The Meek Shall Inherit the Land

  • Thread starter Thread starter Augustine3
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Augustine3

Guest
What does our Lord mean when he said “the meek shall inherit the land” (Matthew 5:5)?
 
Augustine3 said:
What does our Lord mean when he said “the meek shall inherit the land” (Matthew 5:5)?
Click to expand...
I understand Him as saying that those who humble and peaceable, and do not overly strive for riches and position in this world will be rewarded with riches in the next. The saying should be understood as a contradiction of human wisdom which says that we only gain by striving and by pushing ourselves ahead of others.
 
Briefly, when the will of our Heavenly Father comes to this earth, the earth will be restored according to Isaiah and many of the early church fathers, when ‘the lion will eat straw like the ox’, etc. This will be an era of peace.

According to several early church fathers, there will be mortal beings living on the earth at this time, who will have survived the judgments of Revelation, and who will repopulate the earth. These might be referred to as the ‘meek’. There will also be the resurrection of the just, who will reign with Christ in incorruptible bodies. These distinctions are spoken of by Bishop Papias, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Lactantius and others.
 
Meek in the bible meant teachable. Modern language sees meekness as someone who is unable to defend themselves or someone who is a victim, but in the Bible, someone who was meek was able to be taught.

The statement that the meek shall inherit the land was part of the greater discourse of the Sermon on the Mount, the beginning of which are the beatitudes from which this statement is taken. Using a series of statements given in a specific order, each one building on the previous was one of the rabinnical teaching techniques used by rabbis of the time. The beatitudes are exactly that, a series, each one building on the other.

Beatitude means blessedness, or happiness, and the beatitudes are a path to happiness, starting with being poor in spirit.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

When we first come to God, we are poor in spirit. We become aware of our own smallness and insignificance in comparison to God, and we become aware of who we are in relation to God - God is the creator of the universe and we are dust whom God holds in existence and breathes life into. Poor in spirit can be thought of as humility - not humiliation - but a right ordering of where we belong in creation and who we are in relation to God. Humility - poor in spirit - is the first step toward happiness and one of the foundational virtues. Knowing your order and place in creation is the first step and you can’t go far in the spiritual life if you are filled with pride.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

Once we reach a state of humility, we will look at our behavior honestly, and see ourselves for what we really are. A humble person who honestly evaluates his sin will mourn for what he has done to offend God.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. (Matthew 5:5)

The word “Meek” has negative connotations today. We think of the meek as sheepish, as victims, unable or unwilling to defend themselves. But in the Bible, one who is meek is one who is teachable. In spite of what we see in the movies and with all due respect to Charlton Heston, Moses was meek. Moses was teachable. When we reach a state where we mourn for how we have offended God, we become open to correction. We become teachable. We become pliable in God’s hands, and he can begin to shape us into what he wants us to be.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)

This is my favorite. I know a man who is at this stage right now. He is teachable, and has responded positively to some of the little things God has shown him, has begun to do as God is teaching him, and God has rewarded him with a taste of what heaven is like. Now he hungers and thirst for righteousness, and God walks with him constantly, as if he is right beside him at all times, helping him through all of his troubles and struggles. This is a fun place to be.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7)

Those who hunger for righteousness, having responded to God’s teaching and tasted God’s presence, will begin to “do unto other’s as you would have done unto you.” These are beginning to live a life of charity, a life of love toward their fellow man.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Here we begin to live a pure life, putting away sin to the point that not only do we not commit sin, but we do not desire to commit sin. Sin becomes abhorrent to us, and at later stages, even the memory of our past sins fade. We are now starting to live a life of purity, and here God is taking away our natural inclination to sin. Here Christ is living in us (like he lived inside Mary ) and working through us, and we are becoming conformed to Christ.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)

Those who have progressed to this point shine the light of Christ into other’s lives, to the point where they bring peace to those they meet. These are people of great joy, who live the life of Christ and bring peace whenever and wherever they can.

And it is here where we can expect persection.

***Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. *(Matthew 5:10-12)

Jesus says that we are blessed if we are persecuted for his sake. We have reached beatitude to the extent that it is possible here on earth. My Godfather was a fighter pilot in Vietnam. He used to say, “You know you are over the target when they start shooting at you.” Heaven is not far off here. Not everyone gets to this place. Not everyone is called to be a martyr but we will all face challenges and resistance to our faith from somewhere in the world.

