Blessed Are The Meek

Introduction

The Meaning of Meekness

πραΰς - gentle, humble, considerate

Meekness is the natural progression from the poor in spirit, and those who mourn. However, while poverty of spirit and mourning are a result of one’s own recognition of their sin, “meekness” is a result of the glorification of God. The first two Beatitudes are concerned more about one’s own spiritual wickedness, while meekness is concerned more about the spiritual goodness of God. In this sermon, my objective is to illustrate that meekness is not weakness, but is rather power and might under self-control.

This concept is foreign to the people of Jesus’s day, just like the first two Beatitudes. The people of Christ’s day were a proud people. They were also a people concerned with themselves. There were several sects of the Jewish people in Christ’s day. Typically, we do not discuss the “inertestamental” period all that much (the time between Malchi and Matthew.) During that time, the Jews were in exile, and successfully led a revolt against their captors in the Maccabean Revolution. However, when Rome came into power, they went back under occupation. They were allowed to live on “their” land, but it was not “theirs” it was Rome’s. They were under Roman rule and oppression.

In the wake of this, the Old Testament “First Temple” Judaism that we are used to reading about (What we see in the Tabernacle and Temple of Solomon) is replaced by “Second Temple” Judaism. In this economy, there were several different sects that practiced and emphasized different things. There were the Pharisees, Jesus’s most usual offender. They were a proud people, and they focused upon the strict adherence to the “Law”. “Law” is in quotations because their version of the “Law” contained not only the Torah, but also their own Rabbinical commentary and oral traditions. In short, they added to God’s word and compelled others to do the same. They sought to gain a kingdom through religion.

Then, there were the Sadducees. These people were not very theologically conservative, but they were very political. They did not believe in the physical resurrection, but they believed in a very materialistic view of Scripture. They sought to gain a kingdom through politics.

Finally, you had the Zealots. These were a small but loud sect of Jews in Christ’s day. They were “revolutionaries” who sought to uphold the same military campaign as the Maccabeans. They were like a militia who wanted to overthrow Rome through military schemes. They wanted a revolutionary war. They sought to gain a kingdom through military strength.

These make up the schools of thought in Christ’s day, and yet they all fail to realize that Christ wasn’t setting up a kingdom through politics, religion, or military might. His Kingdom would be defined by “meekness”.

Meekness is the way God intends man to live. He desires for man to never be a vain or proud entity, but to always prefer others to himself. This is the main tenet of meekness, that one prefers others to himself. There is a great misnomer about meekness, and that is that it is weakness. When we think of a meek man, we think of a helpless man or a vulnerable man. This is not the biblical definition of this word and quality.

The word comes from the breaking of an animal. If you can recall the old western movies like Lonesome Dove. At the beginning of the story, Captain Call is trying to ride a mare who is absolutely wild. She is strong, bold, capable of hurting a lot of people. But, Call’s objective is to get her to the point where that power is under his control. The unbroken mare is absolutely useless, better off dead. Yet, the broken mare, the “meek” mare is absolutely invaluable to its owner.

Here, we can see the similarities between the two. The meek person may have might, power, and ability. Yet, that ability is completely relented from himself to The Lord. The meek person has died to their own desires, their own ambitions, and doesn’t concern himself with his own woes and troubles. He doesn’t occupy his time defending himself, or getting himself into petty disputes with others. He isn’t seeking violence or malice. The meek person stands humbly before God and says, “Lord, YOU tell me where to go and what to do.”

Meekness is not cowardice or “being nice”. It means Romans 12:18 “18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” It actually means having the courage that comes from God alone and not from yourself. Jesus gave us the greatest example of this, 1 Peter 2:21–23 “21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

When Christ came under fire, He never repays the injustices done to Him. He did not do violence to the ones who did violence to Him. Yet, when God’s House was being blasphemed by the moneychangers in the Temple, we see the “meekness” of Christ come out. John 2:15 “15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.”

He had the courage to withstand being attacked, and the courage to defend God’s House when it was attacked. Here lies the mark of meekness… not using one’s power for their own gain, but being ready to use it for God’s name.

The Mark of Meekness

Many such cases arise in the pages of scripture when we look for the example of meekness. The New Testament is wrought with how Christ fulfills what it means to live a meek life. Yet, if we draw ourselves toward the Old Testament, we see different lives who were marked by meekness.

