Introduction
• Many people believe that success is the result of hard work, confidence, and a heavy dose of audacity. But what if the path to real success begins with collapse, not confidence. What if spiritual fulness begins with spiritual poverty?
• I’m Brent, and this is episode 39 of The Bible Unplugged. We’re starting a new series, “Kingdom Attitudes: The Beatitudes of Jesus.” What we will learn together is that the blueprint for the Kingdom of God is radically different than the one we try to build for ourselves.
• Please take a minute to visit the show notes for this episode at PowerLoveandMiracles.com under the Podcast tab.
What are the Beatitudes?
• The Beatitudes are a series of eight blessings found in Matthew 5:3–12. This is the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The word “Beatitude” comes from the Latin beatus, which means blessed, favored, or happy. But when Jesus says, “Blessed are...,” he’s not talking about success or good fortune. He’s announcing divine favor on those who live by God’s kingdom values.
• While these Beatitudes may see random, there is a pattern and structure to what Jesus give us.
• Each beatitude begins with “Blessed are…” Jesus begins with the end result instead of focusing on our condition to emphasize the promise of God’s care and support.
• Jesus then gives a shocking reversal. The first beatitude begins, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” We would fully expect Jesus to say, “Blessed are the rich in spirit.” That, however, is how we would think. Jesus has a better plan.
• Each beatitude ends with and explanation and payoff for the condition. It’s a genius method for getting our attention and driving home the point.
• Jesus organized the list of beatitudes as a progression.
• Verses 3-6 focus on our relationship with God; what I call our internal heart posture.
• Verses 7-9 shift to our relationship with others. This is our external world of relationships and social actions.
• Verses 10-12 highlight the cost of living according to the values Jesus presented.
• In this episode we will focus on the “vertical” Beatitudes that describe how kingdom living begins.
Poor in Spirit
• The first Beatitude in verse 3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
• The Greek word for “poor” here doesn’t mean “working class” or refer to those who live from paycheck to paycheck. This word means destitute, completely dependent, like a beggar on the street. This describes someone who has nothing and knows it. This goes completely counter to the values of our world.
• Since Jesus spoke these words in Aramaic, the word he most likely used refers to those who are humble, lowly, and have a crushed spirit.
• Isaiah 66:2 says, “I will look to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word.”
• Being humble and contrite in spirit means we come to God completely empty. No resume. No backup plan. We come to Him completely in need.
• The shocker here is that Jesus says the Kingdom of God belongs to these very people. The Kingdom doesn’t belong to the powerful or the polished, or those who think they have to earn their way. God’s kingdom starts where self-sufficiency ends.
Mourning
• The next Beatitude is, ““Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
• The word translated “mourn” is the same word used to describe those who are grieving the death of someone they love. It’s a gut-level, painful word.
• But what does Jesus say we are mourning? We are grieving the loss of our earthly identity and accepting our brokenness, our sin, and the separation from God caused by our pride.
• Jesus is telling us, don’t stuff your sorrow. Bring it to God. Grieve what is broken.
• The promise God gave us in Isaiah 61:2 says the Messiah will “comfort all who mourn” and give them “a crown of beauty instead of ashes.”
Meekness
• Jesus then goes on to say, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
• This is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted of all the beatitudes. The word here doesn’t mean “weak.” It refers to controlled and disciplined strength. It’s power held in surrender to the greater power of God.
• Jesus is quoting Psalm 37:11 which says, “The meek shall inherit the land.”
• In a world that rewards the loud, the strong, and the assertive, Jesus says that the earth belongs to those who have a gentle spirit. Those are the people who wait for God’s timing and direction and respect the value of other people.
• Meekness isn’t about personality. It’s about our posture before God and others.
Hunger and Thirst
• The next Beatitude Jesus give us is, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
• The word for righteousness here doesn’t refer to personal virtue. It refers to the virtue of following God’s design for justice, faithfulness, and right relationships.
• The Hebrew word for righteousness is the pursuit of wholeness and fairness.
• Jesus says that we should deeply crave righteousness. This is not, ‘I could eat.” This means, “I will starve to death if I don’t.” Our culture says that we need to be hungry for what brings us success and prosperity. But Jesus invites us to focus on what God desires.
• When you hunger and thirst for God’s will to be done, in you and through you, Jesus says you’ll not only be satisfied, you will be completely filled with what God desires for you.
What Do We Learn From This?
• Jesus tells us that spiritual emptiness is the doorway to God’s kingdom. We don’t become kingdom citizens by having everything we need. We start off with nothing.
• We find that grief over our failures and disappointments is the point where God rushes in to give us comfort. Recognizing our brokenness and insufficiency gives God room to design a life of blessing.
• We learn that gentleness is not weakness. Many people look to the strong and powerful as role models, but Jesus says that real power begins with submission to God.
• And, admitting our spiritual lack and hunger for more of God leads to fullness that nothing else can satisfy.
What Do We Do With This?
• Examine your own starting point. Are you trying to be self-sufficient according to what the world values, or do you recognize your spiritual poverty? Notice this week the times where your pride or your desire to be powerful gets in the way of what God wants for you. Acknowledging those desires is the starting point for real spiritual change.
• It’s normal to feel grief and pain. Let yourself grieve. Pray for your own wellbeing and that of others. Ask God to show you someone who needs to be comforted in their grief and let God work through you.
• We all need to practice restraint when you want to assert your own will over others. If there’s a situation in your life that you feel needs to change, back off and talk to God about His desired outcome, not yours.
• I invite you to start your day in prayer, even for 10 to 15 minutes. Ask God to develop in you an intense hunger for more of His power and direction and see what happens the rest of your day.
The conclusion
• And yes, the music means my time’s up for this episode. But I’ll be back with more next time.
• I hope this has been helpful. If so, take a second to give this podcast a high rating and share it with someone who is searching for God’s direction in their lives.
• In the next episode, will continue the series on how Jesus uses the Beatitudes to show us how we should relate to the people in our lives.
• My prayer for you is that you begin the journey of the Beatitudes with open hands, an honest heart, and a hunger for God that will not let go.
• Have a blessed week.
The disclaimers
• Just to let you know
• All opinions are my own. If you agree, keep listening. If you don’t… keep listening, I might surprise you with something you didn’t know.
• All Bible quotations come from the World English Bible which is a public domain work.
• Our show theme song is “Awesome Call” by Kevin MacLeod and is available under a Creative Commons license.
• The content of this podcast is copyrighted 2025 by J. Brent Eaton
• This has been a Power Love and Miracles production.
Share this post