Blessed Destitution

This morning as I read through the Beatitudes, I lingered at the first one. The very first thing that Jesus tells us in His magnum opus to His followers is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The word that Jesus uses for “poor” in this verse is rooted in a Greek word that literally means “to crouch or cower; bent over”.

As it is used in this verse, Jesus is describing someone who is utterly destitute and solely dependent upon the mercy and benevolence of someone else to fulfill their basic needs—like a beggar dressed in rags, standing on a street corner begging for a handout. Therefore, as the first Beatitude, Jesus seems to be communicating that the very first thing we must become aware of as a people who are being formed to reflect the glory of God, is our utter and desperate need for Him and dependence upon Him. Jesus essentially says, “Blessed are those who comprehend their spiritual destitution, blessed are those who come to God with outstretched hands, seeking the only One Who can meet their spiritual need and fulfill their spiritual hunger, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Thus, I find the second Beatitude perfectly fitting: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” When we come face to face with our true spiritual condition and comprehend our utter hopelessness without the benevolence and mercy of God, we are undone. All illusion of any modicum of goodness in us comes crashing down, and we fall on our face broken and crushed before a holy God. The word that Jesus uses here for “mourn” is a word that means “guilt-ridden grief”. This word is used to describe the grief of the merchants at the destruction of Babylon-the-great, throwing dust on their heads and “crying out, weeping and mourning and saying ‘Woe, woe...’ “—inconsolable, hopeless, utterly undone (Rev 18:19).

I find it remarkable that in the Beatitudes, Jesus is basically telling us that this is the way we enter heaven—broken and undone, mourning our spiritual lack and our desperate need for God. The only way to enter heaven is essentially the polar opposite of pride and self-sufficiency such as that embodied by Satan himself. We see at Ezekiel 28:17 and Isaiah 14:12-14 that it was the illusion of self-sufficiency that caused Satan to stumble—the illusion of righteousness and spiritual completeness apart from dependence upon God. Which is why I also find it remarkable that this is the same error that is made by the lukewarm Laodicean church in Jesus’ letters to the churches at the beginning of Revelation.

In Jesus’ rebuke to this church, it’s as if He is bringing them right back to the first two Beatitudes. He rebukes them for being under the illusion of self-sufficiency and spiritual completeness, despite their casual attitude about their relationship with Him. He tells them they are blind to their true spiritual condition: “...you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (3:17). That is how God sees any attempt at righteousness outside of His Son, Jesus Christ. That is what our good works—outside of Him working through us—look like to God. That is why Jesus specifically tells this church to “buy from Me…” (3:18). He points them to the only true source of goodness and spiritual completeness—Himself.

(John 15:4-6) Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

(Romans 13:13,14) Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

(Gal 2:20,21) I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.

(Posted on Facebook 12/23/2020 Talitha Koum)