.

His disciples came to him, and He began to teach them.

Blessed are the poor in spirit

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

The Beatitudes are eight blessings that Jesus taught His disciples while gathered on a hillside surrounded by crowds of people.  There are many different interpretations of what each blessing means.  I am going to tell you what they mean to me and encourage you to study each for yourself.

Matthew’s first blessing is for the “poor in spirit.”  I want to point out that Luke’s account of this teaching moment (Luke 6:20-26) is very different from Matthew’s: there are only four blessings, along with four woes, and he leaves off the “in spirit” of the first beatitude, proclaiming simply, Blessed are the poor..

I believe that someone who is “poor in spirit” is an individual who recognizes their own sinfulness, their inability to save themselves, and their need of a Savior.  I am not surprised that the first issue that Jesus tackles is our need to lay down the reins of self-control and place our lives solely in the hands of our Redeemer.