Skip to main content

Blessed are the poor in spirit

Image
By

…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

John 5:19-21 says that Jesus could do nothing by himself. I somehow learned that verse wrong. I’ve quoted it wrong countless times, saying ‘Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing, only said what he heard the Father saying’.

What Jesus actually says there, and again in John 5:30, is that he COULD NOT DO ANYTHING ON HIS OWN.

Does that strike you as odd? The word used here is ‘Dunamai’:

  1. to be able, have power whether by virtue of one's own ability and resources, or of a state of mind, or through favourable circumstances, or by permission of law or custom
  2. to be able to do something
  3. to be capable, strong and powerful

Jesus says he’s not capable. Unless the Father does it. ‘Only did’ and ‘could not do’ are totally different to me.

This connects well to Philippians 2:5-11. Jesus did not grasp equality with the Father. It seems to indicate that his choice to humble himself and take the form of a servant wasn’t a matter of attitude or self restraint. It was a real choice to lose control and power - The word really became flesh – this is the tension where Jesus is 100% man and yet 100% God.

Could do nothing. That’s the very definition of poor in spirit. And Jesus became poorer in spirit than me…or any of us.

This also makes sense with respect to the second clause in that beatitude – possessing the kingdom.

Philippians 2:5-8 says that Jesus became poor in spirit – by choice – even unto death. Philippians 2:9-11 completes the idea by declaring that because of his obedience unto death – his voluntary poverty of spirit.

God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

So the poorest in spirit becomes the king. It’s echoed again in Revelation 5:9-11 – He is worthy because with His blood he bought men for God from every tribe, tongue and nation. Blessed is Jesus ( the poor in spirit ), the kingdom belongs to him. And to the extent that I want to share in his kingdom, I need to stop being so capable and self-sufficient. Ouch.

Comments

Unknown said…
Wonderful thoughts my son.
September 8, 2009 at 8:02 AM
Will De Hart said…
Yea for you Darren. Back in the seminary days, we called Jesus' divine nature the Ferrari. Jesus had the Ferrari, but could not use it. He preformed all of His miracles via the power and agency of Holy Spirit (the Porche)according to the will of the Father (the Cadillac). So even though Jesus parked the Ferrari in the garage, He still possessed divinity within His identity, not losing internal essence.

I really like you application. I think Todd Bentley calls it the "Branch Life" He is the sap. The branch does nothing. Life Happens.
September 9, 2009 at 6:57 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pursuing Peace Through Prayer

By
Reflecting on the current state of the world, and particularly of the struggle that my friend Jerad's family is facing , it seems like a good time to write down some thoughts about the Bible and prayer. Jerad mentioned in a recent blog post that he was collecting scriptures for encouragement, and I thought not only about the scriptures I hold on to, but also to how I use them. It seemed to me that unpacking the process of internalizing and living within the truths of scripture might be worthwhile. Hopefully it's either interesting or encouraging to Jerad, and anyone else that ends up reading this. So my Big Question to ponder is how do we thrive despite the circumstances we each face, and how can we take a proactive stance in prayer to resist the sense of impending doom that surrounds us, at a moment when so many other things are outside our control.  Thinking on that, one of the key scriptures that comes to mind is what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:4-8. Philippians 4...
3 comments
Read more

the one they have pierced...

By
I'm a bit interested in Eschatology. For those of you who don't know what eschatology is, it's the study of eschat . Really, no, I'm just kidding. I don't even know what eschat is... But I heard some fairly convincing stuff from a preterist this last week. Preterists believe that the last days described in the Bible happened in the first century, and that it's all done. Well, I don't think that's right. So I've been thinking on that. Here's a bit of it: Preterists take the time words very seriously - the statements that are made in Matthew 24, Revelation 1-3, and elsewhere, where Jesus says that 'this generation' would see the kingdom, or that 'the time is near', or 'these things must soon come to pass'. I was challenged to take those seriously as well - I had not given them as much thought as other elements of those same passages...but I find the strict preterist interpretation simplistic, as I understand it. Ba...
5 comments
Read more

Bread.

By
  The smell itself had a powdery sweet reek that seemed to suggest mold – but I wasn’t sure.  It was Monday, and the fresh start of a new work week seemed like a good time to clean out the cabinet. So I steeled myself.  As I peered into it’s dark recesses of the break room cupboard, two or three possibilities caught my eye: a nondescript, unmarked tin of something, a box of bran cereal, and a half-eaten loaf of bread.  I chose the bread. The plastic bag was neatly twist tied, and the printing on the bag helpfully obscured the contents inside.  So I reached up and grabbed it to get a better look.  Perhaps this was the source, perhaps not... The inch of bread crust visible through the bag was fairly innocuous.  It looked bread-ish enough.  Still, I was suspicious.  So I opened the bag to see what was inside. To my surprise, it was not green, spotted or otherwise obviously moldy.  I was initially concerned that it didn’t look quit...
5 comments
Read more