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How are Matthew 5:3 and Luke 6:20 are different from each other.

User Kukido
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Answer: I don't take any credit but I assume this will help from an explanation I found on quora.

The Bible has one common author i.e. the Holy Spirit of God - and God does not make any mistakes. When there seems to be a contradiction in the Bible the verses should be read to supplement each other:

Luke 6:20 Looking at his disciples, he said:“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So in Matthew 5:3 Jesus is defining the poverty that He spoke about in Luke 6:20 as spiritual poverty i.e. humility.

It must be remembered that some people suffer very badly due to oppression, war, famine, catastrophes, sin etc which results in poverty. However others suffer due to laziness, greed, poor financial prudence etc.

Next we find the people closest to God are rich e.g. Abraham, Joseph, David, Job, Moses etc - who are obviously blessed.

The Holy Spirit tells us in 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

So God is not talking about money or lack of it - but is talking about the attitude we need to have to receive Him with a pure heart i.e. humility.

User Vadim Kirilchuk
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