Jesus said: "Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Mt. 11:28-29).

In all four Gospels, this is the only place Jesus tells us about his heart. No one, other than Jesus the Son of God, could have spoken like this. We are told much about his life, his teaching, his miracles, his suffering, death and resurrection. But in only one place do we hear Jesus himself open up his very heart to us, revealing what is at the animating centre of his identity: he is humble to the core.

The Greek word "praus" translated "gentle" here (Mt. 11:28-29) is translated "meek" in "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Mat. 5:5); and "humble" in "Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey" (Mat. 21:5); and "calm" in "[let your] inner personality [have] the unfading loveliness of a calm and gentle spirit" (1 Pet. 3:4).

So, the heart of Jesus – what he is really like at the core of his being – is gentle, meek, humble, mild, soothing and calm. We too must cultivate such a heart if we want to be like him; that is, transformed into his image. In us it means ceasing to struggle and contend with God; and ceasing to react to the insults, injuries and injustices meted out to us by others. It is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest; in fact, it is not being occupied with self at all. 

Jesus is meek; not harsh, reactionary and easily exasperated. He is the most understanding person in the universe. The most natural posture to him is not a pointed finger but open arms. Yet he is our God; and our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). He had to become human and to purify us from sin so we could get close to him and not be incinerated by him. Meekness is not weakness but great power under disciplined and gentle control.

I love horses. Once Sue and I had to cross a field with a small group of huge, magnificent, jet-black, shiny, thoroughbred horses on the far side. As soon as they saw us, they spiritedly galloped across in our direction. We weren't afraid. We didn't feel threatened. We stood our ground and they stopped abruptly right next to us, circled around us and then trotted off. They were meek. They retained all their splendid power, but it was under control because they had been carefully and lovingly disciplined and trained. They are a great example of meekness. Being meek is a choice we need to take whenever the circumstances demand it of a disciple of Jesus.