Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:5 ESV

Few figures in history are as interesting to read about as Julius Caesar. Consider one story that is given to us by Plutarch.

At twenty-five, Caesar was traveling to Bithynia, but during that voyage, he was captured by pirates. Seeing by his clothing that he was nobility, they demanded twenty talents for his ransom, “on which he laughed at them for not knowing who their prize was, and he promised to give them fifty talents.” He spent thirty-eight days waiting for his friends to collect his ransom, but he did not treat it as captivity. He acted “not so much like a prisoner as a prince surrounded by his guards, and he joined in their sports and exercises with perfect unconcern. He also wrote poems and some speeches which he read to them, and those who did not approve of his compositions he would call to their faces illiterate fellows and barbarians, and he would often tell them with a laugh that he would hang them all.” The pirates only laughed at him, thinking that he was mad.

However, after his ransom was delivered, Caesar immediately hired some ships and went back for the pirates. He captured them and, as he promised, crucified each one of them.

I think that historian Tom Holland hits the nail on the head whenever he says that men like Julius Caesar are fascinating to read about because they are apex predators, “like a great white shark, like a tiger, like a tyrannosaur. Yet giant carnivores, however wondrous, are by their nature terrifying” (Dominion, 16). Indeed, men like Caesar are the very epitome of Jesus’ words: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them” (Mark 10:42). They vied for power and control each other, but that is not how greatness is measured in God’s kingdom. “But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (vv. 43-44). Indeed, while Caesar may have possessed qualities that made him great for history books, the Beatitudes give us a portrait of what makes one great in the eyes of God.

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK

The Beatitudes are characteristics of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. These are qualities that every Christian ought to possess to at least some degree and that the Holy Spirit will increasingly produce within us.

Thus far, we have studied the first two: poor in spirit and mourning. Those who are happy, truly and eternally happy, must first see their destitution and then they must mourn over their poverty of spirit. The characteristic before us now flows from those two, as we shall see.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

As with the other beatitudes, we must begin with a definition. Meekness, however, is notoriously difficult to define. Most often it is translated as meek, gentle, or humble, but one commentator simply says that the word is untranslatable. Let us begin again by getting some negative ideas out of the way.

First, meekness is not being weak or spineless. Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, and Jesus were not weak men. Indeed, they were fierce and mighty for truth and for God’s glory. Yet when it came to themselves, they each humbly and patiently endured all manner of slander and insults that were hurled against him.

Second, meekness is not simply being nice. A pleasant and agreeable disposition is natural to many men and women, but meekness comes naturally to no one. To meek requires the inner working of the Holy Spirit.

What then does being meek entail? Blanchard lists three ways in which Greeks used πραυτης. First, it was used to describe moderation and balanced living. He notes that “Aristotle taught that meekness was the mean between two extremes, such as that between unjustified anger and the total lack of anger at anything” (117). Second, it meant control. It was often used to describe domesticated animals. Thus, implying that the meek are not wild, unteachable, and uncontrollable. Indeed, meekness is placed beside self-control in the fruit of the Spirit for good reason. Third, it is the opposite of pride. The proud are lofty of heart, but the meek are lowly in heart. Like Caesar, the proud think well of themselves, but the meek think little of themselves.

Wilhelmus a Brakel gives this definition:

Meekness is the believer’s even-tempered disposition of heart which issues forth from union with God in Christ, consisting in self-denial and love for his neighbor. This results in having fellowship with his neighbor in an agreeable, congenial, and loving manner; in relinquishing his rights; in enduring the violation of his rights without becoming angry, being forgiving, and in rewarding it with good. (4:79)

Lloyd-Jones puts it like this:

Meekness is essentially a true view of oneself, expressing itself in attitude and conduct with respect to others. It is therefore two things. It is my attitude toward myself; and it is an expression of that in my relationship to others… A man can never be meek unless he has seen himself as a vile sinner… The meek man is not proud of himself, he does not in any sense glory in himself. (68-69)

These definitions help us make sense of what Moses meant whenever, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote of himself: “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). Since this is Holy Scripture, we know that Moses was displaying a kind of false humility nor was he humble bragging. Rather, Moses’ meekness was precisely what made him such a mighty prophet of Yahweh. Moses knew his own frailty and sinfulness, and he did not seek the aggrandizement of his own name. he was content to be God’s servant and to also serve God’s grumbling people as their earthly leader. Whenever questioned or confronted, Moses was quick to rely upon the LORD. But, of course, even Moses did not display perfect meekness. In Numbers 20, Moses disobeyed God by striking the rock rather than speaking to it and by apparently placing himself alongside Yahweh, as if they were equals.

