The Servant King Lord Jesus has assured the humble of not only entry into His kingdom of heaven but also an inheritance on the earth rewarding them till eternity.
Humility And Power
Lord Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount lays emphasis on meekness and humility for the
Beatitudes start with the ‘poor in spirit’ assuring them of kingdom of heaven.
And then ‘the meek’ are promised their inheritance on the earth (Matthew 5:3
&5). Humility and an attitude of service towards others is the basic
essence of the character of a true believer, as commanded by the Messiah Lord.
On the one side our good behavior is appreciated by the Lord while on the other
evil intent in us is exploited by the devil to control us. Being humble is not
an option but a necessity for living in the heavenly realm with the Lord.
Moses and humility – After bringing out the
criticism of Moses by Miriam and Aaron for his marriage to an Ethiopian woman
and questioning Moses’ close relationship, the Scripture describes that ‘the
man Moses was very humble, more than any other man on the earth’ (Numbers
12:1-3). God blesses the humble for He declared, ‘on this one will I look; on
him who is poor and of a contrite spirit’ (Isaiah 66:2). King Solomon laid down
the benefits, ‘before honor is humility’ and that ‘with the humble is wisdom’
(Proverbs 18:12 & 11:2). Lord Jesus provided the route to become the
greatest through being the least (Luke 9:48). Apostle Peter also emphasized the
same, ‘God lifts up the humble at the right time and He resists the proud but
gives grace to the humble’ (1 Peter 5:5-6) and who does not need grace of God.
The
Beatitudes start with ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven’ and then goes on to ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth (Matthew 5:3 & 5). Meekness suggests to many as one who is
spineless, weak or easily imposed upon but Lord declared Himself to be meek but
He was not a pushover (Matthew 11:29). Greek word ‘praus’ is translated as meek
but it means ‘strength brought under control’ like a wild horse tamed to the
bridle. Meek is the one who has channeled his strengths to the service of God
and this is what Moses was (Numbers 12:3). Scripture defines meek as ‘those who
have kept YHWH God’s ordinances’ (Zephaniah 2:3) since a meek person submits to
God to become tranquil and untroubled. They find true joy in all situations,
for the earth that they have received is not for fulfillment of their desires
but as an inheritance to glorify God.
Poor in spirit is the next step to meekness and is one who realizes his
sinfulness and separation from God and that the breach can only be bridged by
God’s grace and then looks unto the Savior Lord for His grace. King David
declared that ‘this poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him
out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who
fear Him, and delivers them’ (Psalm 34:6-7). David was a man of God’s heart and
understood true surrender to God in humility. Meekness increases the
thirst to know more of God, to get closer to Him for God spoke to
Moses face to face and twice he was for 40 days in God’s presence. God’s glory
filled the tent of meeting to talk to him yet this humble man desired to know
more of Him to cry out, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me Your glory
and God’s glory passed before him for God was pleased at His request (Exodus
33:18-23).
God
revealed the spring of the Holy Spirit flowing from God’s throne with depth
ranging from ankle, to knee, to waist deep and then a depth to swim in and
nobody can find the other end (Ezekiel 47:1-6). The more we go close the more
He reveals Himself and the only condition is surrender in humility realizing my
nothingness and emptiness. Many are, however, willing to sit on the shore
without an urge to know more of God. ‘I am meek and humble of heart’ was and is
Lord Jesus’ self declared identity and that is what we are supposed to become
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Humility and pride contrasted – Opposite of humility is pride and
pride says I can do on my own; false humility says, God has done it not me;
whereas true humility is I have done this with God’s grace. Not acknowledging
God’s hand in any success is disowning His power and is prideful. Simon a
Pharisee invited Lord Jesus to dine at his house while the Pharisees were
opposed to Him for He exposed their double standards (Luke 7:36-50). But why
would He want to go to the Pharisee’s house? The Messiah revealed His
mission ‘to call the sinners to repentance’ and this cannot be done without
meeting with them (Luke 5:32). It was common practice then to tell
others when a Rabbi was coming for dinner to someone’s house and it meant an
open court for others to sit on the sides to listen to the conversation.
In this setting a woman waited, expecting a great welcome for the Lord and then
to step forward to anoint His feet with perfume. The Pharisee’s purpose of
inviting Him was to prove wrong what he had heard about Lord Jesus while the
woman wanted to prove and honor what she had heard through her worship. Thus
Simon’s real purpose was to put Him to test, show to others his status and
humiliate the Savior. Nothing could hold either of them back for the devil
blinded Simon to the truth while the Spirit revealed more to the seeking woman.
