Momentum: Pursuing God’s Blessings Through The BeatitudesSýnishorn

A Taste of Heaven Now

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

To be poor in spirit is the gateway blessing that leads to all the others. Without this, none of the others can be reached.

Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” You might expect him to say “theirs will be the kingdom of heaven” (future tense), but that’s not what he says.

All the other beatitudes speak about future blessings. Those who mourn shall be comforted. The meek shall inherit the earth. Those who hunger for righteousness shall be satisfied. But for “the poor in spirit [theirs] is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus is talking about a taste of heaven now!

Life in this world is a long way from heaven, so what can this mean? What comes to mind when you think about heaven? Streets of gold? World peace? Every tear gone from your eyes? We don’t have any of that now. What taste of heaven do the poor in spirit have now?

“Thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity [that’s heaven], whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit’” (Isaiah 57:15). God lives with the person who has a lowly spirit. The poor in spirit get a taste of heaven now, because God comes to live with them!

If you want to move beyond a vague belief in God to a felt awareness of God’s presence in your life, this is where you begin: God makes his home with the person who is poor in spirit.

For further reading, see Isaiah 57:15