Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3) This is the first of all the“blesseds” in Jesus’ beatitudes . It catches attention because of the question of what Jesus means by “poor in spirit.” For a long time I thought that the phrase meant sad people, ones without a robust spirit; and I couldn’t connect that with Jesus as we know him in the New Testament.

I have heard many explanations and finally one very simple one made sense to me: “poor in spirit” is the person who knows his need for God. It is the one who recognizes the chord that attaches him or her to God Himself and knows that it is a lifeline chord. Jesus, in addition to all his great power to heal and to transform water to wine, and to walk on water, was poor in spirit , for he separated himself daily to reunite with his Father. His prayer in Gethsemane, “Not my will, but yours,” (Matthew 26:39) was an acknowledgment of his need of God’s will in the unfolding events toward his own death.

“Poor in spirit” means there is room in a person’s spirit for the Living God to move and bond. John the Baptist famously said “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) For Christians to grow, this must be the case. For Christ to increase in us there has to be room in our own spirits for the bond with Him. The only way to make room is to throw out the trash that clogs our lives, the trash of jealousy, envy, anger, selfishness and a litany of other impediments to the Holy Spirit of God. One of the largest is fear. Throughout both Old and New Testaments we are reminded , “Don’t be afraid.”

To be poor in spirit is to be receptive to the Spirit of God in Christ, to believe that if we surrender our “impediments”, there will be a filling that surpasses anything we hoped to receive.

When Jesus gave the world the beatitudes, he was giving his own attributes and those of his Father. He was inviting believers into his family and revealing the ways of God to His people, that they might become like Him. He was opening the door to his and his Father’s own dwelling, as he did in all his teaching. He simply shows us how to make room for Him in our lives. John the Baptist came to make room for the Christ. Jesus came for all people, to make room for the Kingdom of God for all time.

Love in Him,

Prue