Pained by what she saw the sinful woman started washing His feet with her tears
and cleaning with her hair for she had no bowl or water jar but tears flowed on
her self-realization and in this unplanned work she had no towel so hair of the
head to wipe Lord Jesus’ feet. Simon the Pharisee’s reaction ‘if He were a
prophet He would know what sort of woman she is’ (Luke 7:39). The Pharisees
were always proper criticizing others while remaining separated from others for
fear of becoming unclean and displayed their expertise to have the right
answers to everything.
The
woman was in no rush but persisted kissing His feet and cleansing with her tears.
Her cost for this daring step was firstly, social about disdain and rejection
of the self righteous Pharisees; their looks of scorn implying what are you
doing here; and also financial for she brought a very expensive perfume to
anoint the Lord’s feet. The Savior Lord was touched by the woman’s devotion and
‘He turned to the woman’ and for this He had to turn His back to Simon the
Pharisee. Situation was thus reversed and the Pharisee was told his
shortcomings – no water to wash His feet, no kiss of welcome and no anointing
of head with oil. The woman was commended for her acts of worship (Luke
7:44-46).
Lessons
from the woman – The humble adoration by the woman teaches us that
worship is for sinners; it is at Lord Jesus’ feet; it is about total focus on
Him alone; not about receiving something but giving something; worship involves
emotions and feelings; no words are essential it is from the heart and soul;
cannot be easily hindered for the resolute will reach the object of worship
whatever be the cost.
What
is true humility? – True humility is recognized by others and not
proclaimed from rooftops and humility of the Roman Centurion and his love for
others was well known (Luke 7:1-9). This centurion’s servant was sick but he
displayed same concern for the servant as one would for a close relative. He
entreated the local Jewish leaders to request the Lord to come to his house to
heal the servant. The first impression is of arrogance of a Roman officer to
summon the Lord to his house but the Jewish leaders talked about the reasons
for the Lord to go that he deserves, loves our nation and had helped build the
local synagogue. The All-knowing Lord Jesus was aware of the reality and agreed
to go but while He was yet a little distance from his house, the centurion had
self realization. He sent some other Jews to the Lord to not come to his house,
saying, ‘I am not worthy to have You under my roof; and I did not even think
myself worthy to come to You’ to stand in Your worthy presence. Lord Jesus appreciated
the exemplary humility of the Roman officer and commended his extraordinary
faith. The Centurion mentioned his position of authority and obedience to and
by others to highlight humility in unquestioned obedience (Luke 7: 6-9).
After struggling the whole night with no result to catch fish Simon Peter put
the net down into water in obedience to Lord Jesus’ command. He and his friends
caught so much fish that they had to call for another boat and then both boats
were sinking with the weight of the fish. Realizing the Divine status of Lord
Jesus, Simon Peter cried out ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’
(Luke 5:7- 8). Moses standing before the LORD in the Burning Bush put across
various excuses to avoid going to Egypt (Exodus 3-4) to finally say ‘send
someone else’ (Exodus 4:13). But after accepting the task, he obeyed diligently
with the singular aim of glorifying God in all that he did. It was this
obedience that allowed him to stand before God to seek forgiveness for his people
for the sin of making the golden calf and say ‘remove my name from Your book if
You do not want to forgive them’ (Exodus 32:32). For he perceived non
forgiveness by God as an act against God’s glory defining humility as obedience
but to also stand up for what is right.
‘Satan entered Judas Iscariot’ and also sought the other 11’to sift you as
wheat’ but Lord Jesus prayed for them, ‘that your faith should not fail’ (Luke
22:3 & 31-32). Prophet Elijah challenged King Ahab and his wife Jezebel for
their sins and was sent by the LORD to the Cherith brook and later to the widow
of Zarephath. God arranged plentiful supply of food for him in both locations
and even sent an angel to feed him when he fled in fear after winning a great
spiritual battle against the prophets of Baal. Elijah was humble to identify
himself as one ‘who stands before the LORD God of Israel’ (1 Kings 17:2) and
the LORD God lifted him up.
All
Psalms are about worship of God in all humility to make a plea and surrender to
the Lord for they were aware that He will lift them up or else the devil will
bring you down. He prays for the humble and lifts them up, sends His angels to
help when needed. He lifted up the ‘sinner’ woman and her sins were forgiven;
He appreciated the Centurion’s faith and healed his servant. Those who
surrender before the Lord in all humility are blessed by Him to be lifted up
for without bowing down even worship will also not be possible. It is our
choice to be filled with pride and be like Simon the Pharisee or be humble like
the sinner woman, the Centurion or Moses!