The Promise Of Biblical Meekness | Matthew 5:5

Those who are meek.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Do you remember what we talked about in verse 3 about blessed and what that means?

And Daniel kind of touched on it some more this morning, talking about you know Jesus inviting us.

But this idea of blessed is like this is this is the good life.

Jesus is looking around and saying, Look, the good life belongs to these people here.

He's inviting us into his kingdom where we can live a good life.

And so blessed are the poor in spirit and those who mourn.

And the good life belongs to them.

It belongs also here to the meek.

And so Jesus observing this, and he's saying, Look, the meek are welcome to the kingdom of heaven.

And this is interesting when we think about meekness just in general, especially in view of the world, how some cultures will view meekness as a virtue, as something that we should aspire to live by and to have a character trait as, while others will see meekness as really a defect.

And rather we should rely on our strength.

But what we see in the scriptures is that actually, just like Jesus is a meek king, we followed his example.

Like meekness is actually something that we should produce.

It is, in a sense, a fruit of the spirit.

Galatians 5, 22 through 23 lists the fruit of the spirit.

And Paul uses the same Greek word that we see in Matthew 5 5 for meek.

He uses it here and it's translated gentleness.

He says, this is the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, meekness and self-control.

And so we see it's something that we need to produce.

And so as we look at our lesson, this text in Matthew 5.5, and we go through our lesson this evening.

We're going to look at what does Jesus mean by this meekness, and what does he mean by this earth or this land?

We'll learn.

I will inherit the earth.

So those will be the two halves of our lesson this evening.

So Matthew 5.5.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Look at the definition of this word meek here in the Greek.

It means this mildness, this mild disposition, this gentleness of spirit, meekness.

In the Old Testament, though, it's this idea of I'm going to rely wholly on God and I'm going to rely on his strength and his power, especially in moments of injustice.

When I'm dealing with other people or forces that are stronger than me, we see meekness playing a huge role.

And that's kind of the idea.

And that's why, as you have the Hebrew up there as well, the Hebrew, equivalent for meekness, will sometimes be translated as the afflicted or the oppressed, sometimes humble as well.

And when we're trying to understand meekness, this is important.

Meekness can be a character trait, it can be something that we do, but meekness can also be just a state of being.

We're forced into being meek.

We are afflicted and oppressed.

And we're going to look at both examples this evening.

But when Jesus says, you know, blessed are the meek, when I hear that, and I think about it in a practical way, in a modern sense, I like to think of it as he's saying, blessed are those who are unimportant, as insignificant.

Because you can either be insignificant or you can make yourself insignificant.

And it's not that you're unimportant to God, but that the meek or the oppressed, those that are afflicted, are seen by the world as unimportant.

Like, like they're they're just they're not powerful, they're unimportant.

But God sees them and sees the meek and says, Blessed are the meek.

They're important to God.

That is an important character trait.

They are important.

He takes thought of them.

Paul would even say when he's talking about humility, treat others more significant than yourselves in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

And so Jesus says here in Matthew 5.5, blessed are the meek.

In fact, he's quoting, if you want to turn over there, to a psalm, Psalm 37.

Matthew 5.5 is almost a direct quote of Psalm 37.

You can see on the screen here, and you can read both side by side.

But in Psalm 37, verse 11, it says this for the meek shall inherit the land, right, or earth, and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Psalms 37:11

In fact, of all the Beatitudes, uniquely, this is the one that's that's the most closely quoted, almost word for word.

It's not like the porn spirit of those who mourn, kind of alluding to in other passages like Daniel pointed out in Isaiah 61 or Isaiah 65.

However, here this one's very closely quoted.

Blessed are the meek, almost a direct quote from Psalm 37, verse 11.

Psalms 37:11

So Jesus is most definitely alluding to this passage.

What can we learn about meekness in Psalm 37?

I want to look at some of these verses leading up to Psalm 37, verse 11.

Psalms 37:11

This is an example of meekness really being a state of being.

Sometimes meekness in this verse can be translated oppressed, right?

Afflicted, which we've talked about.

This is a state of these people are afflicted.

They are meek.

And so Psalm 37, let's start with verse 8.

In fact, you'll also notice this phrase inherit the land mentioned several times, as Jesus also uses in his Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 5:5.

