Inheritance is always a difficult matter to deal with, perhaps because most assets are not listed in a will, even where there are multiple beneficiaries. Unhappiness, shouting, fighting, court cases because of greed and want could easily be part of contesting a will. Would the diseased have wanted that? This is why it would be prudent for everyone to have a will with specific instructions about disposal. Something else that is important is to comment on is being “meek”. Today “meek” is seen as “weak”. However a meek person might well be strong in character, personality, determination and will. The Third Beatitude is:
Mt 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
To remind us, the word “blessed” means happy or congratulations. The Lord Jesus sees those who acknowledge they are spiritually bankrupt and mourning about this condition worthy of being congratulated. They are people who see themselves so spiritually deficient because of sin before a God who is so holy that they, because of being ashamed and embarrassed seek through prayer to be holy and blameless because they live within the sight of God. As pointed out, the one leads to the next … and in this case meekness follows mourning!
1) The passion must be for meekness. The Greek adjective means gentile, mild, meek, humble, courteous or considerate. There is simply no way one could demonstrate meekness without self-control. This is why this beatitude comes after mourning! Once one has been prayerful and intentional about personal sin and sinful attitudes and being delivered thereof, the process of “meekness” may commence. There are two illustrations here …
(1) The godly wife. Being a wife must not be easy! Personally I believe most wives, especially the godly ones work harder and struggle far more than their husbands. As Peter teaches about how a Christian wife needs to conduct herself, he says under inspiration:
1 Pet 3:4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
Beauty he says must be inner beauty brought about by “a gentle and quiet spirit”. Meek translated “gentle” here is qualified by “quiet spirit”. This does not mean she does not talk. Rather it means she does not respond to being provoked. It’s like that old saying when we were children … “stick and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me.” In other words, she is slow to respond. She does not retaliate. Inner beauty is because the Holy Spirit is resident in the heart.
(2) The serving King. Jesus entered Jerusalem seated upon the foal of a donkey according to prophecy delivered by Zechariah:
Mt 21:5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
He is not an earthly king. He is the King of Glory, yet He does not come on a white stallion as a commanding general or a victorious king … he comes on a donkey. Notice the way He rides the donkey … gentle! He had all the right to be puffed up as the Godman, yet He was “meek” … and further meekness was displayed through the means of transport used. This signified a different warfare with a different outcome, once victorious. The fight and the battle were spiritual and meekness is a spiritual gift coupled to self-control! As you read …
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control
… you notice that the last two fruits of the Spirit are “gentleness … meekness” and “self-control”. Without serious, intentional prayer, neither of these will be manifest within a believer! The Christian is able to overcome the harassment of the world, the belittling of pagans, the harsh treatment in the market place and the burdens brought on in a godless home because the believer is a man or woman of prayer!
2) The positive is an inheritance. If being “meek” is hard, look to the positive of an inheritance. Humanly speaking, one ought never to look forward to gaining wealth and enrichment through a possible inheritance. I recall a family waiting and waiting for years for a settlement from an estate in Zimbabwe to arrive. They borrowed money against the possibility of future riches … which never came! The inheritance mentioned here has nothing to do with earthly wealth and riches. Christianity has nothing to do with that which is tangible and easily lost. Christianity is about eternal matters, not earthly and worldly matters. This is why later in the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus says:
Mt 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness”
Why? Because:
Mt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Right now, the Body of Christ enjoys:
Eph 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
And what we will inherit is guaranteed!
Eph 1:13 Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Israel were promised an inheritance called the Promised Land. There were conditions for the security of their inheritance. They lost their land due to failing to keep God’s conditions. The New Testament writers take the Promised Land concept and use it as the Messiah’s reign where all partakers in Eternal Salvation will enjoy the Messiah’s Kingdom as their allotment.
3) The prize will be the Earth. The concept of “earth” could be arable land, the ground on which you stand, land opposed to sea and sky, country as in a territory … but it also means the earth as a whole, a place inhabited … man’s home!
(a) Those who are meek inherit the earth, as it is now, but under the reign of Jesus’ Gospel. In this way we are able to see ourselves as Gospel people loving our neighbors as ourselves.
(b) There is a coming world called the New Heavens and Earth.
2 Pet 3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
This is what we have in our mind’s eye. This is eternity. This is where Jesus finally reigns over His Kingdom people in His presence. Meek therefore refers to those who have tempered their emotions to be shaped by the Gospel and conform to the “meekness” of our Glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
O Lord, we long to be with You in Glory, yet whilst we are here on this earth help us to shape up spiritually. Amen.