The Humility Of Christ

Recently the theme I have been thinking about is the humility of Christ, and our call to be like Him.  It is actually a relatively complicated matter, for we are also called to give glory to His name (Rev 19:7), to do greater things than He did (John 14:12),  and to let our light before men (Matt 5:16).  We are also called to love one another (John 13:34), to lay down our lives for one another (John 15:13), and to servant leadership (Mark 10:43-45), which seems a bit contradictory to the previous list, at least to our human minds.  One set is very public recognition focused, the other is selfless and not attention seeking.

The key thing for us to realize is that both are possible at the same time, for the first one is really about God's Glory, not ours, and the other list is embracing humility and the significance of others.  I starting reading a few familiar verses this morning, and the Lord had me look at the verses in light of His humility. Here are the verses - Matthew 11:27-30 NIV:

[27] “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

[28] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

As I was reading these verses, I realized that they perfectly demonstrate the Glory and humility of Jesus.  He is the only one in all of History that has been sent directly from the Father, who was one with the Father, who could reveal the Father perfectly.  He was in a position, and sometimes dangerously close through the desires of others, to use the Glory of the Father for His own advantage.  There were several times the people, after seeing the miracles He was doing, which were to give Glory to the Father, wanted to make Him their king.  His response was always to walk away, to diffuse the situation rather than ride the swell of public affection into power.

Jesus wanted no Glory for Himself, rather He chose to direct all Glory to the Father. Instead, He served the people and ministered to them.  He laid His life down for the poor, the destitute, the sick, the lame, the deaf, the blind, the leper, the demonized, the sinner, the ones who needed Him most.  Make no mistake, a ministry of this sort is not a glorious adventure, but rather requires great personal sacrifice of time, energy and one's own desires, wants and needs.  Imagine what it would take to touch and heal thousands of people.  Imagine the demand on His time, the constant crowd that gathered around Him almost all the time, sometimes making it hard for Him even to walk.  Imagine the hundreds of people just trying to touch His robes.

There were no means of mass communication, no news shows, talk shows, magazines, newspapers, internet or anything else.  Every person touched by Jesus, was actually touched by Jesus, there was no real alternative.  We do know that the news about Him spread all over the countryside, and even into far reaches of the Jewish people, for they came from everywhere to encounter Him and be healed.  He had compassion on them, fed them healed them and ministered to them, telling them about the Kingdom, and the Father.

He purposely chose to stay out in the country, spending much of His time in the region of Galilee, which was the Hebrew version of the sticks.  He didn't spend much time in Judea, in Jerusalem, in the larger cities, and He purposely did this so that He did not ignite a swell of popular opinion that would cause Him to be anointed King, even though there has never been one more qualified to be King in the history of the earth.

Instead, like in verses 28 & 29, we find Jesus reaching out to the weary and burdened, those too tired to go on.  He lifts their loads, sets them free from that which binds them and invites them into relationship and rest.  This is such a completely different style of leadership than what we see around us today.  Rather than using the acclaim of those He helped to ascend to power, He just continued to minister to those He hadn't met yet.  Jesus epitomized the role of servant leader.  He was the greatest man to ever grace this earth, and yet He chose to serve the lowest, the rejected and the lost.

He called the people to Himself, not to bring Himself glory, but to give them rest.  I have heard a teacher say that the yoke that Jesus speaks of in verse 29 is actually the sign of one who follows a teacher, literally a piece of cloth that would indicate who your teacher was or what school of thought you were aligned with.  In higher education, upon graduation, people receive stylized hoods that represent their field of study and school of their degree.  This particular teacher said that Jesus was inviting the weary and burdened to come to Him and learn from Him, and in so doing to be set free from the burdens of religion, the Law, and its constant demands.  His yoke required one to embrace humbleness, gentleness and His teachings about loving one another.  This was a significantly different message than the people were used to hearing.

Regardless of the meaning of the yoke, it is clear that the invitation is to relationship, and in that relationship one would find rest for one's soul.  What a great release that is, to find rest for one's soul; no striving, no working, no doubting, no worry, no payment required, no expectations to meet, just rest for one's soul.

I can almost imagine Jesus saying these three verses.  Here He is saying that no one knows the Father, except Him, and who He chooses to reveal Him to.  He is the one and only true Son of God, and He is interested in the weak and weary, those tired and burdened and wants to minister to them personally.  What an awesome lesson in humility and servant leadership.

I am encouraged this day to embrace this same attitude and life-style, choosing to love all, to see the significance in all, and to serve al.  Help me to choose to give any glory to Him who is worthy, my Lord.  Lord, I pray that You would help us to embrace Your call to servant leadership, and compassion for all.

Amen.