Jesus’s kingdom is an upside-down kingdom – He came as a baby—innocent, vulnerable, and dependent. God advances His purposes through His humanity.

When Jesus speaks about His kingdom, He says, “blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth”. The same word ‘meek’ is used in Matthew 11:28-30, where He invites us: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.

The yoke Jesus is talking about is the yoke of submission, it represents a confident trust in God and is not based on weakness or fear. He can only offer it because He Himself submitted Himself to the Father’s will that was His mission. The world attempts to change people from the outside in but Jesus changes people from the inside out.

When He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus did not come on horseback with military might but He rode on a donkey, and the scripture was fulfilled in what the prophet had foretold in Zechariah 9:9: “Tell the daughter of Zion, behold your King is coming to you lowly and sitting on a donkey”. The key characteristic here is that of lowliness or meekness. It speaks of a strong person in submission to God. It is a balance born of strength and character.

He has not called us to usher in an aggressive kingdom reminiscent of Roman rule but a kingdom to be inherited by the broken, poor, the meek, the ones who mourn, His kingdom is not of this world.

Our God is the God of the meek. We have found a God who came in full frail humanity so that He can meet me in my frailty. He came as a babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Jesus wants to turn our weakness and pain into strength and healing. Those who trust in their own strength and understanding cannot receive the power that is released by Jesus death on the cross. What looks like defeat has the exact opposite effect: victory as we recognise Him who was pierced: “But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God”.