Matthew 5:5

It's used interchangeably here several different times.

But look at verse 8.

Psalm 37, verse 8.

Psalms 37:8

Refrain from anger, forsake wrath, fret not yourself.

It tends only to evil.

For the evildoer shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Same phrase that Jesus uses: inherit the land there.

You can tell that there's an injustice when you read that, can you not?

Like these people have had their land stolen.

I think many people, whether you see meekness as a virtue or not, many people have a hard time either being meek or practicing meekness because it feels like they're losing.

It feels like giving up.

Like I'm letting go of control, and really nobody wants to do that naturally.

If you look at the world and how the world naturally works, it's more advantageous instead to let anger and wrath, verse 8, be the driving force in your conflicts and your circumstances and your trials.

It makes more sense to just fret and fret about it and fret about.

But that's not the case.

Waiting for the Lord.

Like the land is yours, but you can't take it by force out of wrath and anger.

You can't do that.

The land is yours, but you have to wait on the Lord.

Meekness instead seems to be taking control of what only you can control.

And then allowing God to take control of the rest, relying on his power to set right what was wrong.

The meek should wait on the Lord because the land is yours.

You will inherit that land.

But you can't take it out of anger and wrath.

That only leads to evil.

What does the Bible teach about that?

You can't fight fire with fire, you can't overcome evil with evil.

You overcome evil with good, we're told.

Continue there in verse 10.

Where it says, in just a little while, the wicked will be no more.

And though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

Now you can see this is for the Jews here listening, right?

Talking about the justice that they will have.

But you can also see how this is talking about how God will treat his people, will reward his people as a whole.

Verse 11 but the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

So there's a good life lesson of why we should practice meekness.

It's not just self-control.

You see, evil has a tendency to destroy and destroy itself.

But meekness is waiting for the wicked to be no more, for God to get rid of the wicked.

Meekness is taking a step back, practically, and allowing things to just taper off to cool down.

Because when the wicked are no more, there's abundant peace we're told for them.

We need to be stronger, we need to be more powerful.

But God flips that on its head and says, No.

No, right makes right.

More importantly, God makes right.

What is godly makes right.

Not might.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the right.

Maybe though you find yourself in some affliction.

You find yourself in a trial.

You feel oppressed in some way, and it's and you just want to be angry.

And that makes sense.

And so you fret and you stew and it loops.

This is an injustice, yes.

But we have to be meek and let God make it right, and not just act rashly out of anger and wrath.

Meek is waiting on the Lord.

Because the Lord gives abundant peace and the land to those who are meek.

Right, verse 11, verse 10 and 11.

Let's look at a couple examples, right?

That's meekness.

If you find yourself in a state of meekness and afflicted and oppressed, but what if you have to choose to be meek?

We're gonna look at a few examples or two examples: one Old Testament and one New Testament.

Turn over to Numbers chapter 12.

Numbers 12 · chapter mention

Numbers chapter 12, we'll look at the example of Moses here and how Moses handles this conflict.

Numbers 12 · chapter mention

I'm impressed by how Moses handles this conflict.

Numbers chapter 12, verses 1 through 4.

Numbers 12:1–4

We'll look at.

Moses is in the conflict with his siblings Mariam and Aaron here.

It says that Mariam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married.

For he had married a Cushite woman.

Okay.

And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?

Has he not spoken through us also?

And stop right there for a second.

What's the real issue?

That he married a Cushite woman?

Or that maybe, maybe they feel insignificant, like unimportant.

Like, like God is only talking to Moses, it seems like.

When you consider just how powerful Moses is, it's remarkable how he acts.

I think there's a reason why in the telling of the story we have a reflection on Moses' character.

That Moses, verse 4, is very meek, more meek than all the people on the face of the earth.

Now, some translations, your translations might say humble, and there's some debate over that, but I think both fit.

And when you look at the context of this chapter and the story, especially meek.

Because Moses is in charge of thousands of Israelites.

Aaron and Mary, they have some influence.

But they're questioning Moses' power.

That's the real issue here.

Seems like they're a little jealous and envious.

What does Moses not do?

Moses does not try to fight them physically.

He doesn't.

He doesn't try to arrest them or bind them or get rid of them or punish them to take matters in his own hands and to act out of wrath and anger that we talked about in Psalm 37.

