Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5

The word for meek here in the Greek is πραεῖς (praus) and is used 4 times in the Bible. (Matthew 5:5, Matthew 11:29, Matthew 21:5 and 1 Peter 3:4). This means mildness, gentleness of spirit, or humility. Jesus described Himself with this word in Matthew 11:29 and is used to describe how Jesus fulfilled a prophesy of the Messiah in Matthew 21:5 where it is quoting from Zechariah 9:9:

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9

Meekness seems to have gotten a bad rap in modern times and is looked at as weakness, but this is not what is meant by this. The interpretation of what meekness is can be described as having the right or the power to do something but refraining for the benefit of someone else. Jesus obviously had the power to do anything He wanted, but He chose to respond with true humility. This is the mark of a true leader. Someone who is willing to be vulnerable so that people could approach Him without fear. This is illustrated well in Matthew 19:13-14 where it says:

“Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.”

For your normal garden variety Messiah, you would think that associating with children would be undignified for a Rabbi of His stature. Jesus however was not interested in the accolades of men. He was trying to show them that all the pomp and circumstance that these Rabbi’s seemed to demand was not what God required. God constantly emphasized that He set Himself against the proud but granted grace to the humble. Happy indeed are the people that in meekness consider others of more import than them. This is what God requires of us. As it says in 1 Peter 5:

"All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" 1 Peter 5:5-6 Peter was paraphrasing from Proverbs 3:34 when he quotes this about the proud. In Proverbs it went on to say that the wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame. Blessed indeed are the Meek, for they Will inherit the earth.

“The heart of the world is breaking under this load of pride and pretense. There is no release from our burden apart from the meekness of Christ.” - A.W. Tozer