Abraham was called out of the land of Ur to a place where God would show him. God told him that he would father many people, and that he was Yahweh’s chosen man as the patriarch of Israel. Yet, Abraham had a nephew, Lot. Lot was just there, nothing special about him. Yet, when it came time to split the land, Abraham allows Lot to take his choice. Why? Abraham had seen that God would give him whatever land He desires Abraham to have, and he trusts God in the process.

Joseph is a man who is Christlike in many ways. Through his early life, he is the target of attack by his brothers. In the turn of events that we see in Jospeh’s life, he ends up in a place of high command over Egypt. His brother appear before him and he has the perfect opportunity to exact his retribution and deserved wrath against his brothers. Yet, he says this: Genesis 50:19–20 “19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Yet, possibly the most applicable example we can find is Moses. Typically, we aren’t going to find ourselves in Abraham’s shoes or Joseph’s place in life. but we might find ourselves in the position of Moses from time to time. In their time going through the wilderness, Moses has an incident with his brother and sister: Aaron and Miriam. Numbers 12:1–4 “1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. 4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.”

Aaron and Miriam had something against Moses, and begin to rail against him unfairly. Yet, Moses does not seek retribution. He holds his tongue and keeps quiet through the process. In the following verses, we see Yahweh vindicate Moses. He punishes Aaron and Miriam for their sin, and Moses never lifts a finger.

What’s the point here? The point is that Yahweh sees all. The virtue of meekness is that by not retaliating when we are wronged, we are living examples of what it means to be completely yielded to Yahweh. We are saying with our life, that we are not interested in defending and promoting ourselves, and we reserve all judgement to the righteous judge of the Heaven and the Earth. Yahweh is our vindicator, not ourselves. That is a testament that you will only find in someone who has been transformed by the Spirit of God.

The Magnificence of Meekness

The result of meekness, then, is the inheritance of God. Being the beneficiary of God’s eternal blessing is the result of being a meek person (a person whose strength is in Yahweh.) To “inherit” refers to the receiving of one’s alloted inheritance. This beatitude is a direct quotation of something mentioned earlier in the Scriptures, Psalm 37:11 “11 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.”

“Land” in the Old Testament is meant twofold: It means a literal allotment of land (i.e. the Promised Land). However, it is also always used in figurative language to refer to “victorious” people. The “possessors of the land” are the ones with whom the blessing of God resides. From this, we understand that when Christ says the “meek” shall inherit the land, He is saying that these will be the recipient of the literal/physical Messianic Kingdom that is inaugurated on Earth when He returns. AND it also means that they are the partakers of the inheritance of eternal life that is promised in salvation.

So, who are the “meek”, exactly?

They are those who commit themselves to Yahweh for all things. Psalm 37:5 “5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” This means that they are the ones ho are completely reliant upon Yahweh for all things. They are able to admit and believe that God will protect them, lead them, and guide them in all areas of life.

They trust in Yahweh for all things. Psalm 37:5 “5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” This means that they are the ones who believe that God is for them, therefore they have no problem not taking things in their own hands.

They are quiet before Yahweh. Psalm 37:7 “7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” This means that they are patiently waiting for His intervention, and in the midst of chaos - they are quiet in peace with God.

They are the ones who do not fret over the wicked ones. Psalm 37:7 “7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” There are wicked people in the world, yet we are not called to wage war with them. That vengeance belongs to God. Therefore, the meek one has no need to bitterly fret over the wicked.

So, then, why is “meekness” essential?

It is essential for salvation. The only candidate for true saving grace is the one who will come to Jesus in the fashion of a child. (Matthew 18:2–4 “2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” )

It is essential because it is commanded. (James 1:21 “21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” ) The only way to please and satisfy what God has commanded of believers is to walk in meekness toward our fellow man.

It is essential for witnessing. (1 Peter 3:15 “15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”) Pride makes us want to be right, yet meekness will change our desire to making them righteous.

It is essential for glorifying God. (Romans 15:5–7 “5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” )

At the end of the day, you and I will always be caught in precarious situations in regards to other believers, fellow man, and even the principalities of the powers of the air. Yet, in all things, whether we are battling the world or even contending with our brethren, we are called to walk with gentle strength in the meekness of Jesus Christ. Meekness is not weakness, it is divine strength.