A broken and contrite heart

Read Matthew 5:3-4

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Those who belong to God’s kingdom are blessed, says Jesus. And in the Beatitudes he describes he qualities which characterise those who share in that blessing, beginning with two which are fundamental to our entry to his kingdom.

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At the root of human sin is pride and God is therefore “opposed to the proud but he gives grace to the humble” (Prov.3:34; Jas.4:6; 1 Pet.5:5). So entering the Kingdom of heaven is only possible to those who have a humble and contrite heart (Is.66:2; Mt.18:3) i.e. to those who are “poor in spirit” (3). The acknowledgement of our spiritual bankruptcy is the starting place for us all. It was the tax-collector who prayed, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”, not the religiously upright Pharisee, who “went home justified before God” (Lk.18:9-14).

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Realising our poverty of spirit leads to contrition, the heart’s sorrow for its sin. This is the primary meaning of “Blessed are those who mourn” (4). Such grief over our spiritual state is painful but “a broken and contrite heart” God will never turn away (Ps.51:17). Mourning because of our sin is the essential prerequisite if we are to know the comfort of Gods’ mercy and forgiveness (Jas.4:7-10).