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Being Meek: Keeping the Third Beatitude
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)
Matthew 5–7 recalls Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus presents nine Beatitudes and two Similitudes (Matthew 5:3–16). Each directly correlates, in order, to each of the Ten Commandments (first Beatitude = first Commandment, etc.; both Similitudes = tenth commandment). Jesus preached them on a rugged hillside in Capernaum to explain more thoroughly what each Commandment means since so many in His audience did not fully understand them, including the religious leaders.
What is Beatitude? They are simply instructions or ways for people to be blessed. It is vital to note that they do not explain how to be blessed but who is blessed and why.
Jesus’ audience learned that everything they believed about God’s commandments was wrong. They found they have much more profound, personal meanings than we think, directly applying to our identity in Christ.
One such Beatitude is Beatitude #3 in Matthew 5:5.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Jesus bases His words on Psalm 37:9–11.
“For evildoers shall be cut off. But those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more…
