http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+14:11&version=NIV1984
The ancient world was a much different world from the one in which we live. Life wasn’t always seen as precious. A lot of blood was spilled. Often needlessly. Nation went to war against nation and the conquerors often killed the majority of the vanquished. And took the rest into slavery. Might and strength were seen as virtues. Which, of course, led to a great deal of bravado. Bragging. And pride. It was truly a man’s world. Only the strong survived.
As you can imagine, humility was a foreign concept in that culture. In fact, John Wesley observed that “neither the Romans nor the Greeks had a word for humility.” Imagine that. Not a single word for humility. Why? Because no one wanted to be humble. Humility was for the weak. For sissies. For losers. Until Jesus came along.
Jesus was the very embodiment of humility. Which is pretty amazing when we understand that He was God. Paul, in Philippians 2:5-11 talks about the humility of Jesus. He says that although Jesus was God, He was willing to humble Himself to the point of becoming a human. Now, as human beings, we don’t see anything wrong with that. Because we are human. But think about what that meant for Jesus. It meant that the glorious, all-powerful Son of God, whom angels worshiped and served, was going to be bound by a very ordinary-looking human body. That, right there, is the very definition of humility. Of stooping low. Very low. So low that the Creator became the creature. The fact is that the Incarnation, and the willingness of Jesus to become flesh and blood, is about as far a descent as one can go in this universe. And Jesus did it willingly. For us.
As if that weren’t enough, Paul goes on to tell us that Jesus humbled Himself while in His human body. No special divine privileges or perks. He entered this world like every other human being had before or since. As a baby. Now one would have thought that Jesus would have suddenly burst on to the scene as an adult. Instead Jesus was born as a defenseless, little infant. He had to depend upon others for food, protection, and to have his diapers changed. That is being humble. As He grew He experienced all of the other limitations of humanness. Hunger. Thirst. Fatigue. And on His journey to the cross He also experienced disappointment. And being misunderstood. Being hated. And despised. He experienced rejection. And pain. Torture. And death. And He did experienced all this willingly. For us.
As I reflect on the Philippians 2 passage I contrast the humility of Jesus with the pride that I have in my own heart. And I am ashamed. Ashamed at how much I resist being humble. Ashamed of how little enthusiasm I have for it. Ashamed that I cannot humble myself for much lesser things than Jesus did. So I keep working on it. And praying about it. Little by little I am slowly recognizing opportunities to practice humility. Slowly learning that it is the path to godliness. And becoming transformed into the image of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul then closes his passage by showing that, ultimately, humility is the path to greatness and glory. Because Jesus was willing to humble Himself to the point of death on the cross, God has given honor to His name that is given to none other. That in the future every single person is going to bow their knee at the mention of Jesus' name. And every tongue is going to confess that He is Lord. What a special day that will be. And Jesus will deserve it. He deserves it all.
Lord, how I resist humility. It goes against my very nature. Which is precisely the point. I need to live according to my new nature. The nature of Jesus. The nature that embraces and even celebrates humility. Help me recognize the opportunities that You send my way to become humble. And to fully embrace them. In Jesus' name, Amen.
As you can imagine, humility was a foreign concept in that culture. In fact, John Wesley observed that “neither the Romans nor the Greeks had a word for humility.” Imagine that. Not a single word for humility. Why? Because no one wanted to be humble. Humility was for the weak. For sissies. For losers. Until Jesus came along.
Jesus was the very embodiment of humility. Which is pretty amazing when we understand that He was God. Paul, in Philippians 2:5-11 talks about the humility of Jesus. He says that although Jesus was God, He was willing to humble Himself to the point of becoming a human. Now, as human beings, we don’t see anything wrong with that. Because we are human. But think about what that meant for Jesus. It meant that the glorious, all-powerful Son of God, whom angels worshiped and served, was going to be bound by a very ordinary-looking human body. That, right there, is the very definition of humility. Of stooping low. Very low. So low that the Creator became the creature. The fact is that the Incarnation, and the willingness of Jesus to become flesh and blood, is about as far a descent as one can go in this universe. And Jesus did it willingly. For us.
As if that weren’t enough, Paul goes on to tell us that Jesus humbled Himself while in His human body. No special divine privileges or perks. He entered this world like every other human being had before or since. As a baby. Now one would have thought that Jesus would have suddenly burst on to the scene as an adult. Instead Jesus was born as a defenseless, little infant. He had to depend upon others for food, protection, and to have his diapers changed. That is being humble. As He grew He experienced all of the other limitations of humanness. Hunger. Thirst. Fatigue. And on His journey to the cross He also experienced disappointment. And being misunderstood. Being hated. And despised. He experienced rejection. And pain. Torture. And death. And He did experienced all this willingly. For us.
As I reflect on the Philippians 2 passage I contrast the humility of Jesus with the pride that I have in my own heart. And I am ashamed. Ashamed at how much I resist being humble. Ashamed of how little enthusiasm I have for it. Ashamed that I cannot humble myself for much lesser things than Jesus did. So I keep working on it. And praying about it. Little by little I am slowly recognizing opportunities to practice humility. Slowly learning that it is the path to godliness. And becoming transformed into the image of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul then closes his passage by showing that, ultimately, humility is the path to greatness and glory. Because Jesus was willing to humble Himself to the point of death on the cross, God has given honor to His name that is given to none other. That in the future every single person is going to bow their knee at the mention of Jesus' name. And every tongue is going to confess that He is Lord. What a special day that will be. And Jesus will deserve it. He deserves it all.
Lord, how I resist humility. It goes against my very nature. Which is precisely the point. I need to live according to my new nature. The nature of Jesus. The nature that embraces and even celebrates humility. Help me recognize the opportunities that You send my way to become humble. And to fully embrace them. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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