I can never think of the third beatitude, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5) without thinking of comedian Jackie Vernon’s quip: “Sure the meek shall inherit the earth, they are too timid to refuse it.” Of course he plays off a common misunderstanding of what it is to be meek and what it means to inherit the earth.
Like much of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, this statement is counter-intuitive and challenges some of our basic assumptions. We’ve been trained to understand that if we want anything then we have to go out and get it. Pursuing life consists in setting goals and going after them. We accomplish our objectives through power, strength, ability, self-assurance, and aggressiveness.
But when it comes to spiritual objectives Jesus teaches that it is not the self-sufficient, the self-righteous, the proud, the powerful, the confident, and the religious who enter the kingdom of heaven. It blew away the religious assumptions of His contemporaries too!
In the beatitudes, meekness comes after “the poor in spirit” and “those who mourn” because it naturally follows this state of brokenness before God that they describe. Meekness is humility before God because we recognize our dependence on Him. And the recognition of this utter dependence on God is the foundation of humility before people as well.
Jackie Vernon thought meekness means being timid, weak, and passive. Webster’s dictionary similarly defines meekness as “deficient in spirit and courage.” But this is not what Jesus was talking about. He described Himself as “meek” (Matthew11:29) but He was neither weak, timid, passive, nor deficient in any way. The Greek word, prauß, means mild, gentle, soft. It is used of a soothing medicine (like one that coats a scratchy throat) and to describe a colt that has been broken and domesticated. So Jesus is not referring to weakness but to power under control – God’s control.
Meekness is related to faith and trust because it requires that one purposefully live in dependence upon God. Again, this is not natural or normal in our world. Yet Jesus is teaching that those who allow God to break them of their self-will and be in charge of their life will inherit the earth. This is a simple concept but a scary thought.
This is precisely what Jesus meant when He taught His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.” This is the heart of the gospel, the good news. We find meaning and purpose and fulfillment in life in right relationship with God, who created us and loves us.
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by Dr. J. Patrick Curtis, Senior Pastor
Valley Bible Church
851 Fairview Terrace
White River Junction, VT
Sponsored by Valley Bible Church
Published in the Valley News Tuesday, January 25 , 2005
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