The Apostle Paul is another wonderful example of meekness. Now that may sound a bit absurd since Paul was able to readily give his law-abiding credentials in Philippians 3:4-6. Furthermore, he is not often the first example that springs to mind whenever we think of gentleness, especially in places like Galatians! But like Moses, what made Paul so great was how lowly he thought of himself and how highly he thought of God and God’s people. It was no rhetorical fluff that Paul called himself the chief of sinners. He glimpsed how unworthy he was of God’s grace as former persecutor of the church, and it fueled his life and ministry. Indeed, instead of shaming the apostle into weakness, the apostle’s meekness (his knowledge of his own sin and reliance upon the grace of God) gave him tremendous other-worldly strength to endure the sufferings that he faced and to be as bold for the truth as he was. For example, he was able to defend his apostleship in 1:11-2:10 because he was not concerned simply about his own reputation or respectability. Instead, he cared for the truth of the gospel and the souls of the Galatians.

Of course, as we said earlier, Jesus is the only perfect example of meekness. Indeed, Jesus tells us to learn meekness from Him in Matthew 11:29 (but let’s read that verse with 28 and 30 as well):

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

We see that truth in every aspect of Jesus’ life. Although He is the eternal Word, He becomes flesh and dwells among us. In doing so, He was not born into a royal palace of the highest order but into a stable and laid in manger. He grew up in Nazareth, which was as close to nowhere was you could get. He ministered chiefly in the unimportant region of Galilee. He was followed around by fishermen and a tax collector. He ate with sinners and prostitutes and called the religious leaders hypocrites.

But the most powerful example of Jesus’ meekness is His crucifixion. Two moments happen at Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane that ought to inform how we read the whole passion narrative. First, in John 18:6, Jesus identifies Himself to the soldiers by saying, “I am,” which is clearly meant to make us think of Yahweh’s self-revelation to Moses in Exodus 3 as well as all of Jesus’ other I am statements in John’s Gospel. In response to these two words, “they drew back and fell to the ground.” As the ESV Study Bible notes, “Falling to the ground is a common reaction to divine revelation (Ezek. 1:28; 44:4; Dan. 2:46; 8:18; 10:9; Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14; Rev. 1:17; 19:10; 22:8).”

Second, in Matthew 26:53, after Peter cuts the ear off one of the guards, Jesus told Peter this: “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” Given what two angels did to Sodom and Gomorrah, 72,000 angels would surely have been the end of the earth entirely.

Both of these verses give a mysterious glimpse into what was really happening during Christ’s crucifixion. Jesus was no passive and unwilling victim; He actively allowed Himself to be put to death. He was in control of the whole situation. Yet still He humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. There will never be a greater picture of meekness than that.

A Brakel gives very practical advice, saying:

Always hold before you the example of the meek Jesus. To that end read the gospels frequently, continually taking note of the manner in which the Lord Jesus manifested His meekness. Impress this upon your heart in such a manner, so that, so to speak, the very nature of it is transferred unto you. And if something occurs which is unsettling, allow your thoughts to turn to the gospels to ascertain whether or not the Lord Jesus has been in such a situation and how He conducted Himself under those circumstances, or how He would have conducted Himself in such a situation—and then follow His example. (90)

As we meditate upon Christ, let us also consider the great need of these meekness in the life of the Christian, particular in our present day. The polarization that we all feel is not a result of simple misinformation, as if we all could get together in the same room to talk and would discover that we have all been misunderstanding one another all along. The truth is that there is a real war of theologies being waged behind all of the headlines, and as with all wars, one side must eventually concede and declare the other victor. Western Christianity as a whole has been slow to grasp the direness of our situation and so the response has often been spineless concession. However, as the tides have begun to shift, we must take care that we do not use the seriousness of our cultural moment as an excuse for foregoing meekness. Remember that Paul was actually beaten and stoned for the sake of the gospel, yet he still wrote these words in 2 Timothy 2:24-26:

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness [πραῢτητι]. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Of course, this includes interactions via text, email, Facebook, or any other modern platform of communication.

Iain Duguid writes that a defining quality of meekness is that “the meek person is able to receive criticism, without getting defensive.” But the meek are also able to weather outright slander without slinging mud over their own. Spurgeon’s advice to deal with slander (and he received much slander) is twofold. First, responding to slander is often like a kid trying to clean a stain off his shirt, most of time it just makes matters worse. Second, give thanks to God that those who are slandering you cannot see into your heart and discover how sinful you really are.

