Beatitude: The Meek

Beatitude: The Meek

Beatitude means being in a state if utmost bliss, according to the Meriam-Webster Dictionary. Well here is a list of utmost blissfulness from Jesus's Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5  (ESV)

The Beatitudes:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Today's beatitude is on blessed are the meek.

Meekness is being kind and gentle. As such they are inclined toward focusing on others. Such is love! Since we are not by nature kind and gentle, it follows that we are born with a streak of meanness. Our very human nature is the opposite of meekness.

You might be thinking: Babies are born kind and gentle, but they are not; they are demanding and self-serving. Childhood is all about them, and being nourished. When mother fails to provide, tantrums ensue! Sure, nearly everyone is kind at times and even a little gentle, but occasionally the child in us pops out.

That inborn nature is because if original sin, We are not by nature kind and gentle because Adam and Eve did what was right in their own eyes, neglecting the only command that God gave them: Don't eat of that stinkin' tree or you'll die. They ate and they spiritually died, and thereafter everyone else has been born spiritually dead and mortal. The serpent knew their hearts: They both wanted to be as gods.

The desire for self-satisfaction is the opposite of meekness. A very close antonym is pride. Rather than being into others, prideful people are into selves. Pride in this context is elevating our own status higher than our station in life. We are not gods... we were born to serve God. Our very occupation is tending God's Garden (Genesis 2:15). Symbolically, since the Tree of Life was in the midst of the Garden, dressing and keeping the Garden was tending God. The other trees in the Garden were symbolically what was his, eventually other people. Meek people, by submission to God focus on God and others, and not on theirself. Christians are to be Christ-centered, not self-centered.

There is another religion in competition with Christianity. It is the god or goddess of self-esteem. (For complete commentary on that please read CHRIST ESTEEM V. SELF-ESTEEM on "Herrin Daily Thoughts").

Meekness essentially is following the Greatest Commandment:

Matthew 22:37 "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

For a complete commentary on the Greatest Commandment see "Herrin Daily Thought":  GREATEST COMMANDMENT). Those who are meek serve God and others, that love which is the personality of the new creature.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

New creatures are those born-again.   The old selfish child is sacrificed to God, and is replaced by a meek creature, one who is born to serve others.

Matthew 20:26 "... but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

New creatures are no better than the Creator. God served himself as a ransom for everyone else, and a reasonable service is to serve him. That service is our living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1).  Meek people are those who have presented themselves a living sacrifice to God. The new creatures are willing to do that! If the reader has failed to change since being born-again, perhaps self-examination is in order. Did that person really and truly circumcise the heart of it's hardened flesh (Romans 2:29).

For those who are meek, there came a promise: they shall inherit the earth! The servant will become the master. The slave will become king, not in ownership, but inheritance. It won't be the present earth, but they will be honored in heaven. The first crown is the crown of life (James 1:2), which is eternal life! Running the race to the finish, meekness, is rewarded with the prize: an incorruptible crown -  immortality (1 Corinthians 9:24-26). What earth is it that the meek shall inherit? The new heaven and the new earth:

2 Peter 3:13 "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

Their inheritance will be the New Jerusalem right here on earth after it is washed by fire to cleanse it. That is the earth the meek shall inherit. To exchange citizenship from the old earth to the new requires meekness: Self-esteem is be put away and replaced with Christ-esteem, which is the process of becoming a new creature in Christ.