‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3
Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν
It is worth comparing this with the parallel in Luke:
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Luke 6:20
Καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ ἔλεγεν Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοί ὅτι ὑμετέρα ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
We can discuss pretty much every part of this saying: Blessed; poor in spirit; is…
Μακάριοι – some translate as “Happy”.
πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι – “poor in spirit”: is this Jesus’ original? Or is is Luke’s πτωχοί – ‘poor’ what Jesus actually originally said?
Is the reward in the present? Or is the reward of being “poor” (or “poor in spirit”) in the future? Is God rewarding being “poor” (or “poor in spirit”), or is the reward intrinsic to being “poor” (or “poor in spirit”)?
As this year the Sunday Gospel reading focus is on St Matthew’s Gospel, I thought I’d start some of my personal study and Lectio Divina with that Gospel. [NB. I am using ‘Matthew’ as a convenient term for the author of the first Gospel in the order of the Christian canon].
This is the thirty-fourth post in a series – you can begin here:
Matthew in Slow Motion 1
Matthew in Slow Motion 2
Matthew in Slow Motion 3
Matthew in Slow Motion 4
Matthew in Slow Motion 5
Matthew in Slow Motion 6
Matthew in Slow Motion 7
Matthew in Slow Motion 8
Matthew in Slow Motion 9
Matthew in Slow Motion 10
Matthew in Slow Motion 11
Matthew in Slow Motion 12
Matthew in Slow Motion 13
Matthew in Slow Motion 14
Matthew in Slow Motion 15
Matthew in Slow Motion 16
Matthew in Slow Motion 17
Matthew in Slow Motion 18
Matthew in Slow Motion 19
Matthew in Slow Motion 20
Matthew in Slow Motion 21
Matthew in Slow Motion 22
Matthew in Slow Motion 23
Matthew in Slow Motion 24
Matthew in Slow Motion 25
Matthew in Slow Motion 26
Matthew in Slow Motion 27
Matthew in Slow Motion 28
Matthew in Slow Motion 29
Matthew in Slow Motion 30
Matthew in Slow Motion 31
Matthew in Slow Motion 32
Matthew in Slow Motion 33
