HUMILITY ALL THE WAY!!!
First things first. What is the chief and highest end of man? Let the revered Christian Book namely the Westminster catechism give the answer. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify (worship) God, and fully to enjoy him forever. When it comes to glorifying Him and fully enjoying Him, let it be said that the entire exercise ought to be “absolutely genuine emanating right from the innermost core of one’s being (read spirit)” (John 4:23). This would lead to the next question, how could the process of glorifying Him originate right from the depths of one’s heart? It is only possible, when a person is truly moved by the Holy Spirit in recognizing His unique traits. Remember, worshipping God for WHAT HE IS, is the highest form of worship, standing head and shoulders above other forms of worship, which come with strings attached, such as worshipping Him for the blessings, He showers upon us.
In this message punctuated with…what else… “Hallelujahs” (incidentally Hallel in Hebrew language means To praise and Yah means God) in my heart I would like to bring before my readership, one pristine quality of Christ which amongst others’ at once evokes awe in me and that is his indescribable humility. What then is Biblical “humility” and in what areas’ of Christ’s life, do we see it manifested? The original Greek word used for humility in portraying the mind of Christ (Phil 2:3-5) is tapeinophrosune which means a conscious preference of lowliness of mind over self-boasting.
Social...
Hey! Do any of us have the choice of selecting our parents? Given the choice, some of us may have chosen the home of Mr and Mrs Bill Gates to be born in!!! Oh consider this truth, if at all there was one person who could have chosen affluent parents to live a life of ease, it was Jesus!!! Yet, He chose lowly carpenter’s abode to grow-up in. Want proof of Jesus’ earthly “parents” social “low income” strata...consider these Scripture portions.
As per the Mosaic Law, for a mother’s purification ritual, the woman was required to...
“And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”- Leviticus 12:8
So what did Mary and her supportive husband Joseph do??? Let the Scripture speak again...
And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”- Luke 2:22-24
Hmmm...well time for a subject within a subject. Donning the Sherlockian hat, one can say that the Wisemen bringing gold as one of the gifts to the Christ-child did not exactly arrive on the Christmas day...otherwise Jesus’ parents would have easily afforded a lamb and not have used turtledoves. In fact, the Christ-child was not even in the manger but in a house when the Wisemen came (Matt 2:11).
Professional...
Oh yes, there were Doctors and Engineers in Biblical times too (Col 4:14/ 2 Chro 2:13-14 -of course it is not a sin to pursue these “lofty” professions’) but our Lord consciously chose a profession (Mark 6:3) which cannot by any stretch of imagination be called a “White collar” job. Given his wisdom with which naturally come problem-solving abilities (Luke 2:52), he could have opted easily for a job which would have guaranteed a better social status than the lowly one of a carpenter. This subject also leads us to a more profound thought that any lawful job, even if it is a “servile” one of say a road-sweeper or drainage-cleaner becomes “sacred” in the eyes of the Lord when it is carried out as “unto the Lord” for His glory (Col 3:23).
Regional...
Now some locations become notorious thanks to the sinful tendencies of the natives therein. No, I am not talking of Sodom and Gomorrah or for that matter Crete (Gen 13:13/ Titus 1:12) but Nazareth...for nothing “good” could ever be associated with this village (John 1:46) which was a part of sin-darkened region of Galilee (Isa 9:1-2). However, the Saviour consciously chose to spend his formative years not in a popular town like say spiritually-enlightened Jerusalem with a Temple in its midst. He could have chosen a poor family to be born into and carpentry as his profession there too. Were not poor folks and carpenters residing in Jerusalem also? But a village of ill-repute...Nazareth...was preferred by the Lord so that it’s darkened precincts could be illumined by His light (Matt 4:15-16).
Financial...
If growing in obscure surroundings of a notorious Nazareth, as a poor carpenter is no open sesame to riches, then popular healing Ministry when crowds flock around you in thousands (Matt 4:25) surely is...ask some modern-day misguided, private jet owning “Charismatic” ”...his life-style would do all the preaching!!! But what did our role-model, our Lord Jesus do? Did He greedily and opportunistically fleece the” flock” or feed it selflessly with both spiritual and physical food? Well, the Saviour who had no place (read home) to lay down His head to sleep (Matt 8:20) even when his popularity touched its peak would own nothing more than one seamless garment (John 19:23-24) till the end of His Earthly Ministry, to acquire which the Roman soldiers cast lots for. We may have heard of several inspirational rags to riches stories (thanks Dhirubhai) but how’s this for riches to rags!!! For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor... (2 Cor 8:9-ESV).
Many years later, an inspired Apostle Paul would say...
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”- Acts 20:35
Spiritual...
Doesn’t the word “Double promotion” instantly draw attention? Parents brag of their bright kids getting promoted straightaway from say 5th grade to 7th Grade primarily on account of high scores. Fans of exceptionally talented Pakistani Cricketer Wasim Akram can boast of their hero having been fast-tracked into Test Cricket in 1985 without ever having played a single match in Quaid-E-Azam trophy (the Ranji Trophy equivalent across the border)...so on and so forth. If in the spiritual realm, there is a three tier hierarchy (Trinity at the top, angels in the middle and human beings at the bottom), then in the case of Christ it was an instance of “Double demotion” (Heb 2:7,9) being vested with a finite human flesh on the “First Christmas”. Now donning of this human vesture was necessary. Why? Read on...
It is not an understatement to say that at the Fall, Sin damaged the entire personality of man. His body, soul and spirit (hey, human being is a trinity – I Thess 5:23) were deeply “wounded” as a result of his conscious choice to breach his conscience in the