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.”
Although Jesus had quite a ministry to the poor and oppressed, this verse does not mean what it appears to on the surface. The poor should be ministered to. Their needs are not ignored by God, nor should they be ignored by Christians. However, the word here translated ‘poor’ has a deeper meaning than we see at first. Matthew 5:3 helps fill in the meaning by saying ‘poor in spirit’. Jesus is talking about persons who were not only generally poor in the material things of this world, but also were deprived of the truth. So the focus here is upon those who, due to the Jewish system, had been by and large deprived of the right to ‘know’ the Scriptures. The Jewish leaders reserved this right to themselves.
And this is a pattern we see throughout history. Many times truth has been monopolized so as to keep the masses at bay. Different methods and means have been employed, but the purpose has been the same. When the ‘truth’ gets in the hands of a select few it tends to get corrupted. Whereas when it is made more widely available, it tends to remain more pure. Though even this has to be understood, for even availability does not equal understanding. A knowledge of the Holy One needs to be obtained and passed along through the vast host of humanity for the truth as it should be to remain as it truly is.
So, Jesus is speaking to those who had been ‘left out’ so to speak. He is saying that the plan of God was to make the kingdom of God accessible to all who would desire the Truth, not just some specialized religious oligarchy. This principal is absolutely foundational to the teaching of Christ, and the operation of His church in its proper form.
Heavenly Father, we tend to grab rather than letting go. Give us a heart like Yours! You are at the same time generous and discerning. You know the best for each of us. You know the very content of our souls. Everything we will ever understand, even in heaven one day, is simple and plain to Your mind. You are beyond all our imagining, and yet to know You is still the best use of our faculties. Your praise is the most important thing in our lives. Out of that flows all that we need for every situation. It is that which is the target of the enemy, only because of jealousy. And it is that which we each crave for ourselves, but withhold selfishly from others. I praise You for You are Mighty above all! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.