Today I’d like to begin in Genesis 32, where we find Jacob’s great wrestling match. What a moment that would’ve been as proud Jacob, who was alone, felt a strong set of hands grab hold of him that night. He knew his own strength, and it was great, he was no weakling. But he could tell this other man was strong. And of course He's strong, we know this is God Himself, but Jacob didn’t…at least not yet. All night the two wrestled and neither gave in. Yet as dawn broke, God, with a mere touch, dislodges Jacob’s hip and overpowers him. At this point I think Jacob begins to understand who this is because even though he’s limping now he doesn’t let go and speaks saying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” God responds, “What is your name?” And all the sudden Jacob was further undone. For the first time in his life he was forced to admit who he was, who he had always been. Long ago he had wrestled with his brother in the womb, he had wrestled with his father and uncle in deception, and now he was wrestling with God. By acknowledging his name he admits his own character. That he was a deceiver all these years. Yet how kind and gracious is the Lord, who in the very next word gives Jacob a new name and with it comes a new identity in v28. “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then the wrestling match ended as mysteriously as it began.
Here we see that no longer was Jacob’s walk a strong strut or swagger. Now he knew One who was stronger than himself. Proud Jacob would limp the rest of his days as humbled Israel, never to walk again in self-sufficiency, for God knocked it out of him. The great lesson here is that Jacob didn’t triumph or come into the great blessing of God by his own power and might, no. He triumphed and came into great blessing through weakness.
Church, the same lesson is in view today in the third beatitude. Matthew 5:5 says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
This third beatitude is another paradox, which on the surface of things, seemingly doesn’t make sense. Yet such is the teaching of Jesus. The last shall be first. To give is to receive. To lose all is to find all. The least are the greatest. And here, the meek inherit all things. Here we see the way of the Kingdom is not the way of the world. We feel this don’t we? The way of the Kingdom at times feels like sandpaper to us living in this world. We naturally want to embrace the exact opposite of this third beatitude, saying something like, ‘Blessed are the strong, the ambitious, the overbearing, and the aggressive…for they shall reap the rewards of all their hard work. Isn’t it all those kinds of people who really become CEO’s today?
It might be true, that on the way to the top many in the world step on many others in order to elevate themselves, but today we’ll be reminded how the ways of Jesus are better and far more beautiful than the ways of the world. So to the third beatitude we turn.
Among the many riches present here for us to draw out, I’ve chosen four headings to work through today. So see first…
Progression
As we began last week so we begin this week, by seeing the progression of the beatitudes. After talking with many of you throughout the week I heard that this was new for some of you. That you’ve never seen before how the beatitudes have a progression to them, where one leads to the next. I’m glad we’re now seeing it, because in seeing this we have a map of what the Christian life looks like, or how the development of God’s grace is experientially realized in our souls.
So remember the first beatitude. v3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Recall that to be poor in spirit has to do with recognizing our spiritual poverty. To understand and acknowledge that we’re sinners by nature.
Next remember where that leads to in the second beatitude. v4 says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” We saw this last week. That Jesus doesn’t have all kinds of mourning in view or all kinds of mourners, but specifically those that mourn over sin. Those who see their impoverished spiritual state and mourn that they’re like this at all. We discussed last week how this has layers to it. To mourn over sin is to mourn over personal sin, familial sin, church sin, and global sin.
Now see that these first two beatitudes lead somewhere. When you see, own, acknowledge, and mourn over sin, what does it do to you? It doesn’t puff you up. It doesn’t build your ego. No, seeing and mourning over sin brings you low, it makes you meek.
But what exactly is meekness? That’s our second heading…
Definition
So what is meekness? The word used here for meek in English is the Greek word praus. It has a range of meanings including: meek, mild, gentle, soft, quiet, unassuming, and humble. All those words describe one who is praus. This is someone who doesn’t throw their weight around. One who doesn’t aggressively insist on their own rights, those who don’t domineer over others. We can go further in its definition by calling attention to two things meekness is not.
First, the meekness of v5 is not a personality trait. You know what I mean? There are certain people who by temperament and disposition are not overly aggressive individuals. These folks are generally easy going, pleasant to be around, they don’t complain, they always aim to please, they’re agreeable to most anything, and they’ll often take a genuine interest in others. Don’t hear me wrong…as good as these qualities are, this is not the meekness of v5. The meekness of v5 is not a personality trait. In fact, none of the beatitudes are personality traits. Remember the progression of the beatitudes. The meekness of v5 is a response to seeing one’s sinfulness and mourning over it. If we avoid the context of v5 we might just assume that someone with a gentle personality is a Christian, but the context reveals more to us. It’s not the result of a gentle personality. True meekness is the result of being humbled by our own sin and living in light of that fact.
Second, we must be careful to not define meekness as weakness. Too many view meekness as cowardice, a shy timidity, spinelessness, wishy-washiness, or mere niceness. Meekness is not to be confused with a lack of strength, nor is meekness to be confused with a passive submissiveness. Contrary to popular belief true meekness, the kind in view in v5, is compatible and complementary with great strength. In this sense meekness is the epitome of strong self-control. So view it like this. Meekness describes someone who is indeedstrong, someone who could assert themselves, but chooses not to do so. One author says meekness is gentle and mild, yes, but strong as steel. So rather than employing their strength to domineer others, the meek one employs their strength to serve others.
