Why the Poor Rejoice in the Holy One of Israel

Isaiah 29:19 declares that the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. The universality of Christianity proves its Divine origin, for it alone adapts itself to the condition and wants of all humanity, coming from Him who sustains, preserves, feeds, and blesses all.

First, Christ in His humiliation condescended to be poor, thereby honoring and hallowing the condition of poverty itself. No legislator, moralist, or teacher in history has conferred such honor upon humanity or displayed such regard for the poor. After Christ's example, who shall dare convert want into a crime or look with contempt upon honest poverty? The poor may rejoice because He entered into their sorrows and felt their wretchedness.

Second, the blessings of Christ's salvation are provided gratuitously—without money and without price. While earthly empires of the Caesars were sold to the highest bidder, salvation requires no financial resources. Were it an elaborate work demanding expense and tedious effort, like erecting palaces or pyramids, the poor would perish. But the Gospel's free salvation is adapted peculiarly to their condition.

Third, though poverty excludes from earthly privileges and refinements accessible to the rich, it cannot exclude from the charisma (grace gifts) of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here lies the exultation of poor believers: in free salvation, they possess what no wealth can purchase and no poverty can diminish.