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Blessed are the poor in spirit, etc. - Or, happy, μακαριοι from μα or μη, not, and κηρ, fate, or death: intimating, that such persons were endued with immortality, and consequently were not liable to the caprices of fate. Homer, Iliad i, 330, calls the supreme gods, Θεων μακαρων, the ever happy and Immortal gods, and opposes them to θνητων ανθρωπων, mortal men.
τω δ 'αυτω μαρτυροι εστων
Προς τε Θεων μακαρων, προς τε θνητων ανθροπων
"Be ye witnesses before the immortal gods, and before mortal men."
From this definition we may learn, that the person whom Christ terms happy is one who is not under the influence of fate or chance, but is governed by an all-wise providence, having every step directed to the attainment of immortal glory, being transformed by the power into the likeness of the ever-blessed God. Though some of the persons, whose states are mentioned in these verses, cannot be said to be as yet blessed or happy, in being made partakers of the Divine nature; yet they are termed happy by our Lord, because they are on the straight way to this blessedness.
Taken in this light the meaning is similar to that expressed by the poet when describing a happy man.
Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas: Atque metus omnes et inexorabile Fatum
Subjecit pedibus; strepitumque Acherontis avari!
Virg. Geor. ii. v. 490
Which may be thus paraphrased: -
"Happy is he who gains the knowledge of the first cause of all things; who can trample on every fear, and the doctrine of inexorable Fate; and who is not terrified by death, nor by the threatened torments of the invisible world!"
Poor in spirit - One who is deeply sensible of his spiritual poverty and wretchedness. Πτωχος, a poor man, comes from πτωσσω, to tremble, or shrink with fear. Being destitute of the true riches, he is tremblingly alive to the necessities of his soul, shrinking with fear lest he should perish without the salvation of God. Such Christ pronounces happy, because there is but a step between them and that kingdom which is here promised. Some contend, that μακαριοι should be referred to πνευματι, and the verse translated thus: Happy, or blessed in spirit, are the poor. But our Lord seems to have the humiliation of the spirit particularly in view.
Kingdom of heaven - Or, των ουρανων, of the heavens. A participation of all the blessings of the new covenant here, and the blessings of glory above. See this phrase explained, Matthew 3:2; (note). Blessed are the poor! This is God's word; but who believes it? Do we not say, Yea, rather, Blessed is the rich?
The Jewish rabbins have many good sayings relative to that poverty and humility of spirit which Christ recommends in this verse. In the treatise called Bammidbar Rabbi, s. 20, we have these words: There were three (evils) in Balaam: the evil eye, (envy), the towering spirit, (pride), and the extensive mind (avarice).
Tanchum, fol. 84. The law does not abide with those who have the extensive mind, (avarice), but with him only who has a contrite heart.
Rabbi Chanina said, "Why are the words of the law compared to water? Because as waters flow from heights, and settle in low places, so the words of the law rest only with him who is of an humble heart." See Schoettgen.
Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible
Blessed are the poor in spirit - The word “blessed” means “happy,” referring to that which produces felicity, from whatever quarter it may come.
Poor in spirit - Luke says simply, Blessed are the poor. It has been disputed whether Christ meant the poor in reference to the things of this life, or to the humble. The gospel is said to be preached to the poor, Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5. It was predicted that the Messiah would preach to the poor, Isaiah 61:1. It is said that they have special facilities for being saved, Matthew 19:23; Luke 18:24. The state of such persons is therefore comparatively blessed, or happy. Riches produce care, anxiety, and dangers, and not the least is the danger of losing heaven by them. To be poor in spirit is to have a humble opinion of ourselves; to be sensible that we are sinners, and have no righteousness of our own; to be willing to be saved only by the rich grace and mercy of God; to be willing to be where God places us, to bear what he lays on us, to go where he bids us, and to die when he commands; to be willing to be in his hands, and to feel that we deserve no favor from him. It is opposed to pride, and vanity, and ambition. Such are happy:
1.Because there is more real enjoyment in thinking of ourselves as we are, than in being filled with pride and vanity.
2.Because such Jesus chooses to bless, and on them he confers his favors here.
3.Because theirs will be the kingdom of heaven hereafter.
It is remarkable that Jesus began his ministry in this manner, so unlike all others. Other teachers had taught that happiness was to be found in honor, or riches, or splendor, or sensual pleasure. Jesus overlooked all those things, and fixed his eye on the poor and the humble, and said that happiness was to be found in the lowly vale of poverty more than in the pomp and splendors of life.
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven - That is, either they have special facilities for entering the kingdom of heaven, and of becoming Christians here, or they shall enter heaven hereafter. Both these ideas are probably included. A state of poverty a state where we are despised or unhonored by people is a state where people are most ready to seek the comforts of religion here, and a home in the heavens hereafter. See the notes at Matthew 2:2.
Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
Our Saviour here gives eight characters of blessed people, which represent to us the principal graces of a Christian. 1. The poor in spirit are happy. These bring their minds to their condition, when it is a low condition. They are humble and lowly in their own eyes. They see their want, bewail their guilt, and thirst after a Redeemer. The kingdom of grace is of such; the kingdom of glory is for them. 2. Those that mourn are happy. That godly sorrow which worketh true repentance, watchfulness, a humble mind, and continual dependence for acceptance on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, with constant seeking the Holy Spirit, to cleanse away the remaining evil, seems here to be intended. Heaven is the joy of our Lord; a mountain of joy, to which our way is through a vale of tears. Such mourners shall be comforted by their God. 3. The meek are happy. The meek are those who quietly submit to God; who can bear insult; are silent, or return a soft answer; who, in their patience, keep possession of their own souls, when they can scarcely keep possession of anything else. These meek ones are happy, even in this world. Meekness promotes wealth, comfort, and safety, even in this world. 4. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are happy. Righteousness is here put for all spiritual blessings. These are purchased for us by the righteousness of Christ, confirmed by the faithfulness of God. Our desires of spiritual blessings must be earnest. Though all desires for grace are not grace, yet such a desire as this, is a desire of God's own raising, and he will not forsake the work of his own hands. 5. The merciful are happy. We must not only bear our own afflictions patiently, but we must do all we can to help those who are in misery. We must have compassion on the souls of others, and help them; pity those who are in sin, and seek to snatch them as brands out of the burning. 6. The pure in heart are happy; for they shall see God. Here holiness and happiness are fully described and put together. The heart must be purified by faith, and kept for God. Create in me such a clean heart, O God. None but the pure are capable of seeing God, nor would heaven be happiness to the impure. As God cannot endure to look upon their iniquity, so they cannot look upon his purity. 7. The peace-makers are happy. They love, and desire, and delight in peace; and study to be quiet. They keep the peace that it be not broken, and recover it when it is broken. If the peace-makers are blessed, woe to the peace-breakers! 8. Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake are happy. This saying is peculiar to Christianity; and it is more largely insisted upon than any of the rest. Yet there is nothing in our sufferings that can merit of God; but God will provide that those who lose for him, though life itself, shall not lose by him in the end. Blessed Jesus! how different are thy maxims from those of men of this world! They call the proud happy, and admire the gay, the rich, the powerful, and the victorious. May we find mercy from the Lord; may we be owned as his children, and inherit his kingdom. With these enjoyments and hopes, we may cheerfully welcome low or painful circumstances.
SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7
3. Blessed.Gr.makarioi, singular makarios, “happy”; Heb.’ashre, “happy,” “blessed” (see on Ps. 1:1). ÃŒÂAshre and makarios are both generally translated “blessed” in the KJV, though occasionally as “happy” (1 Kings 10:8; Ps. 127:5; Prov. 29:18; John 13:17; Acts 26:2; 1 Peter 3:14). The English word “blessed,” in modern usage, is more nearly parallel to the Gr.eulogÄ“tos, “blessed” (Luke 1:68; 1 Peter 1:3; etc.), from the root eulogeÅÂ, “to speak well of,” “to praise,” “to honor” (Matt. 5:44; 21:9; 26:26; Rom. 12:14).
Our English word “beatitude” is from the Latin beatitudo. In the Latin Vulgate each statement in the first section of the sermon opens with the word beati, equivalent to makarioi.
The word makarios appears nine times in vs.3-11. But vs.10, 11, refer to the same aspect of Christian experience, and are therefore to be considered one beatitude, thus leaving eight rather than nine beatitudes. Luke gives only four beatitudes, the first, fourth, second, and eighth of Matthew, in that order (Luke 6:20-23), but he adds four corresponding woes (vs.24-26).
In the opening words of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ addresses Himself to the supreme desire of every human heart—happiness. This desire was implanted in man by the Creator Himself, and was originally ordained to lead him to find true happiness through cooperation with the God who created him. Sin is involved when men attempt to achieve happiness as an end in itself, by a short cut that by-passes obedience to the divine requirements.
