The Constitution of God’s Kingdom Part 4
The Beatitudes – (Meekness)
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Meekness means a calm temper, someone who is not easily provoked. It is a special humility that is considerate and gentle. It does not mean weakness. The greatest leaders among God's true people were meek, that is, strong, but not swaggering: "the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." (Numbers 12:3 KJV). Meekness is a ‘self-control’ quality that Christians are instructed to learn and develop. Jesus, while physically and psychologically strong, was also meek. The Lord was not proud, not arrogant, not abusive. He always had “power under perfect control” - a true rendition of meekness.
Meekness is a necessary quality in a good teacher because all of the knowledge in the world is useless if an abrasive manner causes people to walk away with their hands over their ears. Teachers of the Gospel cannot afford to be obnoxious; the stakes are too high, for everyone. Be bold, be forceful, always proclaim the whole Truth regardless of who likes it or not, but don't be deliberately offensive. "And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. In meekness instructing those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap.” (2 Timothy 2:24-26)
Since this Beatitude is probably a reference to Psalm 37, a reliable way for finding out what “meekness” means is to examine how this characteristic appears within the context of Psalm 37... “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 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.” (verses 1-7)
These and other verses in this Psalm suggest that there are two very different and distinguishable people on the earth – the righteous and the wicked. The wicked have no respect for God, or trust in Him. Instead, they strive and scheme to get what they want, even if that means oppressing other people and violating God's laws (verse 14), and these wicked people will often obtain the material and political success they desire. The Psalmist tells the righteous not to imitate the wicked men – rather than striving and scheming as the wicked do, the righteous must trust in God to fulfil their desires and uphold their cause (verses. 4, 6). In the face of failure, difficulty, and oppression, the righteous must "wait patiently" (verse 7) for God to act on their behalf, and to vindicate them.
It is in this context that we find verse 11, which says, "But the ‘meek’ will inherit the land and enjoy great peace." Other verses provide us with additional information about the characteristics of "the meek" and the promises applicable to them. The righteous are those who "trust in the Lord and do good" (verse 3), "wait patiently for Him" (verse 7), "turn from evil and do good" (verse 27), "wait for the Lord and keep His way" (verse 34), "take refuge in Him" (verse 40).
The Psalm promises that God will bless, protect, favour, and vindicate these righteous people, and that God will give them an everlasting inheritance (verse 18); on the other hand, the wicked will be "cut off" (verse 38). This is the context with which we can understand, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). Accordingly, Thayer's Lexicon says the following:
Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the Old Testament, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time. Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God's goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will (Galatians 5:23).
Therefore, meekness has more to do with our faith and self-restraint - resulting from our knowledge of God (and our relationship with God). Jesus himself was our supreme example of meekness. He said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle (or ‘meek’) and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29). Although He was promised a kingdom, He overcame the temptation to obtain it through any unrighteous method (Matthew 4:8-10), and He refused to seize it by human support, or military might (John 6:15, 18:36). Rather, Jesus gained God's approval through obedience, patience, and endurance.
Likewise, the apostle Paul instructs us to adorn our lives with meekness, among other things: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience" (Col. 3:12). He also lists it as a fruit of the Spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23). Because "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5), Peter writes, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time" (verse 6). This reinforces the exhortations in Psalm 37 against envying and imitating evil men, but instead to trust in God, patiently waiting for Him to deliver and vindicate you "in due time."
The meek person possesses the rare spiritual strength to restrain the self and to rely on God completely. He is gentle with others because he does not need or care to strive and scheme so that he may seize that which satisfies his selfish desires. Rather, he submits the exercise of his abilities to God, and restrains himself from using ungodly ways to get ahead in this world. He trusts God to promote him, so he does not try to step on others just to exalt himself. As with other characteristics described in the Beatitudes, biblical meekness contradicts the way unbelievers think and behave. Some of them equate meekness with weakness, and so they explicitly reject and despise it.
However, the meek person does not restrain himself because he is timid, but because he trusts in God to vindicate and promote him. In fact, the righteous are more courageous than the wicked because he is confident and secure in God: "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1). He is bold to assert God's rule and to proclaim God's word. This is not true with the wicked – all he has is himself, and all he lives for is himself, and so he exerts all his efforts and even sells his soul, but whatever he gains is insufficient and fleeting.
Romans 12:3 says, "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Of course, the problem is often an overly exalted view of oneself, and thus Paul warns of it here. But in this same verse he is assumes that there is a view of yourself that you "ought" to have, and that is in accordance with "sober judgment" and "the measure of faith God has given you."
Meekness indeed implies some level of “lowering self” (Mark 12:38-40; Luke 14:7-11), but not in a forced or insincere manner, and not to the point of being repugnant or obnoxious. There is often little difference between one person's false meekness than another person's arrogance and dishonesty. In any case, non-Christian world views cannot provide the intellectual foundation for true biblical meekness. Since non-Christians do not affirm or worship God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture, they cannot then trust in our God to favour or to vindicate them.
Jesus says, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36). And notice, in this Beatitude the Lord states that the meek will "inherit the earth". Any inheritance has to do with prosperity in the physical earth. Therefore, the promise is not completely spiritual or metaphorical. For as the supreme example of “meekness” (and gentleness), Jesus indeed inherited the whole earth, saying, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18).
The Bible teaches that Christ is now reigning over all the earth, and that, having sat down at the right hand of God, "He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool" (Hebrews 10:13). Paul writes, "He must reign until He has put all his enemies under his feet" (1 Corinthians 15:25). The meek are to inherit all that Jesus has secured for them in heavenly places, however, the manifestation of this blessing in here on earth! |
Chris Demetriou, 15/11/2009 |
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