The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch
"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."
Matthew 5:5
My first thought when writing this post was to use the dictionary at my desk in order for us to get a better understanding of the word meek, but I am so glad that I remembered someone saying how much better the 1828 Webster's Dictionary was at getting the meaning of the word. So I went to my computer and looked it up. Here is what I found:
MEEK, a. [L. mucus; Eng. mucilage; Heb. to melt.]
For the very best example of meekness we can look at the life of Jesus Christ. One of the best resources I have found in which to look into the life of Jesus, other than the Bible that is, is a great book, The Desire of Ages . For today's study, I think we will look specifically at chapter 77~ "In Pilate's Judgment Hall." If I remember correctly this is the chapter that stood out to me so much because of the way that Jesus acted while He was being so mistreated.
"Standing behind Pilate, in view of all in the court, Christ heard the abuse; but to all the false charges against Him He answered not a word. His whole bearing gave evidence of conscious innocence. He stood unmoved by the fury of the waves that beat about Him. It was as if the heavy surges of wrath, rising higher and higher, like the waves of the boisterous ocean, broke about Him, but did not touch Him. He stood silent, but His silence was eloquence. It was as a light shining from the inner to the outer man." Desire of Ages pg. 726
"Herod with his men of war set Him at nought, and mocked Him, and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe." The Roman soldiers joined in this abuse. All that these wicked, corrupt soldiers, helped on by Herod and the Jewish dignitaries, could instigate was heaped upon the Saviour. Yet His divine patience failed not." pg. 731
"Satan led the cruel mob in its abuse of the Saviour. It was his purpose to provoke Him to retaliation if possible, or to drive Him to perform a miracle to release Himself, and thus break up the plan of salvation. One stain upon His human life, one failure of His humanity to endure the terrible test, and the Lamb of God would have been an imperfect offering, and the redemption of man a failure. But He who by a command could bring the heavenly host to His aid--He who could have driven that mob in terror from His sight by the flashing forth of His divine majesty--submitted with perfect calmness to the coarsest insult and outrage.
Christ's enemies had demanded a miracle as evidence of His divinity. They had evidence far greater than any they had sought. As their cruelty degraded His torturers below humanity into the likeness of Satan, so did His meekness and patience exalt Jesus above humanity, and prove His kinship to God."
pg. 734
What an awesome example we have in Jesus Christ!
"The meek "shall inherit the earth." It was through the desire for self-exaltation that sin entered into the world, and our first parents lost the dominion over this fair earth, their kingdom. It is through self-abnegation that Christ redeems what was lost. And He says we are to overcome as He did. Revelation 3:21. Through humility and self-surrender we may become heirs with Him when "the meek shall inherit the earth." Psalm 37:11." Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings pg. 17
This might be a tall order, but and order that He can and will fulfill through us if we all Him to do so.
Philippians 4:13
Good Morning Sunshine :)
ReplyDeleteThe same Greek word translated meek in Mt. 5:5 is also used in Gal. 5:23, where it is usually translated gentleness, and there it is part of the fruit of the Spirit. Only as Jesus' Spirit guides us do we give up the greedy violence that seeks to grasp more and more of the earth (either as individuals or as groups or nations)--and instead remain patiently gentle, knowing that in the end we will inherit the earth from our loving Father.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Renee!
ReplyDeleteJesusandtheBible- Thanks so much for sharing that-it was a blessing to me.
Have a wonderful day! :O)