Thus at the commencement of His inaugural address as King of the kingdom of divine grace Christ proclaims that the main objective of the kingdom is to restore the lost happiness of Eden to the hearts of men, and that those who choose to enter in by the “strait” gate and the “narrow” way (Matt. 7:13, 14) will find true happiness. They will find inward peace and joy, true and lasting satisfaction for heart and soul that come only when “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” is present to keep their “hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). When Christ returned to the Father He left this peace with His followers, a peace that the world cannot give (John 14:27). Happiness comes only to the hearts of those who are at peace with God (cf.Rom. 5:1) and their fellow men (cf.Micah 6:8), walking according to the two great commandments of the law of
Poor.Gr.ptÅÂchos, a word indicating deep poverty, from ptassÅÂ, “to crouch,” “to cower” (see on Mark 12:42; Luke 4:18; Luke 6:20). Here ptÅÂchos refers to those who are in dire spiritual poverty and sense keenly their need of the things the kingdom of heaven has to offer (cf.Acts 3:6; see on Isa. 55:1). Those who do not feel their spiritual need, who think themselves “rich, and increased with goods” and in “need of nothing,” are, in the sight of Heaven, “wretched, and miserable, and poor” (Rev. 3:17). None but the “poor in spirit” will ever enter the kingdom of divine grace; all others feel no need of heaven’s riches, and decline its blessings.
Their’s. A sense of one’s need is the first condition of entrance into the kingdom of God’s grace (see MB 7, 8). It was through consciousness of his own spiritual poverty that the publican in the parable “went down to his house justified” rather than the self-righteous Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14). There is no room in the kingdom of heaven for the proud, the self-satisfied, the self-righteous. Christ bids the poor in heart to exchange their poverty for the riches of His grace.
The kingdom of heaven. See on Matt. 4:17; Luke 4:19. It is important to note that Christ was here speaking not so much of His future kingdom of glory as of the present kingdom of divine grace. In His teachings Christ dealt often with the kingdom of grace in the hearts of those who accept His sovereignty, as illustrated by the parables of the Tares, the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, the Dragnet (Matt. 13:24, 31, 33, 47), and many others (see MB 8, 108).
The Jews conceived of the kingdom of heaven as a kingdom based on force that would compel the nations of earth to submit to Israel. But the kingdom Christ came to establish was one that begins within men’s hearts, permeates their lives, and overflows into other men’s hearts and lives with the dynamic and compelling power of love.
Ellen G. White
Reflecting Christ, 61.4
Seated upon the mount, surrounded by His disciples and a large ... gathering, Jesus “opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” These are not murmurers and complainers, but those who are content with their condition and surroundings in life. They do not cherish the feeling that they deserve a better position than that which Providence has assigned them, but manifest a spirit of gratitude for every favor bestowed upon them. Every proud thought and exalted feeling is banished....RC 61.4
Christ seldom gathered His disciples alone to receive His words. He did not choose for His audience those only who knew the way of life. It was His work to reach the multitudes who were in ignorance and error. He gave His lessons of truth where they could reach the darkened understanding. He Himself was the Truth, standing with girded loins and hands ever outstretched to bless, and in words of warning, entreaty, and encouragement, seeking to uplift all who would come unto Him.DA 298.1
Christ was a faithful reprover. Never lived there another who so hated evil; never another whose denunciation of it was so fearless. To all things untrue and base His very presence was a rebuke. In the light of His purity, men saw themselves unclean, their life's aims mean and false. Yet He drew them. He who had created man, understood the value of humanity. Evil He denounced as the foe of those whom He was seeking to bless and to save. In every human being, however fallen, He beheld a son of God, one who might be restored to the privilege of his divine relationship.Ed 79.1
“God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17. Looking upon men in their suffering and degradation, Christ perceived ground for hope where appeared only despair and ruin. Wherever there existed a sense of need, there He saw opportunity for uplifting. Souls tempted, defeated, feeling themselves lost, ready to perish, He met, not with denunciation, but with blessing.Ed 79.2
The beatitudes were His greeting to the whole human family. Looking upon the vast throng gathered to listen to the Sermon on the Mount, He seemed for the moment to have forgotten that He was not in heaven, and He used the familiar salutation of the world of light. From His lips flowed blessings as the gushing forth of a long-sealed fountain.Ed 79.3
Ellen G. White
SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5 (EGW), 1083-5
3, 4. An Argument With Satan—Bear in mind that it is none but God that can hold an argument with Satan (Letter 206, 1906).5BC 1083.1
4 (see EGW on Genesis 3:24). Deviation More Grievous Than Death—[Matthew 4:4 quoted.] He told Satan that in order to prolong life, obedience to God's requirements was more essential than temporal food. To pursue a course of deviation from the purposes of God, in the smallest degree, would be more grievous than hunger or death (Redemption Or The First Advent Of Christ With His Life And Ministry, 48).5BC 1083.2
5, 6. Who Can Stand a Dare?—Jesus would not place Himself in peril to please the devil. But how many today can stand a dare (Manuscript 17, 1893)?5BC 1083.3
