Well, This entry marks the first of what will be a mini-series of blogs going over the beatitudes. This message perhaps more than any other I’ve ever read from Jesus really speaks to my life, for it encompasses so much more than what meets the eye upon first read. The sermon on the mount as it is known, is a guideline for all of Christ disciples to truly follow. These aren’t good ideas, these are the normal standard of Christian living. We will only go after 1 verse at a time, and so today, we begin our study with Luke 6:20
“Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.”
Before we unwrap this treasure, let’s consider the setting in which this took place. Whenever you study the word of God, it’s important to have a proper context. So let’s look at the setting of Luke chapter 6. In this chapter the first few verses talk about miracles that Jesus had performed on the Sabbath. Traditionally, according to the custom of the Jewish Law, it was unlawful to do the things Jesus was doing, so we see Jesus at the onset of chapter 6 defying the system of religion. Jesus argues with the religious people of His day in verse 9, and says “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or evil on the sabbath, to save life or destroy it ? Jesus posits this question in response to their hypocritical judgment of Him for doing good things, just because it went against the “law”. All along, it shows that Jesus is emphasizing that true worship comes from the heart, and is not confined to a temple or a church, and not limited to a time or day of year! Jesus, being the fulfillment of the law, was not destroying the law, but simply fulfilling the heart behind the law, which was to bring life and reveal the Glory of the Father
So now that we know a little bit of a background, let’s move along to one last pit stop before we park at that first beatitude. If we look at Luke 6:12-13 We see Jesus retreat to spend all night in prayer alone with His father, and when the daylight comes along He calls His disciples near and names them. He names all 12 at this point. Key thing: Jesus, after an all night session of prayer, isn’t tired early in the morning, but goes straight to work, naming His disciples and setting the stage to deliver His sermon on the mount. In verses 18-19 We see a multitude flocking to Jesus and he begins to heal, deliver, and make them all free from bondage, it says in fact in verse 19 that people where throwing themselves at Him because Power was coming out of Him and healing them all. Now this is the setting prior to the Sermon on the Mount, we see Jesus defying the religiosity of the day, we see Him spending ALL NIGHT in prayer ALONE, and then we see Him performing miracles the next morning BEFORE he Preaches His word. So now that the stage is set, let’s look at the first beatitude.
Luke 6:20
Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.”
After performing the miracles and holding an all night prayer meeting, what does Jesus prioritize in His message ? Is it self-promotion? nope not all, the first thing He mentions is spiritual poverty. Jesus forthrightly says that Blessed are you who are poor, for YOURS is the Kingdom of God. We know what a pleasure it is for the Lord to give us His kingdom. But before any talk of a Kingdom is mentioned by Jesus here, He mentions the blessed nature of poverty. Is Jesus talking about financial poverty ? No not exactly, He is talking to those of us, who have a craving for God, Who are desperate for Him, who can’t bend over and tie their shoes without knowing that the ability to even do that comes from HIM! It is to these people that He promises to give the Kingdom. What can we learn from Jesus in this passage?
For me it stands out that if we want to know our own spiritual poverty, it will only come by a brokenness before the Lord, and by prayer, not just prayer for the sake of being religious, but by walking with God and praying we will come highly acquainted with His glory and presence. The Blessing of spiritual poverty is that it forces us to realize, that apart from JESUS we can do nothing…. it never has been, nor will it ever be about us. What strikes me as unique in this story is that Jesus, was doing all sorts of miracles, but that was AFTER He was in prayer all night long. Think about it, If Jesus spent all night in prayer, we should be spending all night in prayer. If He did it… why arent we doing it ? We want His power, without His prayer-life, and it just won’t work. Pray !
Where it get’s real: Ok so now that we see the lesson, what exactly does it mean in everyday terms? Spiritual poverty is a blessing, yes. In American culture, we hear the word word poor, and automatically, we associate negative thoughts with it. The truth about being poor before God, is that is allows us to become rich. Look at it this way, if I were to go up to Donald trump, pretending as though I was a rich man, he would never give me money if I asked for it! So now God, the one who controls and distributes all the resources of creation says, that if we want to inherit the Kingdom, we cannot come to Him with a pompous attitude, carrying our list of spiritual accomplishments, postures, or positions. To be truly poor in spirit is to acknowledge that King Jesus, is everything, and without His GRACE alone… we are merely helpless individuals. At this point we become likely recipients of His power, because when our spiritual poverty is recognized, it shifts all glory back to Him. I think that so often in the Christian life, we come to Jesus with our hands full. We use what we have done for him, as leverage of some sort to promote or plead our case before Him. This is often times why we don’t see the Kingdom breakthrough. In order for the Kingdom to breakthrough, the Glory of God must be preeminent. This is only possible, when we, the loyal subjects dump our hands of our religiosity and rely only upon His power and Grace to accomplish things. It isn’t our gift set, our creativity, our college degrees, or even that prophecy your best friend gave you at small group, or the picture they claimed to have seen when praying for you. It’s JESUS.… High and lifted up, claiming the Glory, that is rightfully His. If we would posture our minds, hearts, and entire lives to be spiritually dependent on His sufficient Grace alone, at this point will we inherit His Kingdom…. Amen
