Blessed are You

I think we are really going to get bite size here on these next few verses. They are commonly referred to as the beatitudes (from Latin beatus, meaning "blessed" or "happy") because the versus start with "blessed".

Luke 6:20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:
“ Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.

So lets set the stage.  Jesus has had a number of confrontations with the Pharisees.  Those who view themselves as Holy than the average Joe.  Crowds are following Jesus looking for answers, delivery from evil spirits and healing.   

If Jesus had such hard criticism for the pillars of the community, what about the rest of us poor, sorrowful, downtrodden and sinful people.  Sure Jesus heals the sick and delivers those with evil spirits, but what does he really think of us.

Thus I think that the verses that start out this discourse are ones of radical encouragement. Though we do not have the exact same words here as in Matt 5:3.  The similarity is enough to assume that poor in spirit is meant here also.

The use of poor here is not relevant but absolute.  So poor that you would be forced to beg.  So someone who is so poor in their spirit would believe that there is not hope for reconciliation with God.  However Jesus says the Kingdom of God is theirs.  As a matter of fact the condition seems to be required.  Only if you acknowledge that you are so poor in spirit that their is nothing you can do to deserve God's merit, will you inherit the kingdom of God.