The Beatitudes – The Meek

In the Beatitudes, Jesus explains the way to true blessedness. True blessedness refers to that happy state in which the believer is at rest in his God. It implies a peace with God and an experience of God’s gracious favour. By now you have probably noticed that the path of true blessedness is surprising, different, and varied.
 
As the Holy Spirit guides us on the path of true blessedness, he helps us understand our lack and our desperate need (Matt. 5:3). Realizing just how poor in spirit we truly are, we mourn (v. 4). This might not sound all that pleasant, but the same Spirit assures us of the Father’s precious promises: a heavenly kingdom and divine comfort.

The third work of grace in the life of a true child of God is meekness. The third beatitude reads: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (v. 5). What is meekness? The term that Jesus used is translated in several ways. The NASB translates it as “gentle”. The Good News Bible translates it as “humble”. The Amplified explains meek as “mild, patient, long-suffering”.

Translators struggle with the word, because like so many other concepts, it is something that we recognize but we find difficult to describe. In 1964 someone asked United States supreme court justice Potter Stewart to describe his test for obscenity. He simply answered: “I know it when I see it.” In much the same way, we know meekness when we see it. 

However, sometimes it is helpful to state what it isn’t, which might help us more clearly understand what it is. For starters, meekness is not being too submissive. Someone told the story of a domineering wife who shouted at her hen-pecked husband: “Are you a man or a mouse? Come on, squeak up!” Jesus is not commending that kind of attitude. Even as Jesus was being led to the cross, he was meek but not defeated.
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Meekness is also not being spineless. There seems to be a serious spine shortage in modern society, but don’t mistake spinelessness for meekness. Jesus was meek, yet we find him standing up to the Pharisees, clearing out the temple, and meeting his would-be captors with great bravery. It shouldn’t surprise us, because meekness is not weakness. Being so timid that a light breeze can blow you over, is not a sign of Christian virtue.
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Finally, meekness is not niceness. Modern society seems to have added an eleventh commandment: “Thou shalt be nice.” While we would not encourage meanness, we should be careful not to confuse niceness with meekness. Some people are more agreeable, pleasant, or easy-going than others. That does not mean that they are meek.

Meekness is more than a personality trait. I trust that you are familiar with the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Gal. 5:22-23: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. The word for gentleness is very similar to the one that Jesus used in Matt. 5:5. The KJV even translates it as “meekness”.

In other words, this is not a natural timidity or niceness, but a Spirit-wrought part of godly character in the life of the believer. This also means that it isn’t an optional trait. This is something that should be present and growing in every believer’s life.

Now that we know what meekness isn’t, we are better positioned to explore what meekness truly is. But more on that next week.

Because of Christ,
Pieter