The first word out of Jesus’ mouth in the Sermon on the Mount is *blessed*. And the first people He names as blessed are the ones nobody in that crowd would have nominated: the poor in spirit. Not the powerful, the confident, or the spiritually accomplished. The ones who know they are empty. The word translated “poor” is *ptochos*, the strongest Greek word for poverty – the beggar with nothing, hand extended, no other option. Jesus takes that word and applies it to the interior life. And then He says the kingdom of heaven belongs to those people. Present tense. Not will belong, once they improve. Belongs. Now.
Twin Tree Project 