Day 3#Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth!
I think the most important question we can ask of all bliss is: How does this bliss relate to God? Today, then, the question is,
HOW IS HUMILITY RELATED TO GOD?
This question would have to occupy the first place in our minds because, if we do not have an answer, we will not be able to fulfill the objective of our Lord in this sermon. He said in verse 16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
Jesus pronounced the Sermon on the Mount so that his Father could obtain the glory for how the disciples lived. His goal was to create a lifestyle in his disciples that would remind people of the importance of God. So, if people are humble simply because they have always been discouraged as children because their parents never raised their voices or because they have a special metabolism, then how can humility remember the glory of God?
Jesus is not interested in simply reforming manners or transforming personalities. The first request of the Our Father, which is the center of this sermon, is, "Hallowed be your name!" This was the passion of our Lord's life. Therefore, it is the passion for us. And we should ask ourselves, how does humility relate to God? In what way does becoming humble and being humble favor the sanctification of God's name?
In answering this question, in fact, we will discover that humility is something very beautiful, although it can be very painful.
AN ALUSION TO THE PSALM 37
Perhaps the best starting point is in Psalm 37, since it is almost certain that this bliss is a quote or an allusion to Psalm 37:11, which says, "The humble will possess the earth, and delight in abundant prosperity. " In the Old Testament in Greek the words of Psalm 37:11 are almost identical to those in Matthew 5: 5, which says, "The humble will inherit the earth." And the word that in Greek and in Hebrew corresponds to "earth" in the sense of "country" also means "earth" in the sense of "planet."
Let's try to understand what it means to be humble in this Psalm and how this relates to God.
THE HUMBLE THAT WAIT IN THE LORD
Notice the parallel between verse 11 and verse 9. Verse 11 says, "The humble will possess the land." Verse 9b says, "But those who hope in the LORD will possess the land." I would conclude, then, that first the humble are people who wait on the Lord, but what does it mean to wait on the Lord?
We have an image of those who wait on the Lord, that is, the humble, if we read verses 5-8.
- Commit to the LORD your way, trust in Him, that He will act; 6) will shine your justice as light, and your right as noon. 7) Trust quietly in the LORD and wait patiently; do not be irritated because of the one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out his intrigues. 8) Leave anger and abandon anger; do not irritate yourself, you would only do the bad.
How are these people who, according to verse 11, are humble and, according to verse 9, wait on the Lord? Well, verse 5 says that they entrust their way to the Lord and that they trust in the Lord. Verse 7 says that they trust in the Lord quietly and do not get upset because of those who prosper in their way. Verse 8 says that they give up anger and forsake wrath.
A PORTRAIT OF THE HUMBLE
Now let's try to summarize everything to create a portrait of the humble.
1.- Trust in God
The first thing the humble do is trust in God (verse 5b). They believe that they will act in their favor and will sustain them when others are against them. The humility of the Bible is rooted in the deep confidence that God is next to you and not against you.
2.- Encomienda the Lord His Way
Then, the humble commend their way to the Lord (verse 5a). The Hebrew word for "to entrust" literally means "to roll." The humble have discovered that God is trustworthy, that is why they roll their "way" - their affairs, their problems, their relationships, their health, their fears, their frustrations, they roll all these things on the Lord. unable to cope with the complexity and pressures and obstacles of life, and believe that God can and wants to support and guide and protect them.
3.- Trust in the Lord in silence and wait for Him
Then, according to verse 7a, the humble trust the Lord quietly and wait patiently on Him. First, they discover that they can trust in God. Then, second, they entrust their way to Him. And then, third, they wait patiently silenced for the works of God in their lives.
This does not mean that they become lazy. It means that they stop worrying. They enjoy a kind of stable tranquility that comes from the confidence that God is almighty, that He has his affairs under his control, and that He is merciful and that He will make everything go well. The humble have a silent stability with respect to their lives in the midst of turmoil.
