Humility of Christ in His Ministry

Jesus provides us with a perfect blueprint of what our attitude should be as we strive to be more humble in our lives. Luke recounts that Jesus grew and "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luke 2:52). Are we not trying to do the same?

But life is hard, isn't it? We so easily fall where Christ did not. It's easy to understand that Jesus was perfectly humble, but what aspects of that humility can we easily pick up on and then apply to our daily devotion? I will touch on just three of the many aspects of Jesus humility--a perfect humility: sacrifice, compassion, and ultimate submissiveness to the Father. 

We talked previously about how the King of kings, the Son of the living God was born in a stable, and laid in a trough for a bed. Let's contrast that to something that was recorded by the apostle Matthew in his recounting of the gospel:

A man came to Jesus and boldly stated, "Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." I'm sure Jesus smiled at this man's faith. I'm sure He was pleased with the man's willingness to follow. But His answer to that statement is a great example of how humility and sacrifice are so powerfully connected. He said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matthew 8:19-20), Remembering His birth, the manger became a necessity when "there was no room for [Him] in the inn" (Luke 2:7). Apparently, there was still no room for Him. He was the Son of the Father. He was Jehovah, Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. He had created the earth. Could He not conjure up some shelter with a nice pillow and a warm blanket? Surely He could--but He did not. Why? Because with humility comes perspective--an Eternal one. What Christ was teaching this man, and what He teaches us is that with humility comes the necessity to sacrifice. He wasn't complaining to this man that He didn't have a set home to live in. He was making the point that if he really wanted to follow, he would have to give up everything. And so it is with us. In order to enjoy the eternal blessings, we must sacrifice some of the temporal possessions that most of the world enjoys: football on Sundays, a fancy car that one gets by utilizing 100% of their earnings, and not just 90%, and so on. We demonstrate humility as we give those things up, for the greater good of promised eternal blessings.

One of the more poignant and powerful examples of Christ's overall humility came when He was challenged by a particularly bold group of Pharisees. John recounts how a woman, who was found in the very act of illicit, immoral affairs, was brought violently before the Savior, and challenged of His devotion to Jewish law. His thought-provoking answer of "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her," caused the group to momentarily disperse. John then records, "He said unto [the woman], Woman...hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more" (John 8:7-11). What is of note is Jesus' perfect example of humility through compassion. The world today completely misunderstands this example and the application of it amongst those of certain groups. Jesus did not say, "I forgive you right this minute, just minutes after you were committing a gross act of infidelity to your husband and to your God." He did not say, "Even though you're a sinner, it's okay." He said, "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more." Compassion and love do not imply an unconditional acceptance of everyone's actions. What it does imply is a complete, unconditional acceptance of the person. In truth, Jesus has a standard of excellence that is required for us to reach eternal life. Not living up to it in this mortal sphere does not condemn us, nor does it take away from His love for us. Isn't that a lesson to us? If Christ, who was perfect, can love us all unconditionally despite the many ways in which we mess up, shouldn't we love our fellow brethren and sisters unconditionally, also? We are imperfect just like them, after all, though in different ways. What we learn from this: we must be humble enough to realize our imperfection and apply the following truths as a result:

We have no right to judge others. We have no right to think less of anyone because they commit what we judge to be a "greater sin." I hope we can begin to apply that more fully. 

After the episode with the woman, the Pharisees for whatever reason felt particularly courageous to contend with Jesus, and the accusations began. As a result, Jesus began to preach clearly and powerfully about His identity as the Messiah. In that very chapter, John records, "Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me; the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him" (John 8:28-29). Of all of the examples of humility that I have studied, this is one of the more powerful declarations of it from the Savior himself. From the statement itself, this may seem like an arrogant one. Spoken by anyone else and it certainly would be. But this is the Savior, after all; He was perfectly aware of His perfection because He was perfectly aware that if He were to slip up, His mission would immediately fail. One of the main and great ways in which Jesus showed humility during His ministry (and a way that we must learn to show as well) was perfect and ultimate submissiveness to the Father's will. For us, it has been asked that we follow the perimeters that Jesus set as our Mediator before the Father in order to do so. Those who have been baptized know what they are. Those who have gone through the temple know even clearer. What we learn is this: true discipleship is being humble after the manner of Christ, or in other words, doing nothing of ourselves, but instead doing all for the good and pleasure of our Father in Heaven. If we are not at that level, we should study our Savior's ministry: He knew exactly how to do just that.

In John 6, we find one of Christ's great sermons about how He would be our means of atonement. He had gained a particularly great following as a result of the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, but this discourse was difficult for them, because it specified their own effort to be performed as key to its success. Many were not willing, and we read. "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him" (John 6:66). Imagine Jesus' sorrow as He watched His brothers and sisters walk away, offended by His teachings, and unwilling to follow what He knew perfectly well was to be the only means of obtaining eternal joy. He turned then in humility to His twelve apostles, and asked genuinely:

"Will ye not also go away?" (v. 67)

Peter, as would become the norm, stood with confidence and answered boldly with a question and a testimony: "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (v. 68-69).

We have seen many recently who have turned away, offended by the policies and stances of Christ's modern Church. These stances have been in direct contradiction to those of the world. That has put many in a tough spot. It was the same with Jesus' disciples during His ministry. As we watch our friends and our spiritual brothers and sisters turn away offended, Christ asks us what He asked His apostles, "Will ye not also go away?"

What is our answer? Will we be true, humble disciples, or will we turn away, offended?

To conclude, let me share a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr:

"We need to pledge ourselves anew to the cause of Christ. We must capture the Spirit of the early church. Wherever the early Christians went, they made a triumphant witness for Christ. Whether on the village streets or in the city jails, they daringly proclaimed the good news of the gospel." Let us follow suit, and answer as Peter did: "Lord, to whom shall we go?..."