Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5

I remember hearing that biblically, “meekness is not weakness, it is strength under control.” Although the words meek and meekness are not often heard in common conversation in our day, here in the opening lines of Jesus’ most important teaching (the Sermon on the Mount) we are told of the promise of God’s blessing on the meek. What are we to make of that?

First, meekness, as God defines meekness, is not only good, but worthy of His blessing.

Second, meekness is an antonym of pride. That makes meekness a gospel issue. How? Pride refuses to acknowledge one’s sin and to cry out for forgiveness. Those who do acknowledge their sin and who do cry out for forgiveness in Jesus’ name, do so exercising meekness. It requires true strength to admit one’s weakness.

Third, living the Christian life after having received Christ also requires meekness—as disciples understand and seek to live according to Jesus’ words in John 15:5, about abiding in Him because, “without Me [Christ] you can do nothing.” It requires true strength to admit one’s weakness.

Meekness in the Christian context is not weakness. It is the strength to know the truth about ourselves apart from Christ. It is the strength to depend on the One who is our strength, especially in light of our intrinsic weakness apart from Him.

Notice that Jesus’ promise to the meek is that “they shall inherit the earth.” This is counter-intuitive since it appears that the strong (assertive, and aggressive) are the winners in the world while the meek (weak) are seen as the losers. Let us remember that God is always right. And when anyone or anything disagrees with God, God is still right and the dissenters are wrong.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. We have God’s Word on it!