Blessed Are the Meek

 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
(Mat 5:5 KJ2000)


J. Paul Getty had a rejoinder to this.  "The meek shall inherit the earth," he said, "but not the mineral rights."  Without knowing it, he has given us the key to understanding this passage. 

Getty was once asked how much money was "enough."  His answer was simply, "More."  In this attitude we see the world's view of "who wins."  The winners are the powerful, the strong, those who can take what they want.  The purpose of life is to accumulate more and more possessions.  But then what?

Our Lord gives us a very different view.  He says the meek shall inherit the earth.  But just who are the meek?

The word can also be translated "gentle."  So at the very least these are not those who are the pushy and aggressive so favored by our modern thought.

The word is sometimes rendered "humble."  Remember that the Bible tells us that Moses was a humble man, so humility is not the opposite of greatness.

Humility starts with an honest evaluation of yourself—by the standards of God.  Things look different from that viewpoint.

Because pride does not cloud their view, the meek can discern what is good, and what is evil—and choose wisely.

Meekness carries with it the ability to withstand evil—not with the weapons of the world, but with patient endurance.  The storm may lash the rock, but it remains a rock when the storm is gone.
The meek are those whose actions are governed by a love of God, and their fellow men. 
At the very least these are the kind of people who will enjoy this earth much more while they are here—for they are not concerned with scraping more of it into their back pockets.  Getty was a man who was owned by his mineral rights.

The key to this passage is in the verb—"inherit."  You do not earn an inheritance, it is given to you.  So if you go out to conquer the earth, you cannot inherit it.  But if you remain among the meek, our Lord promises that you shall inherit it.  The day of the New Heaven and New Earth will see new owners evidently—the meek shall then inherit.  It is good to know that they will enjoy this planet much more while they're waiting for it, as well.