Is meekness the same as weakness? Read on to find out...
Immediately after Jesus tells us to yoke/join ourselves to Him and learn from Him in Matt 11:28-30,He tells us WHY we can/should do this: “For I am meek and lowly in heart” Let’s look at these words Jesus uses to describe Himself.
Today, it is not uncommon to conflate meekness with weakness. But actually, the biblical definition of the term indicates that great strength is required! In the Greek, ‘meek is “prautes”-- “a gentleness not in weakness but power. It is a virtue born in strength of character. It is power under control…an inwrought grace of the soul which accepts God’s dealings with us as good, without disputing or resisting” (Word Study New Testament, Spiros Zhodiates, p.949).
Power under control. We see Jesus exhibiting that quality in many places in the Gospels, but I also love the deep revelation the Holy Spirit gave to Paul for us in Phil 2:6-8 “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Jesus chose to empty Himself of the glories of heaven (although He never relinquished His divinity!). He chose to take on human form and confine Himself to a physical body with all its limitations. He chose to humble Himself even further by becoming obedient to the will of the Father to die on a cross for our sins. At any point in time He could have chosen NOT to make these sacrifices, but in meekness, He submitted to the will of the Father.
Which takes us to “lowly”. In the Greek it is “tapeinos” – humble, dependent on God. This same passage in Philippians that we just looked at does illustrate Jesus’ humility in that He chose to be dependent upon the Father. But look even further : in John 15:19 He says, “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
Jesus DID nothing by Himself. He chose to do only what He saw the Father doing.
In John 12:29 He says, "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.”
Jesus SAID nothing on His own initiative. He chose to speak only what the Father gave Him to speak.
That is dependence on God. That is humility and meekness; both of which take great strength of character and resolve.
So, why is it important that we know this in the context of Jesus’ invitation in Matt 11?
First of all, we can feel ‘safe’ (to use today’s phraseology) in being joined to/submitted to Jesus because He is gentle, not harsh. He will not require of us anything that He has not experienced first. He will not have expectations of us that are beyond our ability (in Him) to fulfill.
Secondly, He is humble, dependent on God. Not only is His relationship with the Father one we can imitate, but consider also that those who submit to authority in humility generally exercise authority with grace.
“Father God, I want to see what You are doing and hear what You are saying. Open the eyes of my heart today to follow You like Jesus did.”
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