-Tim-
 
Tim,

Not to sidetrack this thread, but your comments on meekness, leave me thinking about what our Lord Jesus has said to us, “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest unto your souls.”

I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ was meek and lowly of heart towards his Heavenly Father, when we have the same attitude, we will find rest unto our souls also.

“If so be that we suffer with him, in order that we might be glorified together with him”
 
To me, it has meant that finally discovering and adopting a meek outlook on things has actually given me a sense of ownership in all.
 
Alan,

For myself, I think meekness is having a heart that is in submission to the will of God our Father. As human beings we are so inclined towards self-will, that I find this sort of meekness to be very difficult.
 
The last two posts make me so happy.

In our age when humility, meekness, and obedience are signs of weakness and where we are told that only the strong survive, it is nice to hear of people speak of these things in a positive light.

Alan, your comment is profound. I think I know what you mean but would love to hear the idea developed. Please do say more.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
The last two posts make me so happy.

In our age when humility, meekness, and obedience are signs of weakness and where we are told that only the strong survive, it is nice to hear of people speak of these things in a positive light.

Alan, your comment is profound. I think I know what you mean but would love to hear the idea developed. Please do say more.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
I have no will, if I am meek enough, so I blow whatever direction the Spirit sends me. Will has to be either disconnected from ego and/or disabled in itself even if by near-despair. Suddenly I am acting without the burdens of owndership and control, and even cause-effect. It’s just doing, and it’s wonderful. It’s like dancing without either leading nor following, but some other more “participatory” way that requires no effort but it guided strictly by our peripheral consciousness. Kind of like a permanent deja vu maybe. Suddenly it seems that there is no such thing as ownership, so there is no such thing as poverty. That probably sounds strange but maybe I can develop it a little more clearly as time goes on – this is the first time I’ve ever made this stuff up because I’m feeling it now. It’s like the janitor; I can get in anywhere so it may as well all be mine because I am responsible for it.

Does that help? I fear it may be a bit of rambling

Alan
 
TimothyH said:
The last two posts make me so happy.

In our age when humility, meekness, and obedience are signs of weakness and where we are told that only the strong survive, it is nice to hear of people speak of these things in a positive light.

Alan, your comment is profound. I think I know what you mean but would love to hear the idea developed. Please do say more.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
Funny thing is that when Christ said those words (the Greco/Roman Age) meekness and humility were seen as signs of weakness and were not considered virtues at all. Both Aristotle and Plato taught that meekness and humility were the marks of a weak man who never know happiness, and against that backdrop came Christ declaring that the great teachers of mankind have the understanding of happiness exactly upside down.

Which really is not surprising.

God Bless
 
Alan,
Quoting you, “Will has to be either disconnected from ego and/or disabled in itself even if by near-despair.”

I am trying to grasp that action or attitude. There is a scripture, where it says that we have to ‘labor to enter into His rest’. Is this ‘disconnection,’ or ‘disabling’ a laborious process?

Thanks, for any response.
 
mercytruth said:
Alan,
Quoting you, “Will has to be either disconnected from ego and/or disabled in itself even if by near-despair.”

I am trying to grasp that action or attitude. There is a scripture, where it says that we have to ‘labor to enter into His rest’. Is this ‘disconnection,’ or ‘disabling’ a laborious process?

Thanks, for any response.
Click to expand...
For me it involved a 10 years psychotic episode but it doesn’t have to. Contemplation is accessible to everyone, but it’s also a matter of learning how to get oneself out of the way.

It’s kind of like one flying instructor I had; he wouldn’t keep his hands off the wheel. I couldn’t learn anything because I didn’t know what the plane by itself felt like. I only went to him twice; two too many. God can’t come in and renew your mind while you mind is busily trying to figure itself out and justify itself. It’s like trying to sing a lullaby to a noisy crowd – each neuron off in its own little busy-land worrying about whatever it worries about.

