BLESSED ARE THE POOR

The Greek word for poor is "ptochos--" people who are destitute, people who are so poor that begging and stealing become options for them to survive. They are drowning in misery.

War, slavery, and indebtedness leave people widows and orphans and strangers. War, slavery, and indebtedness leave people destitute, displaced, and dispossessed.

The Hebrew Bible, over and over and over, challenged the Ancient Israelites and Judahites to care for widows, orphans, and strangers. War, slavery, and indebtedness were all part of the structures and systems of evil that made the rich richer and the poor miserable.

During the time of Jesus, the 1% owned and controlled the land and practically everything else. Half of the population was slowly starving to death. Life expectancy was 28 years.

The poor that Matthew talks about are people who have to beg God in prayer to give them today the food they need because that's how they get to tomorrow.

There are people who love to pray this prayer while they have cupboards--or even storehouses--of food enough for a week, a month, a year, or longer.

These people are not poor. They should stop praying the prayer.



*art, "The Sermon on the Mount," JESUS MAFA (from the vanderbilt diviniyt library digital archives).