Blessed Are The Meek

“The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather, he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is, in the sight of God, more important than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything.”  – A.W. Tozer 

Our culture exalts a hero who conquers, who refuses to submit to others, and who challenges anyone who comes against his interests.  He saves the day or he solves the crime, he’s good at what he does and they need him—and he knows it.  Most of our cultural heroes don’t have an ounce of meekness or humility in them.   

To many, “meekness” suggests the idea of passivity, someone who is easily taken advantage of, spineless and wimpy. Meekness is a difficult concept to define, but displayed perfectly through Jesus. But meek does not mean weak. In Revelation 5:5-6, Jesus is referred to as the Lion and the Lamb. The Lion and the Lamb are descriptions of two aspects of the nature of Christ. We are to see Him as not only the conquering King who will slay the enemies of God at His return but also as the sacrificial Lamb who took away the sin from His people so they may share in His ultimate victory. Jesus was humble and meek but He had all the authority He ever needed. 

When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of His disciples took a sword and cut off the ear of one of the arresting soldiers in the heat of the moment. In an act of mercy, and meekness, Jesus healed the soldier, then reprimanded His disciple. Jesus knew that it wasn’t time to fight back or insist on His own way. He simply humbled Himself and submitted to the authorities, willingly giving Himself up as a sacrifice on the cross. Jesus could have resisted. He had the power to call the angels for a dramatic rescue. He didn’t submit because He was weak. On the contrary, He was intentionally meek. Meekness is really humble strength under control.  

It may seem counterintuitive, but Jesus’ promise stands—a meek person will be happy or blessed. Jesus pronounces a blessing on everyone who is meek such as in Matthew 5:5 where He said “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37:11 (ESV) says, “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.” 

Meekness is being humble and gentle towards others and willingly being submissive and obedient to the Lord. It is not being selfish and arrogant, loud or obnoxious. Rather, it’s having a quiet but confident trust in the Lord and being willing and able to do whatever it is He commands. In regards to how a meek person would treat others, they would definitely be humble and gentle both in their words and in their actions. Meekness means you don’t see others as better than yourselves.

Discussion Questions: 

1. Everyone who has humility has meekness and every person with meekness is likely also humble. Agree or disagree and why? 
2. When you think about meekness, what synonyms come to mind?
3. Jesus says the meek will inherit the earth. What does He mean and how does that apply to us today?