4.- Do not get impatient because of the Impios
Your fourth characteristic (verse 7b) is that you do not get impatient because of the impios that prospers in your way. Or, as verse 8 says, they abandon anger. His family and his work and his life are in the sovereign hands of God; they trust in Him, wait quietly in Him with patience to see how their power and benevolence will operate; so adversities and obstacles and those who oppose them in life do not produce the kind of bitterness, anger and worry that is so common among men.
Therefore, the picture we have made so far of humility, based on the closest biblical parallelism (in Psalm 37:11) to the third beatitude, is that it begins by trusting in God. This, then, entrusts the way to the Lord, trusting that he will use his power and his mercy to do our good. Then, wait patiently and silently for the result. And, finally, this does not give way to anger and worries when confronted with oppositions and obstacles.
Humility begins with God and ends with God. Therefore, if we see such a person, we give God the glory and the goal of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is fulfilled.
for they will inherit the earth.
The Effect Jesus Wants You to Have This Promise
There is a passage in 1 Corinthians 3 that has helped me see how the promise to inherit the earth strengthens our humility. In verses 18-23, Paul tries to help us overcome pride. The Corinthians boast of having different teachers and their earthly wisdom. Therefore, Paul says,
Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written: He is THE ONE WHO BRINGS THE WISE INTO HIS OWN ASTUCIA. AND ALSO: THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS OF THE WISE, WHICH ARE UNSUCCESSFUL. So let no one boast in men, because everything is yours: either Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or the present, or what is to come, everything is yours, and you of Christ, and Christ of God.
Observe the logic in verse 21: No one boast in men, BECAUSE everything is yours, and one of the things mentioned is the world. Do not boast, because the world is yours. Does it make sense to you?
Humility Prevents Revenge and Defense
So we can add the following to our portrait of humility: not only trust in God, entrust the way to God, wait with patience in God and avoid anger; it also avoids revenge and defense. Humility gives way to anger and leaves its vindication to God. Humility is the power to absorb adversity and criticism without becoming irritated.
Humility is not good, if it means absence of passion, conviction and even indignation for the glory of God. What it means is that we do not have to react at once, but our attitude has to be that of someone who is willing to listen and to learn. It means that we have to be slow to criticize a person, condemn it and get angry.
Receiving the Word with humility means not having a hostile spirit that resists when they teach it to us. It does not mean that we have to be naive and that we do not have to be angry about what some people teach. Verse 19 says that you have to be "LATE for anger" and not that you should never experience it. Jesus said in Matthew 11:29, "I am gentle and humble of heart." However, Mark 3: 5 says that he was angry and saddened by the hardness of the Pharisees' hearts; and in Matthew 21:12 a cont. He drove the merchants from the temple overturning their tables.
"But wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, kind, condescending ..." Observe the reason that truly wise people are also humble, is that true wisdom is peaceful, kind and condescending. However, these are characteristics of humility! Is not it extraordinary that biblical wisdom and biblical humility are the same thing?
Being like a child is the greatest evidence of humility and meekness, in the book of Ephesians 4.2 we read about meekness "we must bear with one another in love", since the meek do not get offended easily, the meek ones are patients, submissive, humble and patiently guard the offenses so as not to bring strife.
to be gentle is a fruit of the spirit, it is an attitude of the soul, which every Christian must possess, and is closely linked with other virtues, which we must practice in order to enjoy the rewards of the kingdom of God.
as that beautiful song says: "for the glory of Jehovah is great, because Jehovah is exalted in his ways, because Jehovah attends the humble but looks afar off at the haughty" this is a beautiful beatitude that fills the spirit.
Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches it clearly, learn from me that I am gentle and humble of heart, that is, humility and meekness does not have to do if we are rich or poor, it has nothing to do with our dress, but what we have in our heart.
Meekness is synonymous with greatness, synonymous with freedom, synonymous with peace.
We must develop this virtue of spirit, remembering the promise of God. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth!"
The meek ones, who possessed themselves, will possess the inheritance of the Father in the future life. And more is to have to have, since many things that we have we lose them instantly.