Blessed are the meek. Does that mean ‘geek’?

Pete Alwinson:
Blessed are the meek. Does that mean ‘geek’?, on this edition of Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life. We’re here to let you know that because of what Jesus has done, God will never be angry at you again. Pete Alwinson is a former pastor, founder of ForgeTruth.com and the author of Like Father Like Son. And he’s been teaching us all this week.

Pete Alwinson:
Hey, thanks Matthew. I appreciate you listening in to Key Life. My name is Pete Alwinson and I’m sitting in this week for Steve Brown. It’s a real privilege to have been with you and to kind of wrap things up this week. We’ve been looking in the Beatitudes and we’re looking at the third Beatitude today.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Oh, my goodness. What is Jesus talking about here? I want you to know, in complete honesty, this has been the most difficult Beatitude for me ever to really understand because when I hear the word meek, I think geek. And most of my ministry these days is to men. And men struggling in America are really wrestling with what does it mean to be a man, at the beginning of the 21st century? So, when Jesus says.

Blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the earth.

It’s really a challenge to understand. When he says meek, he’s not saying weak, and he’s not saying geek. The New American Standard translates it gentle. But the ESV and the NIV translations of the Bible, along with the Old King James translate meek from the Greek, as meek. And that’s the best way to understand, basically it means mild or soft. Sometimes it means a soothing wind or medicine that has helped ease the pain that your word praus in the Greek means a soothing wind or medicine that helped ease the pain, but catch this. This is the most helpful for me. The word praus or meek was also use of the breaking of a wild animal, like a horse, the breaking of a horse, something strong that could then be used by the writer. And so, I really liked that. And I think that that is an understanding of the word meek, of what it means for us, that today for men and for women living in America in a very, a time of great self assertion that Jesus says to us.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the kingdom.

And so this is crucial. We need to dive into this a little bit more because we live in very, very stressful times. I mean, the last thing I want to be is meek. I listen to the news and I want to throw something at the TV set. Now that may not be you, you may be going along much easier with these times, but a lot of my friends and a lot of the guys, I know are wrestling with the economy or with decisions that are made by politicians. And they don’t want to be meek. But it’s important to understand that what Jesus is saying is that he is calling us to have strength under control. Now, let me tell you a couple of things about the beatitudes real quick, before we look more at that. First of all. I want you to understand that these Beatitudes are meant to be lived right now. This is for now, we’ve looked at poor in spirit. We’ve looked at mourning over their sin and now, we’re looking at meek. These commands are meant for us to live in the here and now, not for the millennium, not for the kingdom to come, not for the eternal state, but for right now. Secondly, as we think about these Beatitudes, it’s important to understand that we can’t live these ourselves. Yeah. I mean, you can’t just put these on, this is how we’re supposed to live, but we have to be empowered by God to live this way. So, all of these Beatitudes really reveal a work of the Spirit in us. And then third, we need to understand these Beatitudes intellectually, so that we can cooperate with God practically and diligently, in specific ways. I have to discipline myself, to be meek. And then lastly, it’s important to understand that all of these Beatitudes build on themselves. And without Jesus, we would never ever be able to do these things ourselves. That’s important, also to grasp that in Jesus’ day, when he laid these out on the Sermon on the Mount, remember there were crowds of people who were all around him, crowds of the poor, crowds of the disenfranchised, groups of people who are trying to figure out their life. But there were also Roman soldiers and there were Scribes and Pharisees who thought they were, legalistically a hundred percent good with God. But the Pharisees were proud and in denial and they certainly weren’t meek. And neither were the Sadducees, they were playing political ball with the Romans. They just wanted to get along, to go along. The Essenes had left society. The Zealots were trying to kill the Romans and the rest of the people were just trying to get along. They were fearful of everybody. And so, when Jesus comes in and says, blessed are the meek, he’s really making a profound statement that is based on the other two, Beatitudes that went before. So, it’s important to understand that that, blessed are those who are meek, comes from those who first of all are poor in spirit. You see, if you’re poor in spirit, you know you don’t have anything to offer God. And then, because you know you don’t have anything to offer God. And because the Spirit of God is at work in your life, you actually see your own sin for what it is. You’re not blaming other people. You’re looking at your own sin and therefore you become meek before the God of the universe. You come to him and you say, Lord, I need your work in my life. And that’s how we can understand some of these great men of the past, like Abraham and Joseph and Moses and David and Jeremiah and even Paul, God brought them to the end of themselves. And they were poor in spirit. They mourned over their sins. They trusted in God. They looked ahead to the Messiah as we look back to the Messiah and we become meek. Now what happens and what do we look like if we become meek? Why does it make us happy? Well, meekness really is knowing God’s will and seeking to do it, in a world that’s going in a completely different direction. I mean, there are times when I have an authority problem, I will admit, but in reality, the gospel calls us to swim upstream, to go against culture. And I am actually meek when I follow God’s way and not the world’s way. Meekness is not giving into wickedness or wicked beliefs. Meekness is really not being afraid to stand against wickedness or that which is wrong and standing up and talking against it. Meekness is not laziness. It’s not a lack of planning. It’s not being even mild mannered. I mean, you could be intense. You can be a planner, a perfectionist, borderline OCD, and still be meek as you come before God and say, God, I want you to control my life. Meekness, catch this, meekness is not, not having an opinion. It’s liking a particular type of food for instance, but not demanding. It’s preferring to do one thing and giving up that one thing for what is better for the majority, for your family. Meekness is not always just being nice. It’s being truthful in a kind and loving and straightforward way. Meekness is when someone asks you, if you’ve been vaccinated and you have not, but feel the pressure to be accepted, to save with a smile. You know, I keep my medical decisions, confidential. Meekness is not saying yes to everyone all the times, but setting priorities, according to God’s will. Meekness is not being afraid to tell someone what you really believe. Meekness is not settling for peace at every price. Meekness is being willing to disturb another person because of your deep beliefs and love for them and concern that they understand Jesus as Messiah. Meekness is knowing your identity in Christ and being that, being the deeply beloved, redeemed daughter and son of the most high God. Meekness, catch this, is knowing your identity. It’s not a having a thin skin, but it’s having a big heart. Meekness is not exuding self pity or being a victim. Meekness is saying why not me, rather than why me? If you will think about meekness being built on poor in spirit and mourning over your sin. If you will think of meekness as a work of the Holy Spirit in your life, making a strong person like you, being under control of the more powerful Holy Spirit willingly, you will understand meekness. Look at the promise.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

What an incredible promise that is, that we shall inherit the land, Psalm 37:11 says.

But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Luke says.

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

The more I think about grace that triumphs over my hard heart, makes me poor in spirit, makes me mourn over my own sin, makes me know the love of God. I love this idea of becoming meek. Grace makes strong people who are under the power of a Holy God of the universe. You take it to heart.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Pete. Pete Alwinson there, wrapping up a great week of learning about the Beatitudes. If you missed any episodes, be sure to visit us at keylife.org to listen to those for free. And if you just need one more fix of Pete, I don’t blame you. Be sure to join us again tomorrow, when Pete will join Steve for another epic Friday Q&A. Well, Valentine’s day has come and gone, but long after those chocolates have been eaten and all those cards have been tossed, we will still be talking about love. And why not? It’s what we need more than anything. Steve spoke about this in a powerful sermon called All the World Needs is Love. It’s a tremendous sermon about what love is, how it’s expressed and the life-changing impact it has. Get it on CD for free, by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that CD. If you’d like to mail your request, send it to

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