Blessed are the Meek
“Blessed are the meek, for
they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)
The verse above
is explained by Matthew 6:19-34. For more on the outline of the Sermon on the
Mount, see the very first post of this blog, entitled The Key to the Sermon on the Mount and posted on
Sept. 26, 2014.
“Do not store
up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where
thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is
the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of
light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If
then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can
serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will
be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
Money.
“Therefore I
tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the
body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow
or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are
you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single
hour to his life?
“And why do
you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not
labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was
dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more
clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we
eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run
after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
“But seek
first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to
you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:19-34)
“Blessed are the meek…” says Jesus, and the first thing
that came to my mind as a new believer was the image of a timid, spineless,
wimp cowering in the corner as the schoolyard bully walks by and humiliates him
with all kinds of insults. As it turns out, that image that flashed through my
mind isn’t far off from the words found for meek in the dictionary or thesaurus
– gentle, weak, humble, timid, mild-mannered, docile, acquiescing.
But
was this really what Jesus had in mind? Let’s take a deeper look at the
original word that Jesus used and how that word is translated in Scripture. As
we do we will get a far different picture.
The
Greek work Jesus used is prautes and
the word has been giving translators fits for centuries. Some have translated it
as meekness (KJV) while others use the word gentleness (NIV). Still others have
suggested that mildness or self-control might be appropriate. There seems to be
no English equivalent, so I will simply defer to someone more scholarly than me.
In The
Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, Spiros Zodhiates writes: “Prautes
is a condition of mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness, not in
weakness, but in power. It is a balance born in strength of character.”
So the kind of meekness that Jesus is talking about is
not a wimpish, cowardly gentleness but is instead a gentle demeanor that comes
from an inner strength. It is used to speak of great power under control. So
when Jesus calls himself meek (Matthew 11:29) or the Bible describes Moses as
meek (Numbers 12:3), the idea is that they are powerful men that radiate an
inner strength while still being humble before God and gentle with the people
around them.
And as great as this truth is, there is still more to it.
For this kind of Biblical meekness – this inner strength, this great power
under control – comes only from the meek person waiting on the Lord and putting
his or her trust in Him. It is an inner strength that comes only from spending
time with God. Psalm 37 says it best:
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and
enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you
the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he
will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked
schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not
fret--it leads only to evil.
9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in
the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great
peace.
Psalm
37:3-11 NIV
Notice the parallels? The meek person is someone who
trusts in the Lord, delights in the Lord, commits his way to the Lord, and is
still before the Lord, waiting patiently for Him to act rather than taking
matters into his own hands. He or she has an inner strength that comes from
trusting in God and that strength empowers a person to be patient and gentle
towards others, humble before God, and submitted to His will for his or her
life.
And as hard as Biblical meekness is to define and
understand, it is even harder to do. For Jesus set the standard for meekness by
laying aside his rights to divinity, taking on human form, and becoming a
servant who modeled power under restraint, even to the point of allowing
himself to be insulted, whipped, and crucified rather than call down wrath upon
his persecutors (see Phil. 2:6-11). With great meekness Jesus waited patiently
for God’s will to be done, even though it cost him dearly. With great meekness
he gently reached out to those around the foot of the cross, forgiving them and
loving them as only He could.
As followers of Christ we strive to be like Him, though
it is sometimes difficult and we often fall short. But in the end I know it
will be worth it – the meek will inherit the earth, or perhaps better, the
land. Whichever translation you prefer, earth or land, it will come true, for
the meek will not only inherit planet earth, they will also live in the
heavenly Promised Land forever.
I can’t
wait much longer – come quickly Lord Jesus!
Pray with me: Lord, you know it is my desire to be meek, but so
often I fall short, growing short-tempered and taking matters in my own hands
rather than patiently waiting for you to bring justice to a situation. I know
that meekness is a fruit of the spirit, and my desire is to spend more time
with you so that the fruit of meekness can develop and come to fruition in my
life…continue praying as you are led…
Meditate on these topics and Scriptures: The blessings of being meek in Psalm 37; the meekness
and humility of Christ in Phil. 2:6-11 and the Gospel accounts of his
crucifixion; the meekness of Moses and God’s intervention in Numbers Chapter
12; the invitation of Jesus to be meek like Him in Matthew 11:28-30.
For further study, see John Piper’s article Blessed
Are the Meek at http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/blessed-are-the-meek
Please use this blog for
personal devotional use and feel free to share it with friends and family.
However, all publishing rights are reserved. No reproduction or publication of
this blog is permitted without the permission of the author, Pastor Randy
Brockett of New Song
Foursquare Church
in Colorado Springs , Colorado
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