This post starts with:
Blessed are the poor in spirit. Seriously? The poor in spirit are blessed? That sounds so backwards! It’s even more strange when it’s translated as happy are the poor in spirit! It seems like it should be blessed are the rich in spirit. And yet, that’s not what Jesus said. So what did Jesus mean when He said what we now call the first of the Beatitudes?
Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
When we read the whole verse, it sounds even more backwards. How can the kingdom of Heaven be for those who are poor in spirit? Isn’t it for the “good Christians” who are “rich in spirit”?
However, if we think back to the introduction, this was exciting stuff! People were amazed and excited to hear this. At least, “ordinary” people were. And by “ordinary” I mean the down-trodden, the poor, the sick, the outcasts.
On the other hand, the religious leaders weren’t happy about this at all. That should speak volumes. They were the self-righteous ones that Jesus kept telling that they had it all wrong.
So it seems we have those who presumably were rich in spirit – the religious leaders – very upset at what Jesus was saying. And the regular Jewish people, even the Samaritans, were finally hearing words they had been waiting for. For centuries, they waited. And here they were. It was incredibly exciting.
And then asks:
Blessed are the poor in spirit – a lost message?
The discussion about that question can be read at this site:
God in this life and the next 