"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven."
The word "blessed" is makarioi, which means to be characterized by the quality of God. Blessedness
is makariotes. When God indwells one,
and God's nature is in him, he has the kingdom of God
"Blessed" also means to be fully satisfied. Can you
imagine? In this one verse, we are first called blessed because we have God's
kingdom already in us and we are, by definition, fully satisfied. This
satisfaction is not due to circumstances of life nor the fulfillment of the
conditions prescribed in these beatitudes, but due to Christ's indwelling.
Therefore, it is wrong to translate makarioi
as 'happy' because happy would imply luck of circumstance, hap from the word happen. People can be
happy because of favorable circumstances, but they can
only be blessed because of Christ. Blessedness
is that basic condition created by Christ's indwelling in a man's heart that
brings a fundamental satisfaction in the life of a believer.
Blessedness is a progressive state, depending upon the
fulfillment of the conditions set down in the Beatitudes. "..the poor in spirit…" ptochos, used here indicates the
complete spiritual helpless person contrasted to penes, which means "poor but able to help oneself." This
means that the first step to blessedness is the realization of one's spiritual
helplessness. We cannot 'earn' blessedness and it is not without conditions.
God is always faithful to provide the way and offers it to those who
spiritually submit in recognition of their total and utter helplessness. This
is speaking specifically to redeemed people who have believed. That being
said, the unredeemed and non-believers cannot be blessed. They can be happy and
they can have luck of circumstances but not blessed without first recognizing
their sin and dependence on Christ….thus becoming believers.
It is important to make note of the setting in which Jesus
spoke these teachings. There are those that think He spoke from a mountain, as
did Moses when he brought back the written Word of God, God's word taken higher
by locale. Some suggest He moved up onto the mountain to get space from the
crowds pushing in on Him, trying to touch Him. Some think, perhaps, that from
His position on the mountain His voice carried more, heard by the masses. Jesus
sat to teach the disciples. In the day, rabbinical teachers would stand in
authority over their students. Jesus sitting revealed His own humble spirit.
Looking at those to whom He taught, His message spoken to His disciples for
their enlightenment so they could teach others…yet He did this teaching when a
crowd was present. Perhaps this was in preparation for His later command that
all go out taking the gospel, making the masses disciples in training. Regardless
of the mechanics of the setting and those present, you can be sure that it was
not a coincidence and Jesus knew exactly what He was doing.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
No comments:
Post a Comment