What is this mourning for? Does this imply some grace, some aspect
of salvation merely because someone is grieving over a lost loved one? I don’t think
that is a reasonable conclusion.
The more likely meaning of this verse has to do with the mourning
for one’s sin and in the Jew’s case for the sins of all Israel against God. One
of our weaknesses in Christianity today is that we do not mourn for our sins
against God. Sin is the reason for death in this world and death is all around
us. Death is the symptom and sin is the cause. Shall we not mourn for the fall
of Adam and for our own iniquities? It is these that cost us so much and are
the reason that Christ came to suffer the Cross.
Who are the meek? Moses was called the meekest of all men
even though he as a prince of Egypt who killed an Egyptian and led a mass of
two million roughly people through a vast wasteland for forty years.
Numbers 12:3 (Now the man
Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
Who was he meek toward? Now, I realize that meek in a given
context can appear refer to the poor and humbled and powerless.
Isaiah 11:4 But with
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of
the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isaiah 29:19 The meek also
shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in
the Holy One of Israel.
Amos 2:7 That pant after
the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the
meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my
holy name:
But is the following passage a reference to merely someone who has
no money regardless of who they worship?
Psalm 37:11 But the meek
shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of
peace.
Christ said He was meek and lowly.
Matthew 11:29 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.
In someone as powerful as Christ and Moses meekness suggests
restraint, an ability to not do what you could do. But, is that what this is
referring to here in Matthew?
It is my contention that the meek here refers, because of the
context, a meekness towards God’s will. Are you and I meek toward God’s will?
Not only did Moses and Jesus, in His humanity, show incredible restraint but
both were meek toward the will of God the Father.
So far we have blessings for those who realize they are
spiritually bankrupt without God, those who mourn for sin’s very existence, and
those who are meek towards God and accepting of His will for their lives.
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