He could have easily done that.

But he chose meekness instead.

He allows God to take control.

He practices restraint.

And then the rest of the stories are the rest of the chapter, God reasons with them, he disciplines Miriam and Aaron and forgives them.

It's an example of meekness.

Another example.

Turn over to John 18.

I can't think of a better example, though, than Jesus.

And there's several examples you can see where he practices meekness.

But John 18, as he is arrested and being interrogated here.

John 18, as you turn over there, I want you to have in mind this prophecy, Isaiah 53, verse 7, that says this.

Isaiah 53:7

He was afflicted.

That word afflicted could be meekness there.

Same Hebrew word in Psalm 37.

And yet he opened not his mouth.

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, like a sheep that before its shears is silent.

So he opened not his mouth.

Says there, he was afflicted, he's meek.

Now let's see how he acts.

Think about that.

Because as Jesus is oppressed here, he's oppressed, right?

Just as he was preaching to in the Sermon on the Mount, those that were oppressed, he's now caught there, meek, silent, like a sheep before his shears.

But what does that mean?

Does that mean that as Jesus is arrested here and he's interrogated, that he's just a doormat?

That he just walked over?

That he can't speak truth?

He can't speak at all?

Actually, if I know that's not the case.

John 18, this is the moment where, like a sheep, he is before his shears.

John 18 begins with Jesus' betrayal.

Peter locks off a guard's ear with a sword.

Jesus leads with meekness in this chapter and says, No, lay down your sword.

Those who live by the sword die by the sword, and then he's bound and he's marched to the authorities, meek and oppressed.

We're going to start in verse 19.

Now he's being interrogated.

Verse 19.

The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teachings.

Jesus answered him, answered him.

I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple where all Jews come together.

I have said nothing in secret.

Why do you ask me?

Ask those who have heard me, heard what I said to them, they know what I said.

Now it's interesting are the verses above and before this section.

What is Peter doing?

Denying Jesus, right?

Verse 22.

And when he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, Is that how you answer the high priest?

What is the guard doing here?

The guard is looking at Jesus in this answer and saying, How can you be so irreverent and disrespectful?

I thought Jesus was to be meek.

Verse 23, and then Jesus gives an answer that many people have a hard time practicing.

If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong.

I deserve that.

But if what I said is right, why do you punish me?

Why do you strike me?

And then it then sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

Jesus in his meekness speaks up, voices the injustice.

Jesus in his meekness here speaks the truth.

And his meekness, though he is actually silent in some ways.

In the ways that the prophecy was talking about.

Because when you consider just how much power Jesus had, he remains silent in both word and deed.

He doesn't open his mouth with wrath and anger, like we said in Psalm 37.

He doesn't open his mouth to curse or to judge or to show vengeance.

I think Matthew puts it in perspective when you look at what Jesus could have done, but rather chose meekness.

This is after Peter lops off the guard's ear, and in Matthew 26, 53, Jesus says, Do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once send more than twelve legions of angels?

And Jesus doesn't do that.

What does he do?

He chooses God's will.

That's meekness.

When I look at these examples of meekness from Moses and Jesus, I see a lot of what we talked about in Psalm 37.

Not fretting, not dealing with your conflict out of wrath, but waiting, relying on God to take action.

Remember, vengeance is mine, says the Lord.

Both of them are examples of meekness and of righteousness.

When situations are difficult and they had the power to do whatever they wanted, they chose instead to follow the will of God.

They practice meekness.

And maybe it's not something that they wanted to do.

It's not always something you want to do.

But knowing that we serve a meek king, we as Christians know it's something that we need to do.

These are examples of that.

Blessed are the meek, Jesus says.

Because they will inherit the land.

What is up with this land or this earth, as Jesus says here in Matthew 5, 5?

What is this earth?

Again, earth could be translated land, as we looked in Psalm 37.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land.

We got to look at this within context historically.

In ancient times, especially during the time of Jesus, land often determined power and significance, importance.

If you were wealthy, you probably owned land.

The more land you owned, you were probably wealthier.

The more land you conquered or you ruled, typically the more powerful and significant you were.

You had more options, more opportunities, more trade routes, more control.

Now think about this.

