By Not Known
Suppose you are introducing the Beatitudes to some teenagers. Would any of them choose meekness as a quality that they would want to have? It is likely that none would desire meekness.
The problem with the English word, meek, is that it rhymes with weak and for years, people linked the two together. Indeed, meekness is a fruit of the Spirit that seems very much lost in our aggressive, and self-centred world. The more popular secondary meaning of meek is often taken to mean “spineless or spiritless; compliant.” This causes some people to wonder why Jesus would say, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Kin Hubbard (1868-1930) the famous American humourist, quipped, “It’s going to be fun to watch and see how long the meek can keep the earth after they inherit it.”
W.E. Vine in his Biblical Greek dictionary describes meekness as ”an attitude toward God, in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting.” Jesus found His delight in doing His Father’s will and “the meekness manifested by the Lord and commended to the believer is the fruit of power…. The Lord is ‘meek’ because He had the infinite resources of God at His command.“
Christ urged His weary and burdened disciples in Matthew 11:29 to “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.” He could have summoned legions of angels from heaven to forestall His crucifixion, but He did not (Mtt 26:53). His definition of power required meekness, not might. Self-renunciation, humility and gentleness are the keys of success in His upside-down kingdom. We need to understand what Biblical meekness is and see how they underline the character of all our Bible heroes like Christ, Moses, David and Paul.
The meek do not take everything “lying down.” Moses, the meekest man of his time, did not hesitate to order the execution of three thousand idolaters who worshipped the golden calf (Exo 32:25-28). How he reacted, depended upon what he discerned to be God’s will for him within the circumstance. He set his mind on God’s purpose and not his own comfort, ambition or reputation. He offered implacable resistance to evil in defence of God, yet reacted with patience, kindness and gentleness when others attacked him. Indeed, in a world where most people think only of grabbing power and influence for themselves, we need to heed God’s call to be the blessed meek.
Joseph Teng