Slideshow image

When I was a kid, I went through some really massive adversity.

Adversity like:

  • Finishing all the food on my plate
  • Only one dessert
  • Bedtime being at 7P

It was tough times being a kid and when under this adversity - I didn't always respond well.

On my best days, I may have begrudgingly ate my food and stomped off to bed.

On my worst days, I may have refused to eat and became dead weight that my parents had to carry to bed.

The older I get the more I get the sense that a major part of adulting is remaining calm in adversity.

When we get to Matthew 5, Jesus is talking to his disciples (and maybe more) about the crowd surrounding him from all over the region. They are a group of people that are currently down-and-out for a variety of reasons, and so Jesus begins to note that people that are down-and-out are just a turn away from the kingdom of heaven descending upon them. He says it this way in Matthew 5:5, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land."

In this context, “Meekness is the power to absorb adversity and criticism without lashing back.” [1]

Another (less Christian) source says something similar, "Meekness means acknowledging the possibility of loss and acquiescing to it, knowing intuitively somehow that aggressive resistance would ultimately prove damaging and futile." [2]

You can imagine the crowd surrounding Jesus experiencing a great deal of:

  • adversity (ie - high taxes from Rome)
  • criticism (possibly) for the way they worship (ie - Yahweh) and cultural expressions (ie - dietary restrictions)
  • loss (ie - loss of pure autonomy as a result of Roman occupation)

A knee-jerk reaction would be what the Zealots were doing - violent, guerrilla warfare against the Romans. However, Jesus says, "Do you want the land back? Absorb the adversity and criticism. Acknowledge the possibility of loss. Turn the other cheek. Walk a second mile. Give your tunic as well. And God will return the land to you."

Proverbs 25:21-22 says something similar:

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
    if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
    and the Lord will reward you.

There is something about meekness, our ability to absorb adversity, redirect it, and return good for evil that positions us to receive greatly from the Lord.