Everybody likes a guy who fights back, right? I grew up watching the likes of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Marshall Matt Dillon. These were men who played characters that never backed down from the bad guys. I always knew that before the movie ended, the villains would get what was coming to them – a good whoopin’ or a bullet to the head.
I remember vividly the first time I watched Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” In the scene where Jesus is being scourged by the Roman soldiers, tears welled up in my eyes, as well as in those of my family members who sat by me in that theatre, as the cat o’ nine tails ripped the flesh from Jesus. I sat amazed at such love on display by our God. Yet, there was a part of me that felt such incredible anger that men could be so cruel to one so innocent. I wanted God to strike those men down with a lightning bolt right there. But I knew that wasn’t in the script. This script had been written long before it was played out in Jerusalem that day.
It goes without saying that nobody illustrated the Sermon on the Mount better than the Teacher himself.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Have you ever heard the phrase “meek as a mouse?” When that phrase is used the assumption is made that “meek” would mean “small and weak.” However, that is not the meaning of meekness. The literal meaning of the word is gentleness of spirit. Another way to describe it would be “power under control.” The hours leading up to Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion saw the greatest display of meekness the world has ever seen. When Jesus was being arrested, Peter cut off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants. I would have applauded that move. What does the Son of God do? He heals the servant’s ear!
Jesus’ desire to follow through with the will of his Father was greater than any idea of fighting back. He had all the power of heaven at his disposal, yet chose not to use it. One word and a multitude of angels would have been on the scene. I’m sure you get the picture. This is meekness.
How does this apply to you and me? It seems like a tall order when we see Jesus giving us the ultimate example. It’s really very simple. Not easy by any means, but it is simple.
Paul said this in Galatians 2:20 –
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
One morning as I was in prayer, I had a vision of Jesus hanging on the cross. I was standing on the ground below. Suddenly, I found myself being literally sucked up into Christ as he hung there suffering. Then, with his arms outstretched, he uttered the famous words, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Then I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “This is the posture you will assume when you realize that you died with me.”
Let this sink in – Jesus, God in flesh, all powerful, able to destroy all of his accusers with merely a word, his arms spread wide open as he embraces the fallen world, forgiving them all. All of them. Everyone.
That is meekness.
Let’s not forget his promise to the meek – they inherit the earth.
The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men. (Psalm 115:16)
We won’t claim our inheritance by any other way than the Jesus way. It sounds so backwards in a world where the meek seem to get run over in the rat race, but it’s not backward. It’s forward. In a world where men conquer one another by force, Jesus conquers by love, and we get to do it with him, through meekness.
The inheritance is waiting for us.
Kevin