Power Under God’s Control
The beatitudes are teachings of Jesus, particularly the famed sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:3-12. Matthew 5 was a passage our Sunday school teachers taught us many times while growing up. At some point, we were expected to recite verses 3-13 from our hearts just like we did the Lord’s prayer. I was familiar with this passage, but I did not attach much meaning to it until I came of age to define my fellowship with God. Like most of the teachings of Jesus, this sermon speaks directly to our human mind. It directs our hearts on how to live in this world with a heavenly and kingdom mindset.
Matthew 5:5 always rings a bell in my mind; “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”. But, have you ever wondered what it means to be meek? What does it even mean to inherit the earth? Jesus spoke to a certain mindset among the people, and he addressed a basic human need for survival. The struggle to survive in a world plagued with sin and evil means that you must be assertive, strong and powerful to get anything meaningful out of life. It means you must not only cause damage to survive sometimes but you must be perceived to be dangerous for potential detractors to stay off your path. However, Jesus came with a message contradictory to our basic instinct; blessed are the meek.
In God’s kingdom, meekness is a virtue for dominance, and without it, we won’t make it in there.
The message of Jesus in Matthew 5 is consistent with what we see in the Old Testament passed by God through the prophets. We see a similar statement in Psalm 37:11,ESV; But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
In the old testament, God brought down Kings who thought they were too powerful to be dethroned and exalted men from lowly places into positions of authority and inheritance. Therefore, what Jesus was saying wasn’t entirely novel, but he was straightforward and radical with his messaging. In God’s kingdom, meekness is a virtue for dominance, and without it, we won’t make it in there.
To be meek is not to be weak but to be strengthened by God. To walk in God’s strength, you must sacrifice the yearnings of your flesh. To be meek doesn’t mean being passive, a pushover or someone everyone can take for a ride. Certainly, Moses, the meekest man on earth (Numbers 12:3), wasn’t a pushover. You couldn’t confront the most powerful man on earth at the time as Moses did if you were a pushover or lacking authority and a presence.
To be meek is to be under the control of God; it is to subject your power to the authority of God. In other words, you are submissive to God even when you have the wherewithal to exert dominance and control over the affairs of your life. It means your ambition is transformed from “self-serving to God-serving”.
Meekness is having the strength of a lion but submitting to the shepherd’s authority like a sheep. Meekness is strength under control, and it is the posture our soul should take before an all-powerful God. Moses showed us a classic example of what it means to be meek in the face of provocation. In Numbers 12, when his sister and brother spoke arrogantly against his marriage to an Ethiopian, he did not react. He kept his cool, and God intervened on his behalf. After God punished his sister with leprosy, Moses asked God for mercy on her behalf. Meekness influences how we interact with God and man. Before his siblings, Moses showed restraint, and before God, he was humble to ask for mercy. Considering some of the reactions of Moses to the Israelites and others when provoked, there’s no doubt he could be angry and exert dominance and control over his siblings. But in this story, he chose to submit his power to the control of God.
To be meek is to be under the control of God; it is to subject your power to the authority of God. It means your ambition is transformed from “self-serving to God-serving”. -Power Under God’s Control #prunedlife Share on XJesus was meekness personified. He had the authority to back out of the death on the cross, yet he chose to die a shameful and painful death for the sins of the world. He was falsely accused of wrongdoing, slandered, and bruised but did not exert his authority or power to prove his innocence. I love how Apostle Peter puts it in 1 Peter 2:23, NLT; He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.
Jesus shared his pain with God, showed his vulnerability and was afraid of what was to come. Not just because of the physical pain and violence he was to endure but the burden of carrying the sins of humanity, and the shame of being forsaken by the Father. Yet he concluded his agonising prayer at the garden of Gethsemane with “let thy will be done”.
Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine. Luke 22:49, NLT
When we look at the life of Jesus, he was the best person to tell us; “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”. Not just because he exemplified meekness, but because he alone had the power to fulfil the promise that followed. The dictates of our flesh and the world we live in tell us that it is easier to win, dominate and take over the world by going to war for what we believe. Remember when the disciples drew their swords and were ready to fight and defend themselves when Jesus was arrested? What was the reaction of Jesus? Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? Matthew 26:52-53, NASB.
Jesus did not only show that he submitted his authority to the Father, he understood that the battle wasn’t going to be worn with swords.
God’s promise that we will inherit the earth will show forth someday, and everyone will acknowledge that indeed Christ was and is the only way. The whole earth will be filled with the glory of God (Habakkuk 2:14). We are a new creation in Christ, and the meek will be part of the “new heaven and new earth” (2 Peter 3:13) at the end of time when the reign of God is fully revealed.
In a world that is and will increasingly be hostile to Christianity or anyone who professes Christ, we must be reminded in the face of provocation that Jesus our Lord dominated and conquered not by the sword but by meekness.
Photo credit: ©istockphoto/Anastasiia Shavshyna
