Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 5:3

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." — Matthew 5:3 (ASV)

Blessed — The word used here differs from the one in Matthew 23:39 and Matthew 25:34. It expresses a permanent state of blessedness, rather than the passive reception of a blessing given by another.

The poor in spirit — The limitation, like in “the pure in heart,” points to the area of life where this poverty is found. In Luke 6:20, there is no such qualifying phrase; there, the words speak of outward poverty as a state that is less dangerous and therefore happier than that of riches.

Here, the blessedness belongs to those who, regardless of their outward circumstances, recognize in their inner life that they have nothing of their own. They understand they must receive before they can give and must be dependent on another’s generosity. They are, so to speak, the humble petitioners of the great King. To this disposition belongs the “kingdom of heaven”—the eternal realities of that society, in this life and the next, of which Christ is the Head.

Things are sometimes best understood by their opposites. We can point to the description of the church of Laodicea as an example of the opposite character: thinking itself “rich” in the spiritual life when it is truly “the pauper,” destitute of the true riches, blind, and naked.