Some of the sayings of Jesus recorded in the Bible don’t seem to make too much sense when we first read them.  Take for example these words of Jesus in the ‘Sermon On The Mount’: “Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

Those words make up the first of what we call ‘The Beatitudes’.  There are nine such sayings - although the last two are on the same theme.  In the coming weeks I’d like to take you through those Beatitudes.  Jesus repeatedly singles out certain kinds of people so as to pronounce God’s blessing on them.  In a sense we could say that these are people who are to be congratulated.  Jesus implies that the Almighty Creator of the universe smiles favourably upon them.

But the first one is particularly puzzling.  Blessed are the poor! Think about that a moment. It’s as if Jesus is saying: “Congratulations, for being poor.”  Doesn’t that strike you as a little odd?  “Happy are the poor!”  Happiness is having next to nothing; scrounging for one’s meals; living year after year on government handouts; living rough on the streets.  We would certainly be reluctant to change places with people like that.  Blessed are the poor...?”  No!  I think most of us would be more inclined to say that folk like that are to be pitied.  But now Jesus turns things right around and says that such people are to be envied.  That sounds almost like nonsense doesn’t it?  What could He possibly mean by that?

Well, it’s interesting that right throughout the Bible God seems to have a special concern for the poor and for the oppressed.  Someone once said, “God must love the poor, He made so many of them.”  But you cannot escape the fact that they do have a special place in the Bible.  Listen to these words from Psalm 40: “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.”  Or these words from Psalm 70, “I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God!”  Or there is this thought-provoking saying in Psalm 113: that God “raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.”

I guess that for starters the million dollar question is, “Who are the poor?”  Because that all depends to whom it is that we compare ourselves.  In comparison to a company executive earning a six figure salary (plus bonuses of course) the average Aussie qualifies as “poor”.  But what if we compare ourselves to the thousands of people globally who fill up the world’s refugee camps?  In comparison most of us are very rich.

So what is Jesus getting at when he declares the poor to be blessed?  It seems to me that the issue really boils down to our attitude... our mindset.  Let me put it this way: who would find it easier to come to God?  The wealthy self-sufficient billionaire?  Or the needy homeless person who sleeps most nights in his van?  Perhaps it’s easier for the poor to come to God than it is for the rich and the well-to-do.  Because, you see, when we come to God we must come with an attitude of humble dependence.  Not with the idea that God helps those who help themselves, but rather with the idea that God helps those who cannot help themselves.  That is what the Kingdom of heaven is all about.  In that regard the poor have a head start on those who are well off.  Possessions can be a real stumbling block to one’s relationship with God.  We have so much; we can look after ourselves, thank you very much!  For the poor it’s different – they don’t have too much in the way of resources – it’s easier for them to expect everything from God.  So it is they especially whom the Lord invites to Himself.  Let them come to Him with their needs.

Ultimately then Jesus is describing an attitude of humble dependence.  It’s in Luke’s gospel that we read: Blessed are the poor....!  But the gospel of Matthew catches the idea when it records Jesus as saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdome of heaven.  Jesus means that when it comes to our relationship with God we must have that attitude: as though we had nothing and had to expect everything from God.  Blessed are the humble poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God.

John Westendorp