The Blessings of Mournfulness and Meekness

Read Matthew 5:4-5

The opening theme of the Sermon on the Mount is that those who mourn over their own impoverished ability are in Jesus’ kingdom. The Pharisees do not fit. This was radical—it was like telling all those who thought they were “in” with God that they really were not. And then Jesus builds on this.

“Blessed” or “God’s favor rests upon those who mourn.”

Description—This blessing is not merely upon the bereaved; many grieve who are un-saved or un-blessed. The promised comfort is not primarily for those who mourn some sorrow in life, although God does often draw near to those who are saddened, with the loss of a loved one or some other grievous burden.  But in this context, it refers to those who mourn their poverty of spirit. We must keep the first Beatitude in view to see this. This spiritual mourning may also be the sorrow or contrition of repentance. We should mourn when we see how rebellious and hostile we’ve been toward God. This mourning is, “over the felt destitution of our spiritual state and over the iniquities that have separated us from God.”[1]

To mourn is to have personal grief over sin. A person like this is “Blessed” or “Happy;” he has God’s approval. Are you like this? Have you and do you ever mourn because of your sinfulness? Or do you take it all too lightly and exhort Christians to “smile because God loves you.” Our pleasure-dispensing, joy-seeking culture teaches us to grab the gusto with joy and hilarity. But Jesus said, “blessed are mourners.”

Ecclesiastes advises that it is better to go to the house of mourning than the feast of laughter.   This teaches, as Calvin noted, “that we are happy in the midst of miseries.” This turns many normal expectations upside down. “This paradox . . . contradicts the [conventional wisdom] of men,” who tend to think they are only happy if self-fulfilled.[2]

Prescription—The promise for this description is: “They shall be comforted” or “Their situation shall be cured or remedied.” This is done first by true conversion and then continually afterward by the presence of the Holy Comforter in every situation of life. Terry Johnson puts it this way: “God is not only the God of the victors or the God of the Triumphant, nor the Happy God. Yes, he brings joy and deep satisfaction, but God does not have a smiley face as a prerequisite; he is near even to the sad and mournful.”[3]

It is good for us to mourn with those who mourn. Often the most sympathetic and caring of Christians are the ones who can weep with us. A person who is so busy or so unmoveable may not be the strongest Christian. It may be the one who weeps who is strong.

Like most of the beatitudes, the one blessed by Christ is the one who has done without. In the first one, the poor in spirit have done without great spiritual blessings. Likewise here, the mourners may do without obvious joy. Rather than kicking those out of the kingdom, Jesus issues a “blessed.” Mournfulness brings its own blessings.

“Blessed are the meek.”

Meekness is usually associated with a weak, doormat type, who lacks courage to stand up or else is unsure and insecure – spineless. Suffice it to say that there is little applause for meekness in a culture that prizes accomplishment over character. However, we need to look deeper than our current usage of this term to understand what Jesus taught here.

Description—In Greek, ‘meek’ is a strong word. According to Aristotle it meant the happy medium between excessive anger and passivity. A second use was for an animal (e. g., a stallion) when broken or domesticated. The powerful stallion was strong, but under a bridle it could be used positively rather than just forcefully. Thus, it meant ‘Power under control.’ To be meek, then, means to let God control your passions and to use them constructively for others. This is supremely true of Jesus (Mt. 11:28).

The biblical concept of meekness does not imply softness or weakness. It does not mean wimpy. We know this because of whom the Bible sets before us as the premier examples of meekness. The Old Testament model of meekness is Moses (Numbers 12:3), and the New Testament example is Jesus (Matthew 11:29). Whatever biblical meekness is, it is not being a doormat. All we have to do is to think of Moses confronting Pharaoh or to think of Jesus with a scourge of cords driving the moneychangers out of the temple.

The root of Biblical meekness is a total dedication to the will of God, out of which grows both gentleness and strength.  Though Moses was raised as a prince in Egypt, he chose to identify with God’s people in spite of their low position as persecuted slaves. In submission to God’s will for his life, he left his luxurious station in Egypt and endured forty years of obscurity as a shepherd in the wilderness. After his encounter with the LORD at the burning bush, Moses obediently returned to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, the most powerful man on earth, not with military might but in the power of the living God. When the redeemed masses of Israel lacked faith to enter the Promised Land, Moses continued as their leader and wandered with them in the wilderness. Moses finally submitted without complaint to God’s judgment upon him that he could see the Promised Land from a distance but not enter it himself. Here we see a selfless submission to the divine will which resulted in a forceful boldness when confronting God’s enemies combined with a patient gentleness when shepherding God’s people.

Meekness is this gentleness rooted in a devotion to God’s cause and a confidence in God’s strength.

