Blessed [are] the poor in spirit, for *theirs* is the kingdom of the heavens.
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"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
The opening beatitude stands at the head of the Sermon on the Mount and announces the whole moral character of Christ's kingdom. It pronounces blessed not the self-assured or the mighty, but those who are emptied of self — and it hangs over them the greatest of all promises.
The meaning: a self-emptied spirit
W. T. P. Wolston puts the matter plainly:
W. T. P. Wolston"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). What is it then to be poor in spirit? Exactly the reverse of what you find in the world. In the world people stick up for themselves, stand for their rights. A person who does that is not in the kingdom of heaven at all, that is, is not in it in spirit. One who is poor in spirit, is self-emptied, self is out of sight.
He goes further, tying the expression back to Psalm 41 and making Christ Himself the pattern:
You will find a lovely connection with this in Psalm 41:1: "Blessed is he that considers the poor" — that is, the poor Man; and who is the poor Man? Christ! That is, considering the poor Man does not mean giving alms, but considering Him. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." It is a blessed thing thus to be self-emptied: poor-spirited the world would call you; that is it, but the Lord reckons such "blessed."
J. McBroom links the phrase to Isaiah's description of the soul God regards, showing it as dependence rather than mere low spirits:
J. McBroom"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens." Trust in the hand of Omnipotence and dependence upon God is a law in the sphere of creature obligation. "To this man will I look: to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my word." This draws down the complacency of God in a world of man's self-confident boasting.
McBroom underlines how alien this is to the wisdom of the world:
The opening verses describe a class of moral virtues different from every other system of teaching that men followed. The seven virtues in verses 3-9 are not what men call the heroic virtues, but in the sight of God they are blessed. There is little room in the schools of philosophy for the poor in spirit and for those that mourn. These blessed things are the reproduction of the life and character of Christ in His people in a world where all is out of gear as the result of man's departure from God.
The setting: the character of the King's subjects
J. N. Darby reads the beatitudes as giving, first of all, the character of Christ Himself — and then of the remnant who would share His lot. He explains what kind of "poverty" the Lord has in view:
J. N. DarbyIn examining the beatitudes, we shall find that this portion in general gives the character of Christ Himself. They suppose two things; the coming possession of the land of Israel by the meek; and the persecution of the faithful remnant, really righteous in their ways, and who asserted the rights of the true King (heaven being set before them as their hope to sustain their hearts).
And in the footnote on that same passage Darby traces the progression:
The characters pronounced blessed may be briefly noted. They suppose evil in the world, and amongst God's people. The first is not seeking great things for self, but accepting a despised place in a scene contrary to God. Hence mourning characterises them there, and meekness, a will not lifting up itself against God, or to maintain its position or right.
So for Darby, to be "poor in spirit" is to decline to seek great things for oneself in a world that has turned from God — it is the disposition of one who takes the despised place with the rejected King.
McBroom presses this practical bearing very sharply, drawing a line from Jeremiah's word to Baruch straight to the believer today:
The bearing of this upon us today may be seen by comparing Jer. 45. In the crisis preceding the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian, the word of God through Jeremiah to his servant was, "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for behold I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord." We are today nearing a greater judgment ... We may well take heed to such words. The promise attached to the state of soul in this first beatitude would cover all the virtues mentioned, "Theirs is the kingdom of the heavens."
Why it stands first
William Kelly shows why this beatitude must head the list. The sermon begins with righteousness — and nothing is more foundational to righteousness before God than self-emptying:
William KellyFirst of all He pronounces certain classes blessed. These blessednesses divide into two classes. The earlier character of blessedness savours particularly of righteousness, the later of mercy, which are the two great topics of the Psalms. These are both taken up here: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." ... it is plain enough that all these four classes consist in substance of such as the Lord pronounces blessed, because they are righteous in one form or another.
Kelly also makes the vital point that the whole sermon presupposes new birth — these traits are not heroic acts of natural man but the character of one who has been made partaker of Christ's own life. McBroom says the same thing explicitly:
The discourse supposes regeneration in those addressed and the new relationship which redemption brings. "Having sat down His disciples came to Him and having opened His mouth He taught them." Because it is not understood that the Lord was addressing those in relationship with Himself as subjects of grace, it is assumed that these moral traits can be produced by man in the flesh, apart from the new nature which is implanted at new birth, and the whole truth of the gospel set aside.
The promise: theirs is the kingdom
W. T. P. Wolston points out that this beatitude is not first of all about getting to heaven one day, but about heaven governing the heart now:
W. T. P. WolstonWhat then is the kind of behaviour that becomes His kingdom? The Sermon on the Mount gives the answer, and the first beatitude is characteristically descriptive: "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). This is not a question of persons going to heaven, by-and-by, but of heaven ruling them now; it is how to go on before you get to heaven.
Notice also that of all the beatitudes, this one and the last (v. 10) share the identical present-tense promise — "theirs is the kingdom of heaven" — where the others use the future ("they shall be comforted," "they shall inherit"). McBroom sees the first promise as covering the whole list:
The promise attached to the state of soul in this first beatitude would cover all the virtues mentioned, "Theirs is the kingdom of the heavens."
Synthesis
To be poor in spirit is to stand on the opposite ground from the natural man. It is not poverty of purse, nor mere low spirits, nor weakness of character. It is the soul self-emptied — not seeking great things for itself, not standing up for its rights, not boasting, but leaning in conscious dependence upon God and taking the despised place with a rejected Christ. It is the first trait in the portrait because it is the door of the kingdom: as long as self is full, there is no room for God. And it is the one beatitude whose blessing is already present — the kingdom of heaven is theirs. The one who has let go of self has, in that very moment, the only King and the only kingdom worth possessing.