Hey everybody! Thank you for taking the time to join me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, then I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, then I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, you can visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Today, we read the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount! Day 27: Matthew 5:1-3 — The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:1-3 (NASB1995) “1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Historical Context At the end of the previous chapter about Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, we see multitudes of people converging from Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, the Decapolis, and other areas “beyond the Jordan” (4:25) to seek healing and hear Him preach. Following a night of intense prayer (Lk. 6:12) to prepare for this foundational sermon, Jesus sees the crowds and preaches. Discussion As we read the last few days, Jesus’ ministry was rapidly expanding. His miracles and teachings attracted people throughout all of Israel and even Syria. He taught and performed miracles in every town and village and added more followers from each as He went. We begin Chapter 5 following the events at the end of Chapter 4, where we see multitudes (thousands) of people converging from Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, the Decapolis, and other areas “beyond the Jordan” (4:25) to seek healing and hear Him preach. Once again, Matthew does not record as much detail as Luke does. Luke 6 provides further context into Jesus’ preparation for the sermon. Luke 6:12 says, “It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.” The burden of the coming day weighed heavily on His heart to have spent the entire night in intimate prayer with the Father. The teaching to come foundational for the Christian life and building of His church. Luke 6 also records the choosing of the 12 disciples, putting even more importance on this divine evening. Praying to the Father for guidance as He prepares a message that these 12 men will soon need to carry throughout the world. The ‘mountain’ Jesus preached on was more of a hill rather than an actual mountain—Galilee was a hilly region and He probably wanted to elevate Himself above the crowd for all to hear and see. The exact location of this mount is unknown, but scholars say it was likely near Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. While Matthew says that Jesus just started preaching, Luke records a more chaotic scene just before Jesus begins His sermon. To provide further context to the situation, Luke 6:17-19 says, “Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.” Luke records that the multitude of people were all trying to touch Jesus for healing and deliverance. Many were being healed just by being in His presence, while some were being delivered by a single touch. Matthew records Jesus getting right to His message. Regardless of Matthew and Luke’s varying accounts of the scene, Jesus begins preaching what we today call the Beatitudes—which simply means blessed or happy. The first blessing is for those who are poor in spirit. Matthew 5:3 states, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The poor in spirit fit the description of God’s people throughout history. As James 2:5 states, God has called those who are ‘poor in spirit but rich in faith’ to inherit the kingdom of God. This verbiage is consistent with many of the Psalms, which talk about the afflicted, needy, captive, and poor of this world who seek after God, while the prosperous are those ungodly in their ways. God shows compassion for those who are afflicted and brokenhearted—blessed are those. Blessed are those poor in spirit, those who have naught and faithfully seek the LORD and His mercy rather than prosperity in this world. Blessed are those who realize their need for spiritual riches instead of worldly riches. Blessed are those who understand that genuine happiness comes from the LORD. Blessed are those who are humble in their convictions instead of proud and haughty in their self-righteousness and arrogance.Blessed are those poor in spirit—those who put their faith in God alone; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is the beginning of the most beautiful and powerful sermon ever preached. A sermon that records nearly every foundational concept for the Christian life. A sermon that we should study regularly and apply to our lives today. A sermon from the heart of God. The kingdom of heaven is full of people humbly seeking God in their weaknesses. People living in complete reliance on God. A contrasting person to the poor in spirit would be the Pharisees, haughty and rich in their arrogance and work-based self-righteousness. They would seek acclaim for their self-proclaimed good works but would wreak havoc on the poor and—hypocritically—not help those in need. The kingdom of heaven has no room for people like that. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We will continue the sermon on the mount tomorrow. Application Deep diving into this verse really humbled me. Do I approach the LORD in this way? Do I recognize my need for Him daily? Am I truly seeking His glory over my own? Am I actively seeking Him and allowing Him to change me? How do we apply such a humbling verse? How do we reflect? How can we relate to the poor in spirit? I believe we need to recognize how spiritually bankrupt we are without Christ. Without God, we truly are dead. Recognizing our need for God and actively seeking Him should be a major theme in our everyday lives. The poor in spirit are those who understand their goodness comes from Jesus alone. That we cannot do anything apart from Him. He is everything! I pray the LORD renews my mind, allowing me to see how poor in spirit I am without Him. I pray I recognize my need for Him daily. I pray the LORD gives me a heart of compassion for those in need. I pray to hear Jesus say to me, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” May we always humbly seek the LORD and trust in His righteousness, as we are destitute without Him. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Tomorrow we continue the Sermon on the Mount and read Matthew 5:4. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please please please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, please reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together!
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