Watching the NBA finals this week reminded me of a vivid impression left by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. Jordan’s team was down by 20 points. This great player began to contest every shot; he scrapped for every rebound, swiped at every pass. He was aggressive, nearly ruthless. But in each play he was supremely talented and powerful. He was a scoring machine and a fortress on defense. Overpowering is the word that came to mind.  The next week, however, Jordan was meek. He had all the same power that he’d shown in the previous game. It was just that he had the ball stolen several times in the next game. He was blocked out from collecting rebounds, he couldn’t hit a basket because of the tough defensive pressure, and he turned the ball over repeatedly. The difference? He was playing in a benefit game against disabled students. He let them steal the ball from him. He let them beat him. He had all the power of the previous game, but it was just governed, under control.

That is the kind of meekness God wants us to have. 1 Peter 3:15 speaks about answering those who inquire about our faith with meekness and gentleness. That certainly does not mean with wimpiness. Rather, it means that we answer with real conviction, but tempered with a controlled gentleness.

Ligon Duncan said that meekness is more interested in the character of God, allowing God to defend the believer. “Meekness is the abdication of our rights. It is the person who is ready to say, “I will not stand on my rights, I will not demand to have my way. I will be concerned about the interests of others, and about the cause of God, and I will let God care for me.” “A lion in God’s cause,” Matthew Henry once said, “must be a lamb in his own.”[4]

Dr. Duncan goes on to apply:

How will this meekness affect our apologetic manner? It will eliminate any defensiveness, any proud concern about our winning the argument, any protective sensitivity about our reputation. It will give us patience. It will enable us to ignore personal affronts. It will enable us to maintain a quiet dignity. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that the meek will inherit the earth. The meek will also prevail in defending the faith. The meek are those who care the least about obtaining any personal honor and acclaim, and they are also those most likely to win the apologetic victory.

Jesus says that this type of person—not the over-achievers, not the success story, not the famous one, but the meek—they will inherit the earth. Christians will inherit the earth in two ways (1) with Christ as our Lord, our inheritance can never be defiled or perish (1 Pet 1:4) & (2) one day we will inherit the New Earth. Are you meek? Power under God’s controlling hand.

“Meekness,” wrote J. B. Shearer a century ago, “is the companion grace of humility and repentance. It is gentleness, freedom from self-assertion, freedom from unholy ambition. . . . Whatever else this meekness may be, the Pharisee laid no claim to it. He was the very opposite, self-assertive, resentful of injury, vengeful, proud, and malignant.”[5]

J.C. Ryle commented: “Those with a patient and contented spirit . . . are willing to put up with little honor here below; they can bear injuries without resentment; they are not quick to take offense. These are never ‘losers’ in the long run.”[6]

Take these first two beatitudes this week and focus on them—Just these two for starters. Learn to know God and yourself better by looking at yourself in the mirror of these beatitudes. Are you growing in these areas? You only will by God’s Spirit.

• Look for opportunities to mourn with the broken-hearted.
• Pray that God will make you meek; it may take a while.
• Above all, you are blessed when you are out of spiritual reserves, if you depend on God. That is what Jesus wanted his people to do. Blessing lies in dependence on God.

These eight virtues are descriptive of every Christian. Jesus is not describing the monastic or clerical few. These are not the characteristics of only a spiritual elite. They are the qualities of all true Christians. Every true disciple of Christ is known by these Beatitudes. The commentators point out that the repetition of “theirs” throughout the Beatitudes separates believers from unbelievers. Only those who are characterized by these beatitudes receive the blessing of God. No one else does. True believers are being described, and they alone receive the Kingdom of God.

The poor in spirit, says Jesus, are blessed, favored, or approved. God is pleased with them and to them he promises the kingdom of heaven. Heaven, you see is not awarded to the good, the talented, the sufficient, or the charming. To the contrary, it is given to the meek, the humble, and the spiritually bankrupt. These opening blessings exhibit a divine grace.

Ligon Duncan notes that the Beatitudes challenge us to ponder what it means to be blessed? Most people ask that question. Jesus answers it for us: “The ones who are blessed are those who are humble, and penitent, who grieve over sin, and are meek and gentle. Those are the ones who are blessed. . . . [These] words are . . . more radical in our world than they are in the day in which Christ spoke them. For these standards of blessing are diametrical opposites to what the world holds up to us day by day: self-importance, self-aggrandizement, self-fulfillment, self-satisfaction, these are the things which make blessedness we are told today. Christ comes to us and He says: ‘No, true blessedness begins with a loss of self, self-denial.’”[7]

So as we continue through these Beatitudes, it may be a good time for a mid-year review. Are these the goals for your life? Would these virtues either define your actual character or would they reflect your aspirations? Why not, if Jesus thought so highly of them? Would these form a working list for an opening in a job description? Perhaps to find true happiness, we need to turn back to these gospel truths and away from the evangelical fads of today. The first gospel emphasized these as pleasing our Lord.