June 17, 2007
The Beatitudes: Measuring MeekPosted by Bryan
If "meek" doesn't mean "spineless, cowardly," or "weak," what does it mean?
First, meek means "gentle."
Look to Jesus for the example of meekness shown in gentleness. In John 8, Jesus goes nose-to-nose and toe-to-toe against the biggest worst kind of bullies, the religious thugs of the day, the Pharisees.
The day began (the Bible says "at dawn") with Jesus teaching in the temple courts as a crowd had drawn around him. The docile scene is soon interrupted though, as a group of Pharisees storm into the crowd, dragging in a woman caught in adultery. In a sly manipulation of the law, the Pharisees had come to trap Jesus in a no-win situation. They challenged him to pronounce judgment on this woman, expecting that they could discredit him as unlearned, slander him as unrighteous, or lord over him as though he was their underling.
They never could have predicted what happened instead.
The Bible says that Jesus bent down and scribbled in the sand as they made their case.
Heaven only knows what exactly Jesus wrote.
Some historians have suggested that even as the Pharisees vomited out accusations against the women, Jesus, in turn, wrote before them their own offenses for which they would one day be found guilty. (This theory seems to have some legs, particularly if you note the prophecy of Jeremiah 17:12-13, held in the context of the immediate situation from 24 hours earlier in John 7 when Jesus proclaimed himself to be the Living Water at the height of the Feast of Sukkot - an act that could never be confused as cowardly, but only crazy or megalomaniacal if it were not true)
The situation was immediately tense and heated. The Pharisees were counting on Jesus to react differently. He could have jumped into the fire with them and either raised the volume by shouting back, or by increasing the anarchy by picking up the first stone to appease them.
Instead, he scribbled in the sand.
Then, he stood up and simply said, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
Could the Pharisees see what Jesus had written?
Were they just derailed by his calm demeanor and reasoned rebuttal?
Whatever the case may be, Jesus hunched back down and continued scribbling, as though their attempts to incite him had no effect whatsoever.
Shortly, the oldest, most blustering of Pharasaic leaders abandoned the cause. Soon after, the younger ones also departed.
Jesus was never cowardly. He was certainly not spineless. He was definitely not weak.
He was simply meek.
When Jesus called the bluff of the Pharisees' false bravado, they dropped their cards and ran. Jesus, however, showed his gentle meekness in his authoritative instruction to the accused adulteress. He told her, "Where are your accusers now? Nor do I accuse you. Now, go, and sin no more. "
He did not excuse her, nor did he condemn her. Instead, he forgave her and he freed her.
How do you respond when thrown into the fire of conflict? Is it your nature to match the other guy in volume, volatility, and violence?
You may not possess the ability to level the playing field the way Jesus did, but you can certainly take a few moments to scribble in the sand just to regain your composure and recapture perspective. Gentleness is prescriptive in its ability to cure the conflicts in relationships:
Gentleness is also an effective weapon able to debilitate and disarm, but only for the meek person who knows how to use it wisely against Pharasaic foes.
Second, meek means "humble." Humility is that "greased pig" of all personal attributes, because as soon as you think you have it, you probably are proving you don't.
Humility is simply not thinking of yourself. The scriptures say, "don't think of yourself more highly than you ought. " Humility is not thinking of yourself as a horrible, no-good lousy person. That's how Satan thinks of you, and how he wants you to think of yourself. God, on the other hand, thinks you are awesome, wonderful, and supercool. Because he thinks of you in those terms, though, he simply wants you to not think about yourself...at all...and instead think of others.
If you want to truly be humble, it simply means thinking about yourself less...a lot less. It means putting others first. It means putting their needs ahead of your needs. It means putting their desires ahead of your own desires. It means putting their priorities ahead of your priorities. It means putting their lives ahead of your own life.
Again, Jesus leads by example. The Bible says to have the same attitude as Jesus. Jesus didn't have to leave heaven. The Bible reveals that He willingly gave His life to save the lost.
If Jesus had chose not to give His life for us, He would have been right and just in doing so. There has never been one person - ever - who deserved God's favor. Some may seem to deserve it more than others, but no one - ever - truly deserves it. God's favor shown through the sacrifice of Jesus is grace. The grace demonstrated in the humility and humiliation of Jesus gives man eternal life.
Finally, meek means "restraint." Restraint is holding back when it is appropriate to do so. Think about all the ways Jesus showed restraint. Perhaps Jesus scribbled the sins of the Pharisees, showing his omniscience. He demonstrated restraint not revealing their sins publicly for the Scriptural record to report for eternity. As the omnipresent God, He could have foiled the conspiratorial plot between Judas and the Pharisees. As the omnipotent God, He could have removed Himself from the cross or avoided it altogether, called down a legion of angels to slay all who opposed Him and established an iron-fisted reign right at that moment.
He could have done all those things, and He would have been right and just to do it.
But He didn't.
It wasn't His way. It wasn't his plan. And he was meek enough to stick with his plan even when the opportunity and temptation were present to go a different, more conventional, more...fleshly...route.
Jesus' plan to redeem fallen man was established before He ever spoke the world or man into existence. He had set His mind to do it His way, and He has stayed to His plan at all costs.
He has shown restraint and mercy and longsuffering and patience. And He has persisted in His plan in a spirit of meekness, because it was through His meek spirit that man's depravity was fully shown.
He allowed Himself to be
- whipped
- beaten
- mocked
- dragged
- abused
- hung on a cross
- pierced
- stabbed
- and killed
In so doing He showed that man in his nature hates God and will kill God if given the chance. It is through the incredible restraint of God that He fully shows His deep love for this manner of sinful man.
The measure of meekness is seen in gentleness, humility, and restraint. Mike Mowery defines meekness as "strength under control." God defines meekness in Jesus. The only way to approach meek is to submit to Christ and shift your focus from yourself to God first and then to others.
June 17, 2007 5:28 AM