‘The blessing that belongs to the lowly’ (Matthew 5:3)

 

The first of the Beatitudes that Jesus spoke in Matthew 5:3 concerned the attitude of being ‘poor in spirit’. While the world knows those who are ‘poor’ in another sense, Jesus spoke of those who are ‘poor in spirit’, that is, they have no tickets on themselves, They know their own sinfulness and are prepared to come before God honestly and with empty hands. In fact, there is no other way in which we can come before God and this is the entry point to His Kingdom, for ‘He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.’