Blessed are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God ( Matthew 5:3). Another translation attempts to define this as
'God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (NLT)
This first verse should burst the bubble for those who think they can earn their way to rightousness in their own merit.
Focusing attention on this series about Christ being the perfect man; He would say things not to please men but to preach the truth. In this case it is perhaps a unique one where He doesn't get a stern rebuke; death threat or actual attempt at His life as He is speaking to the crowds or the "common people" those who are at least potentially truly blessed as that is the meaning of the "Beatitudes" as this section of scripture is often referred to. We of course see this pattern with the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 followed by curses in the end of this chapter (and also a bunch in the preceeding one as well). Jesus would spend much time excoriating the Pharisees with no holds barred in later chapters of the Gospels. We will get into that later; in short it is safe to say that the meek; mild Jesus who never caused division or strife is at best misguided at worst delusional. We need to keep in mind that ALL of Jesus' actions were righteous; whether in anger or praise. We are reminded of this verse:
John 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
I feel that in the church this is even more important than anger as a general problem; anger at least addresses an issue while empty praise reminds us of the hymn Be thou my vision written in the 1920s by Mary Byrne but based on a 6th Century poem by Dalln Forgaill
1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me save that thou art. ...
2. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word; ...
3. Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; ...
'God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (NLT)
This first verse should burst the bubble for those who think they can earn their way to rightousness in their own merit.
Focusing attention on this series about Christ being the perfect man; He would say things not to please men but to preach the truth. In this case it is perhaps a unique one where He doesn't get a stern rebuke; death threat or actual attempt at His life as He is speaking to the crowds or the "common people" those who are at least potentially truly blessed as that is the meaning of the "Beatitudes" as this section of scripture is often referred to. We of course see this pattern with the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 followed by curses in the end of this chapter (and also a bunch in the preceeding one as well). Jesus would spend much time excoriating the Pharisees with no holds barred in later chapters of the Gospels. We will get into that later; in short it is safe to say that the meek; mild Jesus who never caused division or strife is at best misguided at worst delusional. We need to keep in mind that ALL of Jesus' actions were righteous; whether in anger or praise. We are reminded of this verse:
John 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
I feel that in the church this is even more important than anger as a general problem; anger at least addresses an issue while empty praise reminds us of the hymn Be thou my vision written in the 1920s by Mary Byrne but based on a 6th Century poem by Dalln Forgaill
1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me save that thou art. ...
2. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word; ...
3. Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; ...
4. Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise; ...
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