As we have been looking at our Savior’s teaching here in the Beatitudes, we have made note of how Jesus lays out for us here a blueprint for how we might experience the true happiness that only God can give - a sense of contentment, peace, joy, and fulfillment that the world cannot give us and cannot take away from us.
We have looked to the first Beatitude in Matthew 5:3, where our Lord tells us that the first step down the path that leads to true happiness involves my gaining the proper perspective on salvation. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus says that the first step on the road to experiencing true happiness involves my acknowledging my spiritual poverty - my utter inability to earn a right relationship with God. It is only as I acknowledge my spiritual poverty that I will then place my trust in God’s saving power. When I trust in God’s power to save through placing my faith in Christ, then I am born into God’s family and I become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
We next looked to Matthew 5:4, where Jesus tells us that as citizens of God’s kingdom, we will only experience the true happiness God has planned for us as we gain the proper perspective on sin. “Blessed are they who mourn,” Jesus said, “for they will be comforted.” Jesus speaks here of the only sorrow that leads to happiness - godly sorrow over sin.
Godly sorrow over sin comes from learning to view my sin in light of
God’s perfection rather than man’s imperfection. When I have godly sorrow over my sin, I will be led to repent - to look to God to change my attitude and actions regarding that sin - which is the key to experiencing the victory over the deadly power of sin in my life. This is what James referred to when he said: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” - James 4:8-10 (NLT)
Now, let’s look to the third Beatitude in Matthew 5:5
What a shock our Lord’s statement must have been to His audience! In effect, Jesus said that contrary to the world’s opinion, it is the meek, not the mighty, who will inherit the earth. This teaching was absolutely foreign to their thinking. Consider the kind of thinking our Lord’s audience was used to:
They knew how to be spiritually proud.
They knew how to be self-sufficient.
They knew how to play the pious role.
They knew how to practice religion.
They were really good with form.
They thought they were the “in” group.
They thought they could survive on their own strength and wisdom and might and resources.
And when the Messiah arrived, they expected Him to usher them into His kingdom and say, “I’m here to commend you for your religiosity, for your wonderful spirituality. God has looked down from heaven and He’s very well-pleased with you.”
But Jesus under-minded their whole approach to life with these statements on what constitutes true happiness. Jesus had told them that what was required to experience true happiness in life was an acknowledgement of one’s spiritual poverty, a repentant spirit, and an attitude of meekness.
Our society is not unlike their, however. Our world also elevates self. We are told that the way to happiness is to exalt self, to promote self, to look out for self.
Jesus says, “If you want true happiness, you must gain the proper perspective on self: you must develop an attitude of meekness.” Let’s take some time to consider some things about meekness.
1. The essence of meekness - v. 5a
The dictionary tells us that meekness means, “To be deficient in courage.” But that is not the Bible’s meaning at all. The Scriptural word “meek” comes from the Greek word “praos,” which means “mild, gentle, and soft.” The word was used in the ancient world to describe a soothing medicine, a gentle breeze, or a colt that had been broken and domesticated.
The latter usage helps inform us as to what Jesus was speaking of here. To be meek means to have been tamed. Specifically, it refers to my willingness to submit to God’s control over my life.
One who is meek has transferred control of his life from self to God. His life is not self centered, but God centered. He is not absorbed with self, but he is absorbed with God. He is not living a life of self determination, but a life as God determines.
Meekness isn’t cowardliness or flabbiness or wishy-washy-ness. Meekness says, “in myself, nothing is possible; but in God all things are possible.” Meekness is not a passive acceptance of circumstance; it is an active submission to God. Jesus is our ultimate example of meekness.
In Matthew 4:1-11, we read of our Savior’s temptation in the wilderness.
The whole point of these temptations is whether or not Jesus will substitute the crown for the cross. Each time Satan approaches Him, he reminds Christ of who He is. He begins with the statement, “if you are the Son of God.” That is to say, “Since you are who you are, you don’t have to do the Father’s will; why not do things in such a way as to exalt yourself?” And each time Jesus said “no” to Satan, He said “yes” to the Father.
Jesus kept His ego in check and in submission to the will of the Father. That is the essence of meekness.
Consider 1 Peter 2:21-22, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’” Now there’s real meekness. He never did anything wrong, so whatever anybody accused Him of was false. Whatever anybody punished Him for was wrong.
Whenever they abused Him, they were out of line. Whenever they slandered Him, they were wrong. Whenever they mocked Him, it was a lie.
Then in verse 23 we are told that, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
That’s meekness. And to such a one God promises the earth. Jesus never defended Himself, but when they desecrated His Father’s Temple, He made a whip and beat them. Meekness says, “I’ll never defend myself, but I’ll die defending God.” Twice Jesus cleansed the Temple. He blasted the hypocrites. He condemned false leaders of Israel. He fearlessly uttered divine judgment upon people. And yet the Bible says He was meek.
