God’s Word says that those who are poor before God possess the Kingdom of Heaven; that is, the poor in spirit will inherit the coming Kingdom. Speaking of the use of ptōchoi to indicate poverty, when applied to physical poverty, it denotes extreme poverty in which people truly cannot support themselves at all. This differs from pénēs, which indicates a modest or meager economic state—poor but still able to survive by work—while penichrós refers to poverty in the general sense.
The Word ptōchoi is related to the verb ptṓssein, meaning “to bow the body.” This term expresses helplessness, so the person cannot or does not dare to hold their head up. In those times, the poor, when facing the rich, always bowed, feeling incapable and unworthy. In ancient times, one who dared meet a ruler’s gaze could be sentenced to death. For example, during the Old Testament period in Egypt, common people were allowed to see only the ruler’s buttons. It is therefore understandable that Joseph’s brothers did not recognize him—not only because his face had changed, but also because they were not permitted to look upon him. That is why in the Bible Joseph said, “Look at me,” because previously his brothers had not seen or were not allowed to see him.
Those who are ptōchoi—extremely poor in helplessness, called “poor in spirit” in the Beatitudes, meaning utterly powerless—are translated as “poor in spirit” in the NIV and KJV, “spiritually poor” in the Good News Bible, and “miskin di hadapan Allah” in the Indonesian translation. This poverty is not a matter of money, for God does not question wealth or possessions. God does not judge by riches; what concerns Him is our spirituality. Thus, however wealthy, highly ranked, or powerful a person is materially, when before God they say, “Lord, I have nothing,” that person is poor before God. A heart that feels poor before God relates to the call of salvation: we cannot achieve salvation by our own strength; it is all by God’s grace and not by our deeds (Eph. 2:8).
We must not assume that good deeds or religion can bring a person to heaven or to true knowledge of God. Religion is a human effort to reach God and His abundance; salvation is God’s effort to reach humanity. If a person rejects that process of salvation, they reject salvation itself. The poor in spirit are those who realize they cannot reach God by their own strength. They also recognize that their condition is far from what God desires—not only helpless to reach God on their own, but also aware that they are not yet what God intends.
If we trust in the Lord, we must understand what “trust” means. Trust demands surrender to the Person trusted. Jesus died on the cross, and therefore we must live blamelessly, for through His death and obedient life to the Father, He became the Source of Salvation and our example. Thus, if we say Jesus is the way of salvation and we intend to follow Him, we must follow His footsteps. Faith is not merely being a Christian who attends services or Mass and then expects to enter heaven.