The Bible says many times that Jesus preached to his followers, but only two of His sermons are recorded in the Gospels. In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapters 5-7, is the iconic Sermon on the Mount. We get sermons from it on many Sundays and it is quoted more than any other words of Jesus recorded in the Bible. The Sermon on the Mount is also the longest discourse of Jesus recorded in the Bible. Reading the Gospel of Mark one would conclude that Jesus was taciturn and the Gospel of John has Him speaking only one-on-one with people he meets along the way, except to teach His disciples.
The Gospel of Luke has the lesser known Sermon on the Plain, Chapter 6:17-49. The message in this second sermon is essentially the same as that in the sermon in Matthew. The wording is different enough to show that it is not likely a record of the same event that Matthew wrote of. So it goes to show that preachers today are no worse than two thousand years ago. They all repeat their favorite sermons.
I would like to expose the message of our Lord when He gave these two similar sermons. In the next few articles, I shall do just that. First, the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus looked out and saw the multitudes of people filled with spiritual hunger, and decides to feed their souls. So He climbs a hill and, in a sort of natural amphitheater, He preaches to them. The words He gives to them are the very most necessary for their immediate spiritual need. This is what He began with, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
What does Jesus mean by His phrase, “poor in spirit?” The analogy is one seen nowhere else in literature. Think about what it means to be poor. One who is poor has to live “from hand to mouth.” A poor person makes no ostentatious displays of wealth and importance. The poor are more willing to receive what is offered for their well being. The poor in spirit, therefore, would be more receptive to the gifts of God.
Another quality of poverty is humility. Someone who “has it all” is not willing to give deference to the “little people” who “don’t matter” as much in their mind as they do. Look at our society and you’ll see an example in the attitude that a person’s net worth is the balance of his assets. We tend to value a person with more money in his bank account than one who has no bank account. He who is wealthy in spirit has no need for God’s providence, and gives no deference to someone with less.
So we can see that the analogy of poor in spirit fits a receptive and humble person. Did Jesus give us any examples of this? Remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector? What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? There are many examples in the parables of our Lord of one who is poor in spirit. And there are examples of those who are the opposite. The rich man whose harvest was a bumper crop and built bigger barns to store it all for himself is an example of someone who lacks the quality Jesus spoke of. Egoistic, greedy and uncaring people do not have the quality of poor in spirit.
I must always examine myself to ensure that I don’t develop the opposite quality. I highly recommend that you do so too.
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