Blaise Pascal, the brilliant French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic theologian wrote, "Everyone, without exception, is searching for happiness." In the Lenten Meditation Series The Cross in Jesus' style we meditated in the last few days on Prayer in Jesus' style. We today begin a new series Happiness in Jesus' Style.
In Matthew 5 through 7, Jesus is establishing a standard of living, counter to everything the world knows and practices, a new approach to living, that, results in blessedness.
For our meditation today
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3
The Greek word makarios is used here for blessed. And it means deep inner happiness or a deep and genuine sense of blessedness or a bliss that the world cannot offer, not produced by circumstances, and not subject to change by the world or circumstances. It is not produced externally. It cannot be touched externaly.
There are two Greek words used in the Bible for poor. One describes "a working poor person; a person who is so poor that every day he works for the bread that he eats; he just barely has enough to get along each day. But that is not the meaning used here. The word used here is "ptochos", a word that means a totally destitue person, a person who is so poor that he has to beg for anything he gets. He is in short totally dependent upon others for his livelihood.
There are few who look at this verse and talk about how it is a blessing to be financially poor, but they are missing the real point by doing so. Jesus did not just say "blessed are the poor". He said, "blessed are the poor in spirit. Jesus is not talking about material poverty, but spiritual poverty. He is not talking about being totally dependent upon others for our material needs. "Poverty in spirit" means that we realize that we can't save ourselves, and so we are totally dependent upon God spiritually.
Spiritual dependence upon God was the key to Jesus' life. And it is the key for us if we want to get into God's kingdom and grow in His kingdom.
Jesus said in John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches; whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." What Jesus is saying in that verse is that we need to constantly stay "plugged in" to Him, and depend on Him, to do anything in life.
Jesus knows that, because He lived that out in His life here on earth. As with each of these eight beatitudes, "poverty in spirit" is first and foremost a quality that Jesus Himself models for us. This is the character Jesus wants to build in our lives too. Jesus exhibited the quality of total dependence upon God the Father, continually in His spiritual life.
In John 5:19, Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing." Just as Jesus could do nothing without the Father, so we can do nothing apart from Him.
Augustus Toplady wrote number of hymns in his life, but, "Rock of Ages" is by far his most famous. There is a story behind the writing of the hymn. It is said that this hymn was inspired by the conditions that Toplady had to go through when he was in a rock cleft that he took refuge in a storm. The particular rock is in Burrington Combe gorge in North Somerset, England, and it has a plaque on it with this claim to fame. One of the stanzas beautifully points our the humility with which we should live our life.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to thee for dress;
Helpless, look to thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me saviour, or I die.
Dear Friends, this Lenten Season let us learn to depend on Him the way that He depended upon His heavenly Father when He was here on earth.
May the Lord help us to do so. God Bless you.
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