BLESSED ARE THE MEEK (4 OF 26)
Scripture: Matthew 5:5
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Blessed are the Meek (4 of 26)
Series: Kingdom Life
Jonathan McLeod
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).
SCRIPTURE READING
Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). The third beatitude is probably either a quotation or an allusion to Psalm 37:11.
[Read Psalm 37:1-11.]
IT’S NOT EASY TO BE MEEK
How would you respond if you found yourself in the following situations?
A co-worker spreads a false rumour about you.
You invite a friend to a party at your house. She says he’ll attend, but she never shows up.
You see your neighbour back his car into your car, denting your car’s bumper. He drives away without telling you what they did.
When we face these type of situations, the natural response is to defend ourselves or demand our rights or plot our revenge. But Jesus expects his followers to be meek. And meekness is “the power to absorb adversity and criticism without lashing back.” It’s not easy to be meek.
MEEKNESS IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSITY
The Greek word for “meek” (praus) is found four times in the NT (Matt. 5:5; 11:29; 21:5; 1 Peter 3:4). The ESV translates the word as “meek,” “humble,” and “gentle.” Psalm 37 helps us under-stand what it means to be meek. The psalm makes two key statements: (1) don’t let evildoers cause you to fret; (2) trust in God to make things right. According to Sinclair Ferguson, meekness is “the humble strength that belongs to the man who has learned to submit to difficulties (difficult experiences and difficult people), knowing that in everything God is working for his good.”
The citizens of God’s kingdom are more concerned with GLORIFYING God than DEFEND-ING themselves.
Moses is an example of a meek person. In Numbers 12, he relied on divine vindication instead of defending himself (see Num. 12:1-3). To be meek requires self-control.
Sometimes we do need to defend our beliefs or actions, but we should always ...
Series: Kingdom Life
Jonathan McLeod
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).
SCRIPTURE READING
Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). The third beatitude is probably either a quotation or an allusion to Psalm 37:11.
[Read Psalm 37:1-11.]
IT’S NOT EASY TO BE MEEK
How would you respond if you found yourself in the following situations?
A co-worker spreads a false rumour about you.
You invite a friend to a party at your house. She says he’ll attend, but she never shows up.
You see your neighbour back his car into your car, denting your car’s bumper. He drives away without telling you what they did.
When we face these type of situations, the natural response is to defend ourselves or demand our rights or plot our revenge. But Jesus expects his followers to be meek. And meekness is “the power to absorb adversity and criticism without lashing back.” It’s not easy to be meek.
MEEKNESS IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSITY
The Greek word for “meek” (praus) is found four times in the NT (Matt. 5:5; 11:29; 21:5; 1 Peter 3:4). The ESV translates the word as “meek,” “humble,” and “gentle.” Psalm 37 helps us under-stand what it means to be meek. The psalm makes two key statements: (1) don’t let evildoers cause you to fret; (2) trust in God to make things right. According to Sinclair Ferguson, meekness is “the humble strength that belongs to the man who has learned to submit to difficulties (difficult experiences and difficult people), knowing that in everything God is working for his good.”
The citizens of God’s kingdom are more concerned with GLORIFYING God than DEFEND-ING themselves.
Moses is an example of a meek person. In Numbers 12, he relied on divine vindication instead of defending himself (see Num. 12:1-3). To be meek requires self-control.
Sometimes we do need to defend our beliefs or actions, but we should always ...
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