Sermon held in Huittinen.
Blessed are the meek
Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
Although today I will use this verse, all of the beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-10 are also intertwined here. For these verses are not about different groups of believers, but all believers are called to be all of these; to be poor in spirit, to be meek, to mourn for the lost souls, to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be peacemakers, and to endure persecution for the sake of their belief in Jesus Christ. Thus all the inheritances are for all believers who overcome. Rev. chapters 1-3
Three questions come to mind when reading this verse.
What is meekness?
What is the earth they will inherit?
Who will they inherit it from?
Jesus is often described as being meek and the impression that most of my contemporaries at school had was that Jesus was weak because He didn’t argue with those who were accusing Him. Most people would jump at the opportunity to defend themselves when wrongfully accused.
The problem lies not with the word meek itself but with the change in it’s meaning over the years to the point that it completely misrepresents the true character of Jesus. If we look at the character of Jesus we can come to an understanding of the correct meaning of the word meek.
Jesus was not diplomatic and certainly not obsequious. He called the Pharisees hypocrites and even vipers! Matt. 22:18 & Matt 23:13 He became angry and cleared the temple. John: 2:12-25 He actually sat and made a whip. Some translations say he used some cords as a whip. But in the English and Greek the phrase is made a whip. In other words He braided leather to make a whip, the work would have taken some time. It was not an impetuous act.
He became angry with Peter and said “get thee behind me Satan” Matt. 16:23. Peter must have been incredibly hurt by this but there is no record of Jesus apologising!
On the other hand we have the words of Jesus that point to the nature of His meekness.
“I do only that which I see my Father in heaven doing” John 5:19
“But not my will but your will be done” Matt. 26:39 & Matt. 26:42
The Biblical evidence is that Jesus was in continual and complete submission to His heavenly Father; God. And this is the true meaning of what it means to be meek. Submit your will to that of God and put His will for your life first. On a daily basis.
If we are in true submission to God then we will not fear other people, we will not be afraid of their opinions of us, we will not fear what they might do to us.
When Jesus sent out the disciples he told them not to fear men but rather the one who could destroy both body and soul. Matt. 10:28.
This is not the devil that Jesus is speaking about ,but God Himself is the only one with such power. The devil is to be thrown into the lake of everlasting fire.
We have seen over the last few weeks what happens when people’s greed for money or power supersedes even ordinary common human decency. I am referring to the financial disaster, which could very well be hanging over the heads of capitalist society. This has been coming for years. It is an inherent weakness of the capitalist system.
Being in total submission to the will of God is not easy for a human being our natural inclination is to want to have our own way in all things, maybe allowing God to have a couple of hours on a Sunday. Natural that is since the fall in the Garden of Eden.
What is the earth that the meek will inherit?
If you are like me you will have heard that all believers will be caught up and taken to heaven and the earth will be destroyed. Rev. 21:1 Matt 5: 18. This is preached in many churches all over the world. If we believe that then there will be no earth for the meek to inherit! Which makes Jesus’ statement in Matthew a lie and Jesus a liar. However, if we maintain that Jesus’ words are true we must re-examine the idea of the end of the world. I believe Jesus meant what he said! The question is what is this earth that the meek will inherit? Let’s turn to the end of the book of revelation.
Revelation was written for believers not for unbelievers! The book tells us what to expect before, during and after the second coming of Christ, the Son of God.
Chapters 19-21 tell us that there will be a time of great tribulation followed by the establishment of Christ’s reign on earth. This is followed by one last attempt from the devil at the battle of Armageddon; Rev. 20:7-10 he is defeated and cast into the fiery pit for ever and ever.
Then the Kingdom of God comes down to earth in the New Jerusalem.Rev. 21: 1-3
The world is made perfect and God dwells on earth amongst us. Immanuel, God with us.
There are two possibilities for the inheritance of the meek.
Rev.20:4
During the thousand-year reign Jesus will appoint people to manage and run things according to the will of God. He will choose those who are in complete submission to God’s will in their lives. People who have shown in this present world how to live and behave according to God’s righteousness. Governments, businesses, banks, towns etc will be run by believers in line with God’s desires for His people. The unbelievers will then experience what it was God had created the earth and mankind to be. Whereas the world is today largely run by secularists, humanists and all shapes and sizes of unbelievers. The engine for society is largely selfishness and greed. During Christ’s reign on earth the engine will be the will and holiness of God.
The second possible interpretation is the inheritance that will come with the establishment of the new Jerusalem which will be accompanied by the recreation of heaven and earth in the glorious perfection lost at the time of the fall. God will be worshipped, as he deserves to be worshipped. Rev. 21:1-4
Who do the meek inherit the earth from?
This is perhaps an easier question to answer. With the establishment of Christ’s reign on earth and with the arrival of the New Jerusalem which are both moves of God; it is clear that the inheritance is from and of God. Because God and Jesus were the creators of the original and present earth and God will create the new earth and heaven. Only the creator, the father can give the inheritance. Even on earth we can only inherit from our parents or from someone who loves us. God is both our heavenly father and the one who loves us more than we can ever imagine or understand until that moment when we come into our divine inheritance.
So how do we become meek?
This is not so easy to achieve. It requires constant vigilance to notice when we are putting our own desires and “needs” before God’s will in our lives. We are constantly battered these days by the media and advertising telling us we need this new gadget, this new image, this new diet, clothing etc. etc.
But what we really need is to be constantly in the presence of God, with Jesus as our constant guide and companion. It is not something to be achieved overnight, this constant denial of the self. We need to immerse ourselves in His word contained in the scriptures. Regular reading, not just out of duty but from a genuine desire to know our heavenly father better. But we don’t just need intellectual knowledge but to be in a closer relationship to Him.
God is actually calling each and every one of us to be conformed to His likeness.
When we are in such a close relationship to God we will not need to ask Him what His will in our lives is, but will know it as certainly and intimately as Jesus did.
We need to be doing this now so that we can become meek, righteous etc so that we may truly inherit the earth. Notice that the beatitudes begin and end with heaven being the inheritance. Matt. 5: 1-10 and Rev 21:1.