Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Blessed or happy?

People attribute the source of happiness to different things. The Romans, for example, thought it could be found in authority, wealth, glory, and grandiosity. They were sure that it couldn’t be found in being poor in spirit. The Jews also miscalculated and sought after their freedom of slavery from the Romans, believing that it was the road to happiness. They too couldn’t believe that happiness is being poor in spirit.

Let us see how others perceived blessings. Blessedness, from Abraham’s point of view, meant, a child, land, cattle... etc. The Old Testament promised materialistic blessings. In the book of Exodus, the Lord said, “I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exud3:8). The same in the book of Deuteronomy, “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving to you” (Deut28:8).

Christ our Lord tells us come to Me and I will open to you the doors of joy, happiness and blessing. As we know, the Gospel is the joyful message, the Good tidings, as the Angel told the Shepherds saying, “Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people” (Lk2:10).

Our Lord Jesus sat down on the mountain side to explain the spiritual importance of poorness in spirit. For those who seek it, blessings and happiness shall be their reward.

Be poor in spirit to avoid Satan’s and Adam’s fall

Satan fell when he wanted to be like God… when he said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Is 14:13,14). It was the same cause of the fall of Adam and Eve; since they accepted Satan’s grandiose idea, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4,5).

The people who are poor in spirit value the virtue of humility. No wonder that the first beatitude goes to the humble. Our Lord Jesus humbled Himself to fulfill our salvation giving Himself as the greatest example to follow. St. Paul says to us, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:7,8).

The Lord always looks over those who are poor in spirit, as He says, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit” (Is 66:2). Therefore, St. James says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). According to the inspired Davidic Psalm, “He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes- with the princes of His people” (Ps 113:7,8). These words remind us with those of St. Mary in her praise, “He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed… He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly” (Lk 2:48-52).

Examples of those who were poor in spirit:

1. St. Mary exceeded all mankind in humility, so much that the Lord chose her to be His mother in His incarnation. Humility was the greatest virtue that qualified her to be chosen, as she said, considering herself a maidservant (Lk 2:48). Through her humility, she went to serve Elizabeth during her pregnancy for three months after her holy conception (Lk 2:56). All generations called her blessed (Lk 2:48). She is the queen of all the heavenly and earthly.
2. The tax collector who prayed a few words expressing his humility went home justified rather than the proud Pharisee who was proud of his deeds and expressed his pride in his prayer (Lk 18:9-14).
3. The Canaanite who cried out to Jesus to heal her daughter. She was not angry when He didn’t answer her at the beginning, or when He said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs”. She passed the test of faith through her humility, hence the Lord praised her faith and fulfilled her wish (Matt 15:21-28).
4. David the prophet, who was chosen by God, humbled himself before Saul, the rejected king by God, calling himself a dead dog and a flea (1Sam 24:14). David spared Saul, who was seeking to kill him, saying to him, “I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed” (1Sam 24:10). Because of David’s humility the Lord elevated him to be a prosperous king, a great prophet, and an ancestor for our Lord Jesus.

To whom should we be “poor in spirit”?

To yourself - This kind of person is not ignorant or proud, and he doesn’t feel that he is righteous, but rather a sinner and a weak person. If people talk about him highly to praise him, he rejects it because he knows himself. Words of praise don’t settle in his ears; and if it did settle, he quickly feels that he is like a white-washed tomb which indeed appears beautiful outwardly, but inside is full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness (Matt 23:27). He always talks from his meekness. He usually feels the same feeling of St. Moses the black, when he said to himself, “It is good that you have been kicked out”.

Before people - This kind of person deals with people as if they are much better than him. He is polite, respects everyone, whether young or old. He doesn’t talk with authority, doesn’t become angry, doesn’t rebuke, and he puts himself last. He is the servant for all. He prefers to learn from everyone rather than to teach.

Before God - This person feels that he is not worthy to stand and talk before God. In his prayer, he forgets his needs and asks for the need of others. He asks for the fruits of the Holy Spirit, i.e. different virtues, instead of the gifts of the Spirit, like performing miracles. He doesn’t feel that he is too strong to avoid falling into sin, but rather he realizes his weaknesses.

Before the devils - Satan and his soldiers fell from their rank by the sin of pride. The proud person can not conquer them. St. Anthony conquered them through his humility; as he expressed his weakness before them when they gathered against him. He said to them, “You are strong. What do you want from me, I the weak? I’m weaker than the least of you”. He used to cry out to God, saying, “Rescue me, O Lord, because they thought that I am made of something strong”. He also said, “I saw the traps of the devils on the earth. I cried to the Lord, and I heard that only the humble are saved”. St. Macarious the great once heard the devil asking him, “What you do, we do more of. You fast and we do not eat; you stay awake and we do not sleep; you live in the poverty, and we own nothing. The one thing you do which we can’t do is practice humility”.

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Many are not accustomed to being poor in spirit for fear of coming short of achieving their goals. Thus, the Lord mentioned the rewards of poorness of spirit by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3). One of His intentions in this blessing is to lift up our sight to the heavenly instead of the earthly rewards. This is consistent with His other advice:

• “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:19-21).
• “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” (Mathew 6:5,6). As our Heavenly Father will reward us, for praying secretly, by His heavenly rewards, He will do the same for our fasting and charitable deeds secretly (Matt 6:16-18 ; 1-4).
• We are sojourners on this earth (1Pet 2:11), since we are preparing ourselves for a heavenly inheritance (1Pet 1:3-5). This is the reason that He told us that He is preparing for us many heavenly mansions (Jn 14:2-4). So we shouldn’t love the world, but rather we should be attracted to our eternity into the heavenly kingdom (1 Jn 2:15-17).

From the beginning of His sermon on the mount, Our Lord Jesus attracted and directed our attention to the heavenly kingdom. He declared many times that His kingdom is not an earthly one (Jn 18:36). For the sake of the kingdom of God, all His disciples left everything to follow Him and to preach the good news. They left their jobs, families, houses, countries… everything as St. Peter declared in Luke 18:24. The Lord replied saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come everlasting life” (Lk 18:29,30).