Appreciating The Humility of Christ (Part 2 of 2)
We see the humility of Jesus in that though he is the Redeemer, he was rejected. Jesus paid the purchase price so that man might be freed from the shackles of sin. Through his shed blood, Jesus has redeemed those out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation (Rev.5:9). He gave himself for us, to redeem us from iniquity (Titus 2:14). No price but the blood of Jesus was sufficient to pay the price for our sins (1 Pet.1:18-19). The precious lamb of God, holy and without blemish, was offered for the sins of the world (John 1:29). We would expect more gratitude for and toward him who gave his life for our sins, but the Redeemer became the Rejected. He came unto his own, and his own would not receive him (John 1:11). He is the cornerstone of our salvation, but was rejected of the builders (Matt.21:42). Surely, he should have been held in honor and reverence, but alas, he found no honor among his own people (Mark 6:4). Isaiah painted a vivid portrait of man’s rejection of God’s anointed when he wrote, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isa.53:3). Can you imagine that we as weak and sinful creatures would have the audacity to treat our Redeemer as though he were too shameful to look upon? He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us (2 Cor.5:21). In giving his life a ransom for our sins, we see the depths of the humility of our Lord.
We see the humility of Jesus in that though he is the Savior, he became the Suffering Servant. His mission in coming to this world was to save man from his sins (Luke 19:10). The very name he was given was to remind us of this very fact (Matt.1:21). The Scriptures testify to the fact that God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). The humility of our Lord led him to humble himself, and come in the form of a servant. He came not to be served, but to serve (Matt.20:28; Luke 22:27). He got on his knees, girded himself with a towel, and washed the feet of his own followers so that we might have an example of humble service to one another (John 13:14-15). As great an example as he was in his life, there is no greater example of the humility of Jesus than what he exhibited in his death. In all of the proceedings surrounding his death—the mocking, the scourging, being spat upon, being slapped in the face, being compelled to bear his own instrument of death up Calvary’s hill, and the horrible shame and pain of the crucifixion itself—he opened not his mouth. Isaiah prophesied in the long ago that “as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isa.53:7). Peter tells us that when Jesus was reviled, he did not retaliate in kind (1 Pet.2:23). He endured the horrible proceedings of Calvary so that we might have the forgiveness of our sins, and live in hope of eternal life (Heb.12:2). Though he could have called twelve legions of angels to free him from his agonizing fate (Matt.26:53), he humbly submitted himself to the will of the Father for the good of mankind. In his suffering and death, we see the magnitude of the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I hope that in some small way these thoughts have caused us to gain a greater appreciation for the humility of Jesus. From his entrance into this world, through the course of his sinless life, and to the giving of his life on the cross, we see a life characterized by meekness and humility. May our lives reflect this same humility toward God and our fellow man, so that God might be glorified, and we might be exalted!
-Patrick Morrison
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