What does it mean to be meek? Campus minister Derek Rishmawy asserts: “We don’t understand the virtue of meekness and tend to think it indicates weakness. Meekness is a gentleness that restrains us from anger. Meekness is not something we can achieve in our own earthly strength. It is something only Jesus can give.”
The “meek” or gentle are the third group of people named as blessed or happy in the Beatitudes (v. 5; Ps. 37:11). The blessings in the Beatitudes, including meekness, are blessings we can and should pray for; they are also qualities or virtues to which we should aspire. Commentator Frederick Dale Bruner describes the meek as “those who make no claims for themselves before God or before other people.” Surprisingly, for reasons similar to those implied in verse 3, they will “inherit the earth,” despite not being aggressive or ambitious. The earth is the Lord’s to do with as He chooses.
The fourth group are people who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (v. 6). They are in fact starving for righteousness. They desire to be utterly free from the power of sin and completely conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). These people will be “filled” or satisfied, which can only happen through the work of our righteous God.
The fifth group who are blessed or happy are the “merciful” (v. 7). Augustine interpreted this quality specifically as coming to the aid of the poor and needy. Appropriately, they themselves “will be shown mercy.”
The sixth group are the “pure in heart” (v. 8). According to D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, this phrase means genuine, sincere, and single-minded in one’s devotion to God. Such people “will see God,” an incredible blessing and promise.
Go Deeper
Identify one of the qualities or virtues mentioned in the Beatitudes where you desire to grow. Why are most of these attributes not valued in the eyes of the world?
Pray with Us
Lord, the qualities Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount come directly from You. Whether we need more meekness, mercy, righteousness, or purity of heart, will You help us grow in these areas?
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.Matthew 5:8
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