The Lord Jesus Christ said, Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Only
the man who has ever found himself in a place of poverty and hunger
can appreciate the crumbs which fall from the master's table.
Those men who are devoutly religious and find themselves to be strong
in faith and operating in great power generally despise such
crumbs, preferring to leave them for the dogs to eat. These men
of great faith possess ravenous appetites that can only be sated
by large portions. They find it odd that there are
yet those who see themselves as mere beggars in the house
of God. These men speak of having faith in great abundance and
boast of their great endeavors and accomplishments. It seems
an oddity to them that there are those who actually hunger
and thirst for righteousness and long for it as those who
do not yet have it in their grasp. These bastions of strength speak
of their constant communion with heaven and the heights of glory
which they enjoy, and they certainly cannot be bothered with those
who openly confess that they are weak, haught, and lame, and
wait with fear and trembling outside the gate for just a glimpse
of the Master. But the strong and mighty, those
who have a great abundance of religious fervor and take great
delight in their abundant prayers, sermons, and testimonies of service
to the one they call their Lord, or more appropriately, their
partner. The Pharisees were great religious
men during the time when Christ walked upon the earth. They were
satisfied with their relationship with God and rejoiced in their
religious traditions and testified of their standing with God at
every chance they got. They looked askance at the general
population, and often noted their own moral superiority over common
sinners such as drunkards, harlots, and those who were employed by
the Romans to collect taxes from them, who were known as publicans.
These Pharisees were convinced that they were serving God and
could be assured of a great reward in heaven in the life to come.
Yet the Lord Jesus laid his axe to the very root of their tree
when he said, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and harlots
go into the kingdom of God before you. In fact, the Lord gave an
illustration of a Pharisee who went down to the temple to pray
in keeping with his obvious devotion to duty. He prayed a very eloquent
prayer, giving thanks for his morality. He even noted his great
devotion in contrast to the despised publican who was also there that
day. Yet the publican did not speak
any great swelling words, but was downcast and smote upon his
breast, and merely sought mercy from the hand of God. The Lord
said only one of those men went down to his house justified.
It was not the Pharisee who was certain of his standing with
God, but rather it was that despised publican who had no assurance
of anything except his own great need of mercy. Yes, indeed. Blessed
are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.