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Inheriting the Earth
“Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.”
(Matthew 5:5)
Many of our Bibles will translate this passage as, “Blessed are the meek.” So what is meekness, and what does that have to do with the context of the church itself? The Greek word that is used here is πραῦς (praus), and in English, it means to be gentle, humble, considerate, or meek. In other words, it means that one is not overly impressed with oneself (think of how this word is used in 1 Peter 3:4), hence the use of the word humility here in our translation. This word does not equate with being weak, but instead, speaks of great strength that is under control, as Jesus uses this word to speak of himself in Matthew 11:29.
When we apply this to the individual Christian, its application is obvious. The Christian is not proud or boastful. In fact, we boast in Christ and in His cross, not in ourselves. Thus, we arrive at the obvious conclusion that a Christian should never be self-seeking or interested in his own gain, but instead, he should be focused on Christ and Christ’s glory. And, herein lies the rub. Too many churches are focused on their own growth and success. Programs are planned, productions are put forward, all with one goal in sight: build themselves up.
When a church focuses on itself, it loses the ability to be humble. In fact, often, churches that are primarily focused on attendance compromise the Gospel in a great many ways just to keep people happy. Or worse, they bend over backwards to keep their major donors happy. Yet, folks, that is not how Christ’s church is to behave. Notice too the little word that is part of the blessing: “inherit.” Inheritances are given; they are not earned. If a church wishes to inherit the earth, it must do so not by trying to aggressively market itself in such a way that they grow large. Such would be a corporate business model. No, the church must be humble, meek, and lowly while also being utterly committed to the commands of Christ.
So, what is one of the simplest ways to judge a church’s humility? Look at their worship. Is worship built around what God commands in His Word or is worship built around the preferences of the people? If worship is built around preference, where is the humility? No, the scriptures speak of the things that God desires from His people: prayer, reading and preaching of the Word (with understanding in the body), singing psalms, and the administration of the sacraments as Christ demonstrated them to us (Baptism & the Lord’s Supper). When other things begin to be imported into worship or when some or most of these elements are removed from worship, the church loses its humility. When a church is more interested in its programs than in God’s program, they cease to be meek. And, with the sacrifice of humility, they will never inherit the earth. Worse yet, in some cases, they cease to be a church altogether and exist more as a social club under the guise of Christ’s church.
Garments of True Splendor
“And the chief priests and the scribes stood there and made impassioned accusations against him. And Herod, along with his soldiers, were showing him contempt and mockingly clothed him in shining garments and sent him back to Pilate.”
(Luke 23:10-11)
And the mocking continues as Jesus refuses to perform the feats that Herod had hoped to see. What is interesting is that Herod does not just have him sent home and put to death — certainly Herod had the blood of John the Baptist on his hands, why not Jesus also? With Pilate giving up jurisdiction, Herod could easily have sentenced the man to death, pleased the priests and perhaps even won him some favor amongst the Jerusalem elite. Herod opts not do to so, and returns Jesus to Herod. Of course, this is a fulfillment of prophesy that Jesus would be hanged on a tree, but from a human perspective, it is fascinating to me to see all of these puzzle pieces laid into place. Certainly Herod, by returning Jesus to Pilate, is no less guilty of Jesus’ death, but perhaps in his own mind he can wash his hands of the man just as Pilate would later do. Perhaps Herod has as much contempt for the priestly establishment as Pilate does and Herod sees this as a way to frustrate them even more as he sees them practically begging for this man’s death. This may be the reason that Luke makes the comment about Herod and Pilate’s friendship that develops over these things in the next verse. Politics often makes strange bed-fellows.
There is another aspect of these verses, that is often overlooked, and that is the garment that is placed on Jesus’ shoulders. Many of our translations will render this word as “an elegant robe” (NIV), “splendid clothing” (ESV), “a gorgeous robe” (KJV & NASB), etc… and perhaps brings to mind the remarkable garment that Joseph was given by his father in the Old Testament. The word that Luke uses here is lampro/ß (lampros), which is the root from which we get the English word, “lamp.” In Greek, we sometimes translate lampro/ß (lampros) as splendid or opulent, but most commonly the term reflects something that is full of light or sparkles. This is the term that is used of the angel that presented himself to Cornelius (Acts 10:30) as well as the angels that John describes in heaven (Revelation 15:6) and the heavenly garment given to the Church as the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:8).
It should be noted the radical difference between that which is glorious of heaven and that which is considered glorious on earth. There is simply no comparison. Once again, Jesus is made to bear the shame of fallen man — this time being arrayed in the best of human making when the best of heaven is that which he rightfully deserves. To take the analogy further, Jesus is clothed in the garments of men so that his bride may be brightly arrayed in the garments of heaven (as we see in Revelation 19:8). It is an exchange that Jesus was pleased to make, but it is an exchange that we do not deserve to receive. One more thought along those lines — the garments with which the bride is to be clothed are described as the “righteous deeds of the saints.” May we always remember that the origin of those deeds is not within us here on earth, but in heaven, for indeed, these works have been prepared for us from before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 2:10) and done not in our strength, but in the strength of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Jesus substitutes himself in our place to give us what we could never hope to give ourselves — why then do we so often pursue the splendor of this world when Christ himself offers us the splendor of heaven.
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