The “disabling” is made out to be a romantic process in the Stanzas of the Soul. At least it seems like it to me:

Stanzas of the Soul – by St. John of the Cross

Stanzas Of The Soul
  1. One dark night,
    fired with love’s urgent longings
  • ah, the sheer grace! -
    I went out unseen,
    my house being now all stilled.
  1. In darkness, and secure,
    by the secret ladder, disguised,
  • ah, the sheer grace! -
    in darkness and concealment,
    my house being now all stilled.
  1. On that glad night,
    in secret, for no one saw me,
    nor did I look at anything,
    with no other light or guide
    than the one that burned in my heart.
  2. This guided me
    more surely than the light of noon
    to where he was awaiting me
  • him I knew so well -
    there in a place where no one appeared.
  1. O guiding night!
    O night more lovely than the dawn!
    O night that has united
    the Lover with his beloved,
    transforming the beloved in her Lover.
  2. Upon my flowering breast
    which I kept wholly for him alone,
    there he lay sleeping,
    and I caressing him
    there in a breeze from the fanning cedars.
  3. When the breeze blew from the turret,
    as I parted his hair,
    it wounded my neck
    with its gentle hand,
    suspending all my senses.
  4. I abandoned and forgot myself,
    laying my face on my Beloved;
    all things ceased; I went out from myself,
    leaving my cares
    forgotten among the lilies.
Alan
 
Thank you Alan, for sharing with us that ‘romantic’ contemplative poem by St. John of the Cross

I was just wondering if ‘taking up our cross daily’, is the labor wherein we labor to enter into His rest, and whether the dying to our own will is:

I went out from myself,
leaving my cares
 
mercytruth said:
Thank you Alan, for sharing with us that ‘romantic’ contemplative poem by St. John of the Cross

I was just wondering if ‘taking up our cross daily’, is the labor wherein we labor to enter into His rest, and whether the dying to our own will is:

I went out from myself,
leaving my cares
Click to expand...
That’s how I read it. I have no idea if it’s right; I only read the first couple chapters of the book, and that was almost 10 years ago. But to me, losing the will and letting God take it over have had this effect. I am no longer responsible or authoritative over what I do, but the Spirit does it through me because I do not resist. I see these things are better than what I’d do on my own, so I keep doing them.

I’ve never figured out why it always says, “God is my co-pilot.” I think it’s fun to let God run the show and watch where one goes.

Alan
 
Alan, thank you for sharing these reflections with us. I will be meditating on them.
 
AlanFromWichita said:
I have no will, if I am meek enough, so I blow whatever direction the Spirit sends me. Will has to be either disconnected from ego and/or disabled in itself even if by near-despair. Suddenly I am acting without the burdens of owndership and control, and even cause-effect. It’s just doing, and it’s wonderful. It’s like dancing without either leading nor following, but some other more “participatory” way that requires no effort but it guided strictly by our peripheral consciousness. Kind of like a permanent deja vu maybe. Suddenly it seems that there is no such thing as ownership, so there is no such thing as poverty. That probably sounds strange but maybe I can develop it a little more clearly as time goes on – this is the first time I’ve ever made this stuff up because I’m feeling it now. It’s like the janitor; I can get in anywhere so it may as well all be mine because I am responsible for it.

Does that help? I fear it may be a bit of rambling

Alan
Click to expand...
No, not rambling at all. You actually sound like some of the mystics, the desert fathers of the early Church. It is wonderful.

“It’s just doing”

Guided effortlessly by the Holy Spirit. It is wonderful. I have felt it myself.

Thank you.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
No, not rambling at all. You actually sound like some of the mystics, the desert fathers of the early Church. It is wonderful.

“It’s just doing”

Guided effortlessly by the Holy Spirit. It is wonderful. I have felt it myself.

Thank you.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
This makes my day. I have intended to incorporate thoughts that mystics had with my own. 🙂

Alan
 
AlanFromWichita said:
That’s how I read it. I have no idea if it’s right; I only read the first couple chapters of the book, and that was almost 10 years ago. But to me, losing the will and letting God take it over have had this effect. I am no longer responsible or authoritative over what I do, but the Spirit does it through me because I do not resist. I see these things are better than what I’d do on my own, so I keep doing them.

I’ve never figured out why it always says, “God is my co-pilot.” I think it’s fun to let God run the show and watch where one goes.

Alan
Click to expand...
Makes me think of that Carrie Underwood song “Jesus take the wheel”. Can’t help but think it should continue “… and keep it!”
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top