As you can imagine, this was a hard sell in the first century world where the essence of true strength was said to be in great deeds of strength whether on the battlefield or in the gladiator’s arena. I think the same is true today. True meekness is just as much a hard sell today as it was back then. Great strength today is said to be in figures like John Wayne, Arnold Schwarzenegger, G.I. Jane, and Wonder Woman.
Contrary to that group is Jesus Himself. He boldly and strongly not only opposed but rebuked the false religious leaders of His day…as well as…gently and lovingly welcomed the lowly and sinful. Jesus is the highest and clearest display of what meekness is all about. The God who holds the universe in His hands, welcoming the weak. The Savior who called out the wickedness of the Pharisees, comforting sinners. The strongest One in existence, who could’ve asserted His own power and authority, laying down His life to save those who couldn’t save themselves. This is true meekness.
Having seen the progression of the beatitudes, and the definition of meekness, see next the conclusion meekness leads to.
Conclusion
Note how v5 ends, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Question: why does Jesus say the meek will be ones to inherit the earth? To answer that, we go back to Psalm 37.
Interestingly enough, Jesus was not the first one to say the words of v5. They’re present in Psalm 37. David is the author of the Psalm, and in it he and God’s people are suffering because wicked enemies are coming against them. In v8-9 of Psalm 37 God encourages His people to not worry about their enemies, to not fret about them, and trust in the Lord who will still provide for their future inheritance in the land. Then in v10-11 we read, “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.” So despite the present success of their enemies, Israel is to trust God, who will ensure their future peaceful dwelling in the land. These are the words that makeup this third beatitude in Matthew 5:5, and by using them here…do you see what Jesus is saying? After teaching us to see our sin and mourn over our sin, now Jesus teaches us to not lose heart because of our sin, but to take up a humble posture, trusting that God will one day fully and finally bring us into His very Kingdom. The Christian’s hope and reward, therefore, isn’t to rule with Christ over a particular country or nation, but to rule with Christ over all things, thoroughly enjoying the new heavens and the new earth.
So it won’t be the powerful or the domineering who will have a place in God’s kingdom, it will be the meek. The meek will inherit the Kingdom literally, because we will be with Christ in the New Heavens and the New Earth. The meek will inherit the Kingdom spiritually, because all spiritual blessings are contained in Christ. And the meek will inherit the Kingdom mystically, because though we’ll be with Christ and we’ll be able to see Christ forever, Christ will still remain inexhaustibly rich and wondrous to us in His grace and glory.
So we’ve seen the first three headings now: progression, definition, and conclusion. Now see the fourth, the application of this third beatitude.
Application
How then does one grow in meekness? Two ways: we must put off and put on.
First, we must put off the opposite of meekness. We must flee all harshness in us. Meaning we must rid ourselves of abrasiveness and mistreatment of others. We must flee all selfishness. Meaning we must rid ourselves of putting our needs first before others. We must flee all superiority and conceit in us. Meaning we must rid ourselves of the notion that we don’t need anyone else, don’t need to listen to anyone else, and can do life totally fine without anyone else. We must flee all these things, because they stifle true meekness from flourishing in us.
Second, we must put on the essence of meekness. Rather than giving you a list of good things to pursue here I’ll just say this. The best way to grow in meekness is to be with and pursue the meek One Himself, the Lord Jesus. “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” (Matt. 11:28-29). This is who Jesus is. He tells us that He is in heart gentle and lowly, that He is meek. And He invites us to come to Him, to find rest in Him from all our weariness, and to learn from Him. Have you ever asked, ‘When I come to Jesus, what will I learn?’ The answer from this verse is clear. When we come to the meek One, He’ll teach us the way of meekness. He’ll show us that strength is found in serving others not in lording over others. He’ll show us that true strength is found in humility not in seeking to be respected or honored.
In short, when we come to Jesus to learn from Jesus, He’ll show us His great life. How He did not come and conquer the world, the flesh, and the devil by a display of great power and might, no. He came and conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil by weakness. By the weakness of not doing what Adam did. Adam grasped for the fruit in the garden and in doing so he was trying to become equal with God. Jesus, the Last Adam was equal to God but instead of using His power against us, He joyfully took gave up His rights by taking onto Himself a human nature, by willingly enduring all that it was to be human except sin, and by readily suffering the gruesome nature of the cross in death. In this way, the way of weakness, Jesus not only defeated sin but provided all that was needed for man to be saved. His cross looked then, and still looks today, like weakness to the world. But to us, to those who are saved, the cross is the very power of God!
Church, remember proud Jacob, where we began today. He met the Lord face to face in Genesis 32, he wrestled with Him, he acquired a limp, and he became humbled Israel. He got a new name and a new walk.
Church, the posture of the Christian isn’t a strut, it’s a limp. Weakness is now our strength. Humility is the king of all virtues. The character of the kingdom is not increase but decrease. One author put our need for meekness like this, “The church and the world needs Christians who’ve had their swagger gospeled out of them.” (Jared Wilson)
This is what we need today, a great unswaggering. A Church that is proud and filled with ego is a superficial Christianity. If we live like that the world we’re seeking to reach with the gospel will see right through this and call us out for the phonies we are. What the world needs to see is a meek Church, a gentle Church. The world needs Christians who live out these beatitudes. I mean it. The world will only see our own foolishness if we walk in our own pride. But if we walk in meekness and humility, the world will see Jesus, and no one can truly see Jesus and remain the same.