Jesus was meek because He submitted to the will of the Father. Jesus lived for the Father, not for Himself. That is the essence of meekness.
THE ESSENCE OF MEEKNESS
When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set a naught; and you don’t sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight; but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ, YOU HAVE BEGUN TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF MEEKNESS.
When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advise disregarded, your opinions ridiculed; and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself; but take it all in patient, loving silence for Christ’s sake, even as He did for your sake, YOU HAVE BEGUN TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF MEEKNESS.
When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality or any annoyance; when you stand face-to-face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensitivity and endure it as Jesus endured, YOU HAVE BEGUN TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF MEEKNESS.
When you are content with any food, any offering, any climate, any society, any raiment, any interruption by the will of God, YOU HAVE BEGUN TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF MEEKNESS.
When you never care if you receive credit or have your words remembered or receive any commendation, so long as God is honored in what you do, YOU HAVE BEGUN TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF MEEKNESS.
When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met; and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are greater and your own circumstances are more desperate, YOU HAVE BEGUN TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF MEEKNESS.
When you have come to see that the way of self-reliance as opposed to God-reliance, self-centeredness as opposed to God-centeredness; and self-determination as opposed to God-determination is not the way to true happiness; but that true happiness consists of knowing the will of God and being in the center of it, YOU HAVE BEGUN TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE
OF MEEKNESS!
2. The end-result of meekness - v. 5b
The end-result of meekness is true happiness. Not happiness in the sense of the world’s flippant circumstantial kind of happiness, but God’s kind of happiness - an abiding, true sense of joy.
“The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD.” - Isaiah 29:19 (ESV)
And what is the basis of this joy? The fulfillment in the experience of the meek of the promise made here by our Lord - “They will inherit the earth.”
This promise hearkens back to God’s original desire for mankind - “fill the earth and subdue it.” - Genesis 1:28 (NIV). And when God made man, He equipped him with the capacity to properly live in the world God had created - “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” - Genesis 1:26 (NLT).
“Image” refers to how man was made - he was created to be a spiritual being. “Likeness” refers to why man was made - to reflect the glory of God as he walked in submissive fellowship with God.
Sin, however, prevented man from realizing his full potential as designed by God.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” - Romans 3:23 (NIV)
But Christ came to remove the sin problem and restore us to a position wherein we might walk in righteousness.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
Note the order of things: We have come to belong to Christ so that we might become like Christ.
His presence in our lives that is made possible because of His sacrifice and our salvation is the basis of our hope to live in such a way as to glorify God and experience all that He originally intended for us.
“Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory.”
- Colossian 1:27 (Amplified)
But if I am to experience all that God has in mind for me, Christ must not just reside within me, He must preside over me. I must acknowledge His Lordship over my life. I must learn to walk before Him in meekness - allowing Him to lead me.
When Jesus came to fulfill His role as messiah, everyone had in mind what a successful Messiah should be. The Zealots were saying, “We want a military Messiah.” The Pharisees were saying, “We want a miraculous Messiah.” The Sadducees were saying, We want a materialistic Messiah.” And the Essenes were over in a corner saying, “We want a monastic Messiah.” But Jesus turned a deaf ear to them all and said, I will be a meek Messiah - I will seek to know and do the will of my Father. And He became obedient unto death - even death on a cross! “Wherefore,” Paul tells us in Philippians 2, “God has highly exalted Him.”
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” - Luke 14:11 (NIV)
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” - Luke 9:23-25 (NIV)
“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?” - Luke 9:23-25 (The Message)
Oh, how we need to see what Jesus is telling us here. Literally, He says, “Blessed are the meek, for they ALONE will inherit the earth.”
Conclusion: Someone once summed up life in today’s world as “Work, Buy, Consume, Die.” How sad! Thankfully, that is not the life you or I were created for! God has eternal plans for you! And by gaining the proper perspective on self, you begin to realize that you have no real power or resources that can accomplish anything of lasting value, that can make you somebody in God’s eyes, or that can truly make you happy. The smart thing to do then is to surrender your life to someone with real power and resources to actually give your life true worth and meaning; and lead you to experience true happiness.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” - Jim Elliott
Of course, that means putting your life completely in God’s hands, being totally surrendered to His will (potter & clay - Jeremiah 18).
(Video - The Clay)
Which type of clay are you? One that will not be centered in His will? One who says they want to be centered in his will, but who lacks the perseverance to continue? One who is willing to be centered in His will and chooses daily to persevere in that choice?
“Be sure you live before you die . . . But understand you must first die in order to live.” - Erwin McManus
