Jesus – Meek and Mild?

This is part 1 of 1 of Lesson 10: Meekness in the Crucible. Click here to go back to the introduction to this lesson.

Jesus said:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matt 11:29 (KJV)

What did Jesus mean when he said this? ‘Meek’ is often translated as ‘gentle’ in other versions.

There is an opening line to an old Charles Wesley hymn which reads ’Gentle Jesus, meek and mild’. But when we look at Jesus in the Scriptures is He always ‘mild’? I don’t think this is true. Think of Him cleansing the temple with a whip. Think of Him denouncing the hypocritical Pharisees as being corrupt like ‘whitewashed tombs-beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones’ (Mt 23:27 NLT).

Of course I don’t think Jesus was a loose cannon either. I believe He knew the hearts of those he was speaking to, and communicated in a way which was best for them at that time.

So meekness does not equate to weakness or mildness.

So what did Jesus mean when He said for us to be meek like Him? The following thought may help us:

Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will (Gal 5:23).

Source: Blue Letter Bible. < http:// cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/
lexicon.cfm?strongs=G4239 >

I think that being meek in this way is far harder than being ‘mild’. I think the quote has gotten it right when it says that this is a work of the Holy Spirit. No self help book is going to lead us to the true gift of meekness. 

Meekness is pretty easy to demonstrate in our happier times, our more successful times – ‘…God is blessing me because I’m a faithful follower, I have full confidence in His control of the situation’.

But what about times where things are going really badly? When terrible things are happening which don’t make sense and it becomes much harder to believe God is in control – much harder to believe He’s acting in our best interest?

Interestingly Peter exhorts the slaves of his day to submit to their masters, even the harsh ones. The reason is that we should follow in Jesus’ meek footsteps, and bring glory to God.

You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased with you when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps…He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. I Peter 2:18-21,23 (NLT)

This is tough stuff…but Jesus is our example here. He was the perfect example of grace and a calm strength under extreme pressure.

Do you think that the reference above implies that our suffering is for God’s pleasure? No – I believe that those in this situation will be blessed, maybe more than we can comprehend.

There are some interesting texts in Hebrews about Jesus’ own experiences, and how He was ‘perfected’ and ‘learned obedience’ through suffering. An amazing concept, but one I think that makes sense when you consider that even Jesus’ perfect character was test and developed through the trial he experienced. His love for us and for His Father was shown to be perfect.

…though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Heb. 5:8,9 (NKJV) Also see Heb 2.10.

Anyway, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on what we’ve discussed above…