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Beatitudes 3 Blessed are the Meek

Beatitudes 3

Blessed are the Meek

 

Matt 5:5  Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.

 

Praus: apparently a primary word; mild, i.e. (by implication) humble :- meek. —Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary

 

Psalms 37:11 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 

 

Jesus was meek.

 

Matt 21:1-9 (NKJV) 1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." 4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.' " 6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest!"

 

Matt 21:5 5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.' "

 

Lowly is same Greek word as meek.

 

This shows an example of Jesus’ meekness.  He didn’t ride in on a chariot.  He didn’t ride in on a fine horse.  He didn’t even ride in on a grown donkey, but on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  He was humble.

 

Meekness is something all Christians must have.  The word is used in special context when referring to wives:

 

1 Peter 3:1-4 1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,
2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.
3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel--
4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

 

1 Peter 3:4 (KJV)4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

More than one erring husband has been brought to God by a loving, gentle wife.  The word gentle here is the same as the word meek that Jesus used in the beatitudes.  Here a gentle and quiet spirit is called an incorruptible beauty.  It is a beauty that is from the inside so it will not fail.  It won’t disappear with age.  Perhaps you are like myself.  You have met those who were perhaps outwardly beautiful, but their behavior soon made them seem somewhat repulsive and it became hard to keep seeing even their physical beauty.  Then there are others who at first seem somewhat outwardly repulsive, but then you get to know them and all you see is their goodness.  Of course it is possible to be beautiful both on the outside and on the inside as well.  A meek spirit makes one precious in the site of God.  Although this passage is talking specifically about wives, meekness is something we all need to have.

 

Matt 5:38-40 (NKJV) 38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.

 

This goes against nature.  It is an example of the mild side of meekness.  Children rarely turn the other cheek unless taught to do so.  The natural reaction if someone hits us is to hit them back even harder than they hit us unless we feel it is a fight we cannot win.  A while back, we were having trouble with our children.  None of them wanted to be a peacemaker.  They all wanted to fight and argue instead, so my wife taught them about this verse.  We knew it had been listened to when one day soon afterwards our son hit Elizabeth in the eye.  She started to cry and then something amazing happened.  She didn’t hit him back or even attack him verbally.  Instead, she said “Ok, now you can hit my other eye too!”  That ended the fight right there.  Instead of another slap, she got a hug and a sincere request for forgiveness.  More of us need to listen to this verse the way Elizabeth did.

Psalms 147:6  The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.

James 4:10 (NKJV) 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Don’t want to be meek because you think you will be weak?  Think again.  If you are meek or humble, then God, Himself, will lift you up!

Matt 11:28-29 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

A meek life:  When I think of meekness, I think of my own mother.  She has a gentle spirit.  Perhaps as children we took advantage of that a little more than we should have at times  just as my children do sometimes with Rose who also has the quality of meekness more than most.  That does not mean my mother never got her way.  We learned to listen to her and respect as well as love her.  She was listened to more than she could ever realize by her children and spouse and held a great deal of influence over everyone in the family.  Her meekness did not make her weak.  It made her strong.  Her meekness stabilized our family in a way nothing else could.  Meekness creates peace and she created a family that was much more at peace than most of the world.  We all need to aspire to become more meek.

1 Thess 4:11-12
11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,
12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

 

Psalms 22:26 26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

 

Psalms 25:9 9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

 

Luke 10:1-3 (NKJV) 1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

 

I was recently told a story by someone who went and did Bible translations as a linguist.  There was a country in Africa where a group of Bible translators went in.  Because they were in an area where there was a much more militant world religion, all of them were killed for their faith as is all too common in this day and time.  A second team went in.  The people told them they were crazy.  They told them about Christ and His love that they were determined to emulate no matter what happened to them.  They went as lambs among wolves.  Instead of being killed, they won many converts.

 

Meekness is not:  Being a total “pushover”.  Jesus was meek, but it didn’t keep Him from defending what He believed in:

 

John 2:13-16 (NKJV) 13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"

 

Isaiah 53:7 (NKJV) 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

 

1 Peter 2:20-25 (NKJV)20  For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?  But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.  21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth"; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

 

Psalms 37:18-19 (NKJV) 18 The Lord knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever. 19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

Rev. 21:1ff