“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
The Lord has just stated the foundation condition to enter God’s kingdom – to be poor in spirit. This does not mean wealth. The financially poor person is not automatically accepted into God’s kingdom because of his poverty nor is the rich person excluded because of his wealth. To enter God’s kingdom requires the
same for both – to see one’s true condition before God.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven The Jewish people are looking for a Messiah who will usher his physical 1000 year kingdom on earth. Israel expects to rule with the Messiah in that kingdom for they are the chosen nation of God. So if Jesus is the Messiah where is His kingdom? The Lord tells them. The blessing God gives the poor in spirit is the kingdom of heaven. There is much debate about discussion of what Matthew means by this term. Is he referring to a special condition or the millennium kingdom. Since Matthew is the only place in Scripture who uses the term “kingdom of heaven” we look within his Gospel to see if Matthew provides a definition of the term kingdom of heaven. Each time Matthew uses this term he gives a setting or example that describes how to live out God’s kingdom on this earth. From this we can draw several conclusions. The Jewish audience he is speaking to is looking for the Messiah to establish the millennium kingdom on earth. In the Old Testament the church age was a mystery to them. They saw the mountain peak of the coming of the Messiah and they saw the mountain peak of the Messiah’s millennium kingdom. What they did not see (the “mystery”) was the church age – the almost 2,000 year long “valley” between the two mountain peaks. Because God had not yet revealed the church age to them, the Jews expected the Messiah to immediately introduce the millennium. God knew Israel’s hearts and that they would reject the Messiah. By using the term ”kingdom of heaven” the Lord tells his listeners The Messiah is setting up his kingdom on earth but it is spiritual not physical. We are not to wait for the Messiah to physically rule, His kingdom is now. Throughout the rest of Matthew’s Gospel the Lord teaches multiple parables to tell us how this kingdom operates.
So the kingdom the Messiah leads is not one we are to wait for – it is now. It involves the indwelling of the Spirit of God in our hearts (the spiritual kingdom) now. The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual kingdom populated by those who believe in Christ on earth yet they live physically intermingled with those who are not part of His kingdom. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous.” We see that at the end of the Tribulation, the angels will separate the true (believers) and the false (unbelievers), called the judgment of the sheep and the goats. At that point the Messiah will establish the physical millennium kingdom that the Jews thought was imminent
What can we learn? The Messiah did establish His Kingdom at His coming. The kingdom of heaven is now in the hearts of believers. “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This kingdom in in the heart of those who are first poor in spirit.