Jesus' Teaching 2: Blessed are the Meek

The Israelites wanted the end of exile to mean that they can exact vengeance on the Gentile nations that oppressed them. Instead, if the exile was going to end, they would have to be gentle and merciful to those that showed them no such courtesy. Gentleness is harder work than fighting, since it means taming your angry impulses. But God’s new kingdom is not based on anger but on love. Jesus was meek, poor, and mourning in a way that we could not, and so he fulfilled the end of the exile.