“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
In Matthew 5:5 Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” As a good Jewish Rabbi, Jesus is quoting from the scriptures of Israel. This time, he quotes from Psalm 37:11 which says, “The meek shall inherit the land.”
Psalm 37 is talking about the Promised Land. Not only will the meek enter into the Promised Land, but only the meek will also live faithfully and well in the land in order to keep it for themselves and for future generations.
Whereas Psalm 37 is talking about the Promised Land, Jesus in the beatitudes says the meek shall inherit the earth. And not only the earth, but the new heaven and the new earth. Which is to say that the meek will inherit the earth under the full rule and reign of God. Which is to say the meek will inherit the Kingdom.
That is quite a promise! That is certainly an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfailing which is kept in heaven for the faithful (1 Peter 1:4)!
But there’s only one question.
What does meek mean?
My guess is you don’t go around saying the word “meek” very often. There are several synonyms for the word meek that we probably are more familiar with; humble and gentle are probably the two most common. Additionally, the word “meek” in the bible can also mean teachable, poor, and weak.
Another way we might look at it is from the opposite point of view. I mentioned in previous weeks that the way into the beatitudes is through repentance. We often know what the beatitudes are by first knowing what they are not. We often grow in the beatitudes by recognizing where we fall short. Thus, when we miss the mark of the righteousness of the kingdom, we repent.
The opposite of people who are meek is people who are rough, hard, violent, aggressive, and contentious. If Jesus speaks a word of blessing for the meek, Jesus (and the prophets and Psalms) speak a message of warning to those who are not meek. Consider again Psalm 37:8-13 in which the fate of the wicked is contrasted to the fate of the meek.
Still, with all that being said, it doesn’t fully capture the Jesus-centered, biblical understanding of what Jesus means by meek.
So let us consider our main text today – Luke 14:7-11. In this passage, Jesus tells a parable to the not-meek in order to teach them meekness. Jesus uses a very practical example. He says that when you go to a banquet, don’t choose the best seats. Rather, choose a lower seat, so that you might be invited up.
In the culture of Jesus, seating was very important. The more honored, dignified, and important a person was, the better seat they got. Everyone was therefore jockeying for position and trying to move up the social hierarchy. Jesus advises them to take another approach. Rather than being self-promoting and socially aggressive, Jesus tells the not-meek to be humble and to wait.
Ah… waiting. Something about being meek requires waiting. This is at the heart of the human condition since the beginning. Adam and Eve just couldn’t wait to eat that fruit. The Israelites just couldn’t wait for God to bring them out of the wilderness. Then, they just couldn’t wait to have a king like all the other nations. In the time of Jesus, the Zealots just couldn’t wait for the Messiah. And the Pharisees, the Seriously Religious, at that banquet table with Jesus, just couldn’t wait to have the best position.
Jesus did wait. Jesus did what Adam and Eve, the Israelites, the Zealots, and the Seriously Religious couldn’t or wouldn’t do. Jesus waited.
Jesus could have taken the best seat at the table, but he didn’t.
Jesus could have turned stones into bread but he didn’t (Luke 4:1-13).
Jesus could have called down twelve legions of angels to deliver him from his captors, but he didn’t (Matthew 26:47-56).
Jesus could have come down from the cross, but he didn’t (Matthew 27:42).
Jesus could have exploited his equality with God, but he didn’t (Philippians 2).
Jesus could have taken advantage of who he was for his own benefit, but he didn’t. Instead, he gave himself fully to God and to others.
This same Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
The rough, the hard, the violent, the aggressive, the contentions – they have no rest. The meek, the gentle, the humble, the teachable, – they find their rest in God and thus inherit something that cannot be taken away.
True blessedness is found when a person renounces self-seeking violence and instead finds peace, rest, and life by trusting in God.
This is not to say that a person is simply fatalistic and resigned to the evils and horrors of this world. Certainly not. Jesus himself was no passive observer in the face of injustice, sin, and cruelty. Like Jesus, a meek person can still be clear and convicted in their faith and in the truth. Rather it’s about how one conducts themselves in the midst of the tensions of the world. Does a person become violent (physically, emotionally, or verbally) in order to get one’s way and seek one’s own advantage? Or does a person remain peaceable, loving, and able to engage others in the depths of their humanity?
“Look, your king is coming to you, meek, and riding on a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9 and Matthew 21:5).
Jesus faced pressure. Jesus confronted sin. Jesus stood against violence and oppression. Yet all the while, he remained meek. While his adversaries plotted and conspired, while gossip spread like wildfire, while the violent tried to seize the kingdom by force, Jesus remained peaceable, loving, and able to engage others in the depth of their humanity.
Too much of church history is riddled with zealot Christians who couldn’t see the irony of proclaiming the meek Prince of Peace with words and actions that are violent. Too many Christians today sound pious in their praise of meek, king Jesus, yet inside their hearts are full of wickedness and violence. Too many politicians and activists on both the right and the left today justify their contentiousness and slandering of others in the name of some higher good.
Into a messy and chaotic world, Jesus says blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Meekness doesn’t mean passiveness, but it does mean that one chooses the path of dependence on God and God’s righteousness to overcome the evil of the world. This is the path that Jesus took. It is the path that he calls his church to take as well.
Let us be the church.
Let us be people who truly come to Jesus, to learn from him, and to follow in his footsteps.
And let our faithful following in his footsteps, in the ways we treat one another, and in the ways we relate to the outside world, shine a light into the darkness of this suffering world of sin and death.
May it be so.
AMEN.
Joel Shenk is the pastor of Toledo Mennonite Church and lives in Toledo with his wife and two daughters. Originally from Scottdale, PA, Joel studied at Hesston College, Eastern Mennonite University, and Fuller Theological Seminary. He has been pastoring since 2010 and is also an amateur blacksmith apart of the RAW Tools disarming network turning guns into garden tools. He likes baseball and is an avid fly angler.
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