Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

Curious to know what you guys think “poor in spirit” means. I’ve got three possibilities in my head, one that I’m leaning towards.

Poor in spirit - meaning not spiritually proud or self-sufficient. 

These people know that their spirit comes from God and God alone. They who inherit Heaven know why they inherit it - it is the gracious gift of God in Jesus Christ received by faith and not earned by religious works.

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As long as it’s a metaphor for not trying to earn what you can’t earn. 
I think that’s the real takeaway. 
The Kingdom of Heaven isn’t earned, it’s received by faith through grace as an inheritance for being adopted into God’s family through our co-crucifixion, death and resurrection in Jesus.

So what if the “poor” is actually reference to money/manna (like it appears to be in Luke), but the “in spirit” is in juxtaposition to “in the flesh” or in the seen realm. In other words, he would be speaking about the heart’s disposition toward money, but regardless of one’s actual financial state.

So I used to lean more towards this, but the parallel verse in Luke — “blessed are the poor” — makes me think it may have a closer relationship to manna.

Will share more of my thoughts on that in a bit…