The Beatitudes: the Meek

The Meek —

Regardless of external appearances,
the favor of God is toward the humble

In Matthew chapter five (5), we are introduced to the Beatitudes which the Lord Jesus uses to open the famous Sermon on the Mount. These short sayings form a series of paradoxes (or notions expressed in an almost contradictory manner). The thoughts spoken by the Master in these blessed sayings run completely against to what we commonly would expect. Because the sayings are paradoxes, we must understand that the point of view from which Jesus begins is a spiritual point of view, certainly not a material, or physical one. Let’s not dismiss the brevity of these sayings, but rather consider the message of Jesus Christ as he spoke in these blessed sayings, or epigrams. We continue our study by looking at the third beatitude which the Teacher Jesus Christ spoke in the famous Sermon on the Mount.

“Blessed are the meek” —Matthew 5:5

Just as we appreciate a meek horse when we begin to mount, God also appreciates and is pleased with us when are meek.  We must ask ourselves though: What does it mean to be meek?. The dictionary defines the word: “Soft, gentle. that which is not wild.” The opposite of meek is to be harsh, that is to say, rough or crude. God is not pleased with a man (or a women) who is loud or rude toward others. Indeed, the apostle Paul writes to husbands on how to treat their wives: “Do not be harsh or bitter toward them” (Colossians 3:19). Plainly, to be meek is to have the disposition of accepting the commands or orders of God without resisting, without rebelling– to let the rule of God guide us in everything. The rule of God, of course, is the word revealed in the sacred Scripture.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was meek when he said: “Take my yoke on you, and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you will find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:29).  As we can see, the master Teacher requires us as his pupils to learn how to be meek. In the Old Testament we learn that this very quality was part of who Moses was, as the Scripture says: “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).

The word meekness suggests: “a quality of being meek, gentleness, kindliness.” In Galatians 5:22-23 meekness is depicted as a fruit of the Spirit.  We should try to have such behavior, as the apostle Paul said to Timothy: “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (I Timothy 6:11). Further, it is very important to have meekness (to be meek) especially when we are restoring those who have fallen in their faith. Paul says: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1-2).  To Timothy he said:

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. —II Timothy 2:24, 25

Let us request of God that he help us to learn how to be meek, that we may learn to have meekness in our treatment of others.

– Roberto V. Spencer