Blessed Are the Poor In Spirit – Part 4

Review

Matthew 5:3 (ESV): ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• Racially diverse church.

The Myths of Equality and Privilege

• Two myths
• Equality is good when it is biblically defined.
  • Genesis 1:27 (ESV): ²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
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  • Liberals presume that if its unequal then it’s also unjust.

ON PRIVILEGE

• Favor is a form of privilege.
• God has an economy of favor, blessing and promotion that he uses for redemptive purposes.
  • Genesis 49:1 (ESV): ¹ Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.
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  • Genesis 49:28 (ESV): ²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.
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• We have to allow people to flourish in the way they are favored.
• If you’re African American, there are also ways that God has favored you.
• Genesis 49:8–9 (ESV): ⁸ “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. ⁹ Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
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Blessed Are the Poor In Spirit

Matthew 5:3 (ESV): ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The poor in spirit in the sense of this beatitude are those who recognize. . . their lack of spiritual resources and therefore their complete dependence on God. [They are]. . . .‘those who feel their spiritual need’ [and therefore] ‘know their need of God’–Leon Morris [Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 95.]

[It is] “a radical reversal of the world’s values”–Leon Morris [Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 96.]

“It is the opposite of [having] pride in [your] own virtue”–Leon Morris [Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 95.]

But this passage is not just talking about the spiritual poor, but about the literal poor.

Luke’s recording of the same message from Jesus focuses on the literal poor:

• Luke 6:20 (ESV): ²⁰ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
• James 2:5 (ESV): ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
• 1 Corinthians 1:26–29 (ESV): ²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
• Isaiah 1:17 (ESV): ¹⁷ learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
• Deuteronomy 10:18 (ESV): ¹⁸ He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
• James 1:27 (ESV): ²⁷ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
• Matthew 25:35–40 (ESV): ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
• Deuteronomy 18:1–5 (ESV): ¹ “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the Lord’s food offerings as their inheritance. ² They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. ³ And this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. ⁴ The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. ⁵ For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.
• Isaiah 54:1–8 (ESV): ¹“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord. ² “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. ³ For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. ⁴ “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. ⁵ For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. ⁶ For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. ⁷ For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. ⁸ In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.
• Genesis 25:20–21 (ESV): ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

References

Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. Oxford UP, 2008.

Equiano, Olaudah. Interesting Narrative and Other Writings. Penguin Books, 2003.

Franklin, John Hope and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, 9^th Edition. Harvard UP, 2011.

Jordan, Winthrop D. The White Man’s Burden. Oxford UP, 1974.

Patterson, Orlando. Slavery and Social Death. Harvard UP, 1982.

© Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2025