Last week we began a new series looking at the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, commonly known as the Beatitudes. And as I mentioned before, this teaching of Jesus is often seen from the perspective of goals to strive for, and while that may not seem too dangerous at first, it can very easily lead a person down the road of self-works and a performance-mindset which can be quite damaging and deadly in the end.
So in this series we have been looking at the Beatitudes, but not with the typical self-focused lenses. Instead we have been looking at the Beatitudes, from the perspective of seeing Jesus, and already we have seen some amazing details.
Today we will be continuing from where we paused last week, as we look at more pictures of Jesus in the Beatitudes.
Let’s begin today with where we ended from the previous study – which is Matthew 5:1-12, as we began last week by reading through the entire list of Beatitudes. And then we looked at the first four verses.
So let’s refresh our memory a bit, by reading the Beatitudes again:
“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came to him:
And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Now as mentioned Last week we ended on verse 4, as we saw the way that Jesus and His Spirit comforts those who mourn, and it was a great picture of Jesus. So let’s now look at verse 5, where Jesus says:
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Wow! That’s quite a promise! To inherit the earth is no small thing. But what exactly does it mean to be meek? In many ways, we tend to misunderstand meekness, as being weak, docile, tame, even being a complete doormat and letting everyone walk all over you.
This popular idea has led many into a strange kind of self-debasement, and an acceptance and embracing of absolutely everything, simply in the name of being meek. However this is not the true definition of what it means to be meek, and we’re going to spend some time on this because this misunderstanding is so widespread, and it’s important to be clear about what meekness really is (and how to truly be meek).
First, what does “meek” actually mean? Let’s look at some scriptures for the answer… starting with Numbers 12:1-3:
“And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
And they said, Has the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? has he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.
Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were on the face of the earth.”
Now as we look at the context of what is happening, we can see that certain people (Miriam and Aaron in this case) began speaking Moses; backbiting him and undermining his authority.
Later on in the chapter we see that Miriam is stricken with leprosy for speaking against Moses, and Aaron cries out to Moses for help. And what we see next is very interesting! We might expect Moses to say something such as: “Well, you deserve what you get! You reap what you sow!” – there are some people who would even say it was God’s will and you should just accept it without question.
However, Moses did not do that… In-fact in verse 13, Moses does not hesitate to pray to God for Miriam’s healing! Not her destruction.
Let’s be absolutely clear about this, God was on Moses’ side. God was defending Moses here, and Moses could’ve actually just sat back with a smirk on His face and said “Get ‘em, God!” – yet he did not do that. And this gives us a clue as to the real definition of meekness. It’s not being a weakling, but rather it is controlled power.
Moses had position, power and authoritative standing with God – God Himself confirms this in verses 6 through 8 of this chapter, and yet even so, Moses did not use that considerable position to get revenge on Miriam or Aaron, and even had pity on them.
And let’s also consider that this is the same Moses who had previously killed an Egyptian slave-master who was abusing a Hebrew slave in Exodus 2:11-12. So Moses was definitely not a weakling, and certainly not a doormat.
So we can see that meekness is not the absence of strength, not simply accepting everything without resistance – but rather meekness is having great power, but also the ability to control that power.
Now back to what Jesus said in His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. He said that blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. So now that we know what meekness is; controlled power; the question then becomes how do we properly become meek? Where does this meekness come from?
As mentioned at the start, this is where most people would become focused on their efforts and begin trying to become more meek through striving and behaviors. This is when it is most important to remember the foundation of the finished work of Christ and His New Covenant of Grace, and our new identity in Him.
You see, when Jesus spoke these words, He knew what He was going to do. He knew that He was going to usher is into a New Covenant based on His sacrifice and regenerative work; and this is the key to it all.
As we have seen today, meekness is actually controlled power, and apart from Jesus and His Spirit we have no real power at all. However as we have seen in previous studies, God has given us His Spirit; and His Spirit is not a Spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2nd Timothy 1:7). That covers the power aspect, so what about the control?
It’s important to understand that Jesus is the foundation and the fulfillment of everything. He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, and this scenario is no different. And what you are about to see is going to bless you greatly and change your life if you receive it. In Galatians 5:22-23, we see this:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
These are the fruit of the Spirit. It is the Spirit of Christ that manifests these fruit in us. You will notice that meekness is right there in the list.
The take-away from all of this is that meekness (along with everything else) is not something that we can strive for or conjure-up within ourselves, but it is a result of the finished work of Christ and our new identity in Him. His Spirit manifests these things in us, and we are simply recipients of His grace; branches connected to His Vine.
I pray that this information has blessed you today. Join us next week as we continue seeing Jesus in the Beatitudes.
Be blessed.
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