What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
The first thing Jesus says on the mountain is not a command but a blessing, and it lands on the people the world pities. Everything after it depends on what "poor in spirit" actually means — and whether the reward attached to it is present or future.
The reverse of pride
Commentators agree that the phrase describes the opposite of the confident, self-asserting temper people usually admire. One writer draws the contrast sharply between the world's idea of a strong character and what the Lord calls blessed:
William KellyThe first blessedness attaches to a basic trait that belongs to every soul brought to God, and that knows God. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Nothing is more contrary to man! What people call "a man of spirit" is exactly the opposite of being poor in spirit. A man of spirit is one who — as Cain was — is determined not to be beaten; a soul who would fight it out with God Himself. He who is "poor in spirit" is the very opposite of this. It is a person who is broken, who feels that the dust is his right place.
Not a matter of income
Some have read the words as a call to give away everything and live in literal poverty. That reading is rejected, partly because an empty wallet proves nothing about the heart:
Andrew MillerThe idea is founded on Luke 4: "And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." The words "in spirit" are left out. But there is no ground in this text for such an idea… It is a question of the inner man in contrast with the outer. A man who is poor as far as this world's goods go may have a proud, unbending spirit, while the rich may be truly humble.
What it looks like before God
Put positively, poverty of spirit is a settled estimate of oneself formed in God's presence:
The Bible TreasuryTo be poor in spirit is to have low thoughts of self, to realise that before God I am nothing, I have nothing, I deserve nothing. It would be quite consistent with standing up for what is due to God.
This is not a mood that comes naturally, nor a stage a believer passes through and leaves behind:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinPoor in spirit is the very first characteristic. The unsaved sinner knows nothing of it. It is altogether the work of the Holy Spirit. It means to take the right place before God, which is in the dust in absolute helplessness. It is the continued attitude of a saved person on the earth — poverty in spirit and entire dependence upon the Lord.
Inward before it is outward
Poverty of spirit can be counterfeited by good manners. One writer tests it with a very ordinary example, and shows why this beatitude comes first:
Andrew MillerThe first beatitude, notice, lies at the base of all the others… Surely nothing can be so necessary to a soul that has to do with God as poverty of spirit. Not poverty in circumstances only, or poverty in words and ways, but in spirit — in the heart, the feelings, the inner man, and all before the living God. How often we may have said about someone who has injured us, "I freely forgive him, and I will be the same to him as ever, but I can't forget it for all that." This is not being "poor in spirit"; it is being outwardly so, but not "in spirit."
A portrait of Christ
The beatitudes are read as more than a list of required traits. They sketch the One who was speaking:
J. N. DarbyPsalm 41 speaks of the blessedness of those who could discern this place of the poor. The Lord was in it above all, and understood it above all; but we know from the beatitudes how He pronounces blessed those who through grace are like Him, poor in spirit. For in truth these beatitudes are nearly all of them simply a description of what Christ was, though given as a character to which blessing belonged: poor in spirit, meek, pure in heart — who was such as the great Peacemaker?
The poverty that makes rich
The promise attached is a kingdom, and the exchange it involves is deliberately upside down:
Hamilton SmithSome think that if they can fill their bags with gold, then they are rich; but those who are poor in spirit are the rich men; this poverty entitles them to a kingdom. How poor are they that think themselves rich! How rich are they that see themselves poor. There are some paradoxes in religion that the world cannot understand… but "blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom"; under these rags is hidden cloth of gold.
Summary
- Empty — Poverty of spirit means taking the place of nothing, having nothing, deserving nothing before God; it is the opposite of the man determined never to be beaten.
- Inward — It is not about money or modest manners. A poor man can be proud in spirit; a rich man can be genuinely humble.
- Given — No unconverted person knows it. It is produced by the Holy Spirit, and it is meant to stay — a continued attitude of dependence, not a passing low mood.
- Christlike — The beatitudes describe what Christ Himself was; those who are poor in spirit are, by grace, made like Him.
- Enriched — The emptied are the heirs: this poverty entitles a person to a kingdom, and under the rags is hidden cloth of gold.