Again, again, in a historical context, put yourself on the side of the mountain and you're listening to Jesus say this.

You're on the side of this mountain and you're a Jew, and your job in life, and your everyday, day-to-day job is to work the land that your ancestors owned, but is now owned by the Romans.

Like it was promised to you when the 12 tribes came over and it was given to your family, but then the Romans came in, took control, and now you work it, but you don't own it.

You're a slave to it, but it doesn't belong to you.

And this was a common example for many Jewish families who are living during this time, feeling this injustice.

And I can imagine, probably what?

Very angry and wrathful and fretted.

And then you hear this.

You hear Jesus say, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land.

Talk about either hitting a sore spot or giving you some hopefully some serious comfort.

Well, I reimagine that it gives me some comfort.

I'm listening to Jesus, and and if I've been misused and abused because of the generation that I'm in, and I'm thinking, man, you're saying me, who's insignificant and unimportant to the Romans, I've been taken advantage of?

You're gonna Give me land.

God will restore what I lost and give me more abundance, peace, land, will give me justice.

And the thing is, in those moments we realize that meekness is not always easy.

It's hard.

But the thing is, we need to give power and control to our king who promises that land, that earth to us.

I love how we didn't talk about this, but Psalm 37 starts off by saying, fret not yourself because of evildoers.

Be not envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb and like the land that you work.

But then he says, trust in the Lord, do good.

And look at that, dwell in the land.

Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

He opens up there with like, in the meantime, even though the land is in yours, dwell in the land.

Do good.

Trust in the Lord.

It's a wonderful reminder that as we live this life now and we're dwelling in this land, even though we're promised it, we do what is good and we befriend faithfulness.

And so the land and the earth is usually always a picture of significance.

You will inherit the land, the earth.

It is a picture of God giving power and significance to the lowly and the meek and the oppressed and the insignificant.

And when we look at God's kingdom today, I see that in his kingdom.

I see non-Christians who already are beat down by life, enslaved in sin, decide I'm gonna change my life.

I'm going to trust the Lord, and I'm going to enter into his kingdom.

And when they do, it immediately gives significance.

It's a beautiful thing.

Again, meekness isn't just a choice, but it can also be a state.

But either way, it comes with a promise, a promise that it will be restored.

A kingdom and a world where the last will be first and the first will be last.

Now, to the Jewish mind, when they heard land, they were thinking about the promised land.

And it's wonderful how God is not thinking in a box like that in just the land of Israel.

He's thinking and spreading when you read Matthew 5, 5 to the earth.

Think about how Matthew begins, right?

And then how Matthew ends in Matthew 28.

And Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20.

Matthew 28:18–20

If we read that, Jesus then gives us a charge to go into all the earth.

Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples in the earth and all the earth and all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

When we read Matthew 5 5, we should have in our mind the promise of eternity that's given to us as Christians.

Our hope.

When we read, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, we shouldn't be thinking, Wow, I might receive 10 acres outside shallow water.

That's not what he's talking about.

What he's talking about is we're promised a dwelling place with God.

What God calls as a new heaven and a new earth.

Revelation 21.

I love this verse.

These two verses.

Revelation 21, verses 1 through 4 says, and then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

Revelation 21:1–4

For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem.

Things are restored, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, what is this earth?

The dwelling place of God is with man.

He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning or crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

This verse here, you notice these verses and the beatitudes here are kind of alluded to at least.

The promises that we have, the promise, the hope that we have, the comfort for those who are mourning, for those who are persecuted, even, for the pure in heart, that they will see God for the meek, that they shall inherit the earth.

When we read Matthew 5, 5, it makes sense, way more sense, and we have in mind our eternal hope of a new heaven and a new earth.

It gives meekness and what Jesus promises more weight than simply you will inherit real estate.

Not what he's saying.

You will dwell with me.

Bless of meek.

If you find yourself not meek, or you find yourself maybe meek and afflicted, and you're leading with wrath, and your life is being controlled with that anger, and you find sin in your life ruling your thoughts, now can be a moment where you change.

If you feel insignificant, the kingdom of heaven is a place when you serve God, you can find significance and importance because God sees you and how important you are.

You can be baptized and have your sins washed away.

Like the meek, herit the earth.

That's what you want this evening.

Come forward now while we stand and we sing.