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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 7, NUMBER 51, DECEMBER 23, 2007 “BLESSED ARE THE MEEK” The third of the Beatitudes that Jesus presented in the Sermon on the Mount was “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Meekness is so frequently misunderstood. The Greek word translated as meek (praus), describes a condition of the mind and heart. Vine writes, in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, on page 5, “In its use in Scripture, in which it has a fuller, deeper significance than in non-scriptural Greek writings, it consists not in a person’s outward behavior only; nor yet in his relations to his fellow-men; as little in his mere natural disposition. Rather it is an inwrought grace of the soul; and the exercises of it are first and chiefly towards God. It is that temper of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting.” Vine also writes of this quality of character being displayed in the face of men, even evil men, out of a sense that these, with the insults and injuries they may inflict, are used by God for chastening and purifying His elect. I cannot think of an example of the attribute of meekness being exemplified in a person more completely than it was by Jesus. Remember that the Lord Himself said, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29 ), and then demonstrated it in the most difficult moments of His life. In the Garden of Gethsemane, with the cross less than a day away, Jesus prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). On the cross itself, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Look to Jesus to see meekness and to learn that it is not synonymous with weakness. Those who possess it do not show resentment or threaten when they are wronged. It is an evenness of spirit, level temperament. It is in many ways the opposite of bitterness and violence. Jesus said that those who had such a disposition would “inherit the earth.” Here again, many have misunderstood what Jesus meant. The “inheritance of the earth” is a proverbial expression used to suggest great and bountiful blessings. The Jews used the expression to denote any great blessing. Originally it meant the Land of Canaan, but soon came to refer to the totality of God’s blessings. It has absolutely nothing to do with the future inheritance of this old physical earth. This old earth will ultimately be destroyed. Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” When Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” He was saying that those who possessed the character attribute of meekness would be in His kingdom and would receive God’s blessings here and now, as well as in the future heavenly land of promise. This would be true, for meekness would move the ones who truly possess it to gladly accept and obey the Lord’s teachings without disputing or resisting.
Greg Litmer “BLESSED ARE THEY WHICH DO HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS” The fourth of the Beatitudes our Lord delivered in the Sermon of the Mount was “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Perhaps one of the easiest ways to understand what Jesus was saying is to paraphrase His words, “Blessed are those who vehemently desire to be right before God, for they will obtain it.” Whenever I read this particular verse my mind is drawn back to the time when our children were infants. I well remember the urgency with which they informed my wife and me that it was time to eat, and it did not matter when it was or where we were. I believe Peter used just such an occurrence to describe the type of desire that must characterize the approach of a Christian to the Word of God. In 1 Peter 2:2, he wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” What does it mean to “hunger and thirst after righteousness”? Let us first notice righteousness, a word that is used a couple of different ways in the New Testament. In Romans 1:16-17 we find, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” Here we see it used to describe what can be called God’s saving righteousness. The righteousness of God by faith is revealed in the gospel in order to produce the saving faith in those who hear it. Righteousness is also used to refer to personal righteousness. Matthew 5:20 is one such place. Jesus said, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Hungering and thirsting indicates the degree of desire. My infant children, and now my little grandson, wanted nothing so badly as to eat when they were hungry. It was their most vehement desire. When the source of food was made available to them, they would latch on to it and not let go. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness shows that a person must want to come, he must desire it and need it as strongly as he does nourishment for the body. When that kind of attitude is manifested, the Lord promises that it will be filled. Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that this attitude is only meant to characterize the new Christian, or even perhaps the person who is sincerely searching for the truth. It must characterize a Christian from the moment he or she is born again until they go home to be with the Lord. Without the proper nourishment, my children would not have grown to adulthood, and my son would not have been able to present me with my grandson. My grandson needs the proper nourishment in order to make me a great-grandpa some day. The one who quits hungering and thirsting for physical nourishment dies. It is no different in the spiritual realm.
Greg Litmer
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