Consider also the beauty of a church where meekness flourishes. Indeed, it seems that most conflicts have a lack of meekness at their root. After all, even unavoidable and necessary conflicts over the truth and doctrine of Scripture begin with some exerting themselves as authorities over God’s Word rather than submitting humbly to it. Paul expresses the attitude of meekness in Philippians 2:1-4:

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

He then goes on to set forth Christ as the great example of counting others as more significant than ourselves, encouraging us to have the mind of Christ, which we do have through His indwelling Spirit. Therefore, consider Lloyd-Jones’ comments on the mind of the meek Christian:

The man who is meek is not even sensitive about himself. He is not always watching himself and his own interests. He is not always on the defensive. We all know about this, do we not? Is it not one of the greatest curses in life as a result of the fall—this sensitivity about self? We spend the whole of our lives watching ourselves. But when a man becomes meek he has finished with all that; he no longer worries about himself and what other people say. To be truly meek means we no longer protect ourselves, because we see there is nothing worth defending. So we are not on the defensive; all that is gone. The man who is truly meek never pities himself, he is never sorry for himself. He never talks to himself and says, ‘You are having a hard time, how unkind these people are not to understand you.’ He never thinks: ‘How wonderful I really am, if only other people gave me a chance.’ Self-pity! What hours and years we waste in this! But the man who has become meek has finished with all that. To be meek, in other words, means that you have finished with yourself altogether, and you come to see you have no rights or deserts at all. You come to realize that nobody can harm you. John Bunyan puts it perfectly. ‘He that is down need fear no fall.’ When a man truly sees himself, he knows nobody can say anything about him that is too bad. You need not worry about what men may say or do; you know you deserve it all and more. Once again, therefore, I would define meekness like this. The man who is truly meek is the one who is amazed that God and man can think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do. (69)

What law is needed to regulate such an attitude? What conflict can long thrive in a church if this is the disposition of its members? Pride is the fuel that feeds the fires of conflict, but they are smothered into smoke by those who are gentle in spirit.

THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH

Because meekness is a heavenly trait, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, it is despised by the world. Of course, the world may give a passing nod of affirmation to those who display humility, but it cannot help but reject the meek. Indeed, the values of the world are antithetical. The Romans, for example, held dignity, piety, nobility, and tenacity as admirable virtues but never meekness. The world admires men like Caesar, not men like Jeremiah. In fact, we can go one step further and say that world seems to belong to men like Caesar. Does the world not belong to them? For a moment, it does. But where are all the Caesars now? Where is the once mighty Roman Empire? How about the Persians or the Babylonians?

The great ones of this world are vanities, here today and gone tomorrow. Instead, it is the meek who will inherit the earth. As with each Beatitude, Jesus is drawing directly from the Old Testament. This one particularly comes from Psalm 37, which is a psalm of comfort to the righteous. Consider a portion of its words, and notice how they continuously emphasize the security of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked:

            Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
                        fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
                        over the man who carries out evil devices!
            Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
                        Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
            For the evildoers shall be cut off,
                        but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
            In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
                        though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
            But the meek shall inherit the land
                        and delight themselves in abundant peace.
            The wicked plots against the righteous
                        and gnashes his teeth at him,
            but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
                        for he sees that his day is coming.
            The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
                        to bring down the poor and needy,
                        to slay those whose way is upright;
            their sword shall enter their own heart,
                        and their bows shall be broken.
            Better is the little that the righteous has
                        than the abundance of many wicked.
            For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
                        but the LORD upholds the righteous.
            The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
                        and their heritage will remain forever;
            they are not put to shame in evil times;
                        in the days of famine they have abundance.
            But the wicked will perish;
                        the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;
                        they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. (vv. 7-20)

Even when, as we saw in Psalm 73, it looks like the wicked are secure and prosperous, it is only a momentary illusion. As in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the lowly who are righteous shall reign forever in glory with the Christ, the King of glory. Indeed, He showed us Himself that the path toward true glory begins with descending into humility, which Paul records in the great Christ hymn of Philippians 2:5-11:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The meek know from their meek and lowly Lord that the cross comes before the crown, the thorns come before the throne, and that lowliness comes before glory. To be gentle and lowly like our Lord is likely to result in our becoming men and women of sorrow, who are well acquainted with grief, just as He was. But the Christ hymn of Philippians 2 does not end with Christ crucified; it ends with everyone confessing Christ as Lord. So, too, does Christ exalt all those who are His, who are in Him.  

Of course, this isn’t to say that there are no present benefits to being meek, for A. W. Pink notes that “the meek are those who have the greatest enjoyment of the good things of the present life.” Why is that? “Delivered from a greedy and grasping spirit, they are content with such things as they have.” Again, meekness is the kind of blessedness and happiness that God creates within a person so that they are not dependent upon outward circumstances for their happiness.

Again, the promise is that the meek will inherit the earth. That is because the earth and all its fulness are His, and we are in Christ, as His treasured possession. Our Lord has set infinite joy before us, but we must, for the present, take up our cross and follow Him unto death, holding fast to these words: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

As we come to our King’s Table, let us hear His words to us:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)

Let your coming to this bread and cup before you be a physical picture of your faith in Christ. Lay down your sin and your self-righteousness. Lay aside any inflated sense of self and any self-pity in your soul. Look to Jesus, and cling only to Him. At this Table, let us taste and see the goodness of our King who conquered our sin and brings us to our eternal inheritance in Him.