Keys of the Kingdom

QQUICK

QUIZ 1 Which graffiti artist’s Girl with Balloon appeared on Waterloo Bridge in London in 2002? 2 Who had a No 1 album in 1983 with No Parlez? 3 Which TV historian wrote the children’s book Black and British: A Short, Essential History?

6 A ANSWERS 4. Natalie Portman. 5. A cappella. 6. Rafael Nadal. Who plays Thor’s ex-girlfriend Jane Foster in the film Thor: Love and Thunder? What Italian term, which literally means ‘in chapel style’, describes singing without instrumental accompaniment? Who won the men’s singles title at this year’s French Open tennis championships? 4 5

1. Banksy. 2. Paul Young. 3. David Olusoga.

In this occasional series, Nigel Bovey unlocks the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, which Jesus speaks to his disciples about in Matthew’s Gospel The Kingdom of beggars

IN his Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapters 5 to 7,

Jesus focuses on many of the principles and practices of the Kingdom of Heaven. He opens these teachings by emphasising who God’s Kingdom is for, using the word ‘blessed’.

In the original Greek text of the New Testament, the word translated as ‘blessed’ is makarios, which means ‘to be made holy’ or ‘to know the favour of God’. While a few translations use ‘happy’, the majority go with ‘blessed’ – with good reason. Linguistically, the ‘hap’ of ‘happy’ stems from ‘luck’ or ‘fortune’, as in ‘happenstance’. To be blessed, by contrast, has nothing to do with luck and all to do with God.

Likewise, being blessed has nothing to do with being in favourable, fortunate or pleasant circumstances. Jesus teaches that to be blessed is to know that God is with us and within us in every circumstance – even those which are difficult to face. The Kingdom, begins Jesus, is not for To be blessed those who are full of themselves but those has nothing to who are empty: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven’ do with luck (Matthew 5:3 New International Version). Jesus is talking about a spiritual poverty. A bank balance is no indicator of a person’s spiritual life. Just as it is possible to be cash-rich but time-poor, so it is possible to be whatever-rich but spirit-poor.

The Greek word for ‘poor’ – ptochos – is also used for ‘beggar’ (see Luke 16:20). It is connected with the idea of cowering. God’s blessing, says Jesus, is for those who cower at the shame of their wrongdoing – and who, realising their inability to earn God’s approval, reach out, beggar-like, to him.

A beggar does not earn donors’ contributions; they are dependent on the generosity of others. So it is with the poor in spirit, who are recipients of God’s undeserved grace. They are reliant on his generosity and mercy to forgive their wrongdoing.

A beggar is someone who has acknowledged their poverty and predicament. They’ve realised that the only way to stay alive is to ask for help. Similarly, those who acknowledge their sinfulness, recognise their inability to earn God’s favour and throw themselves on his mercy will find entry to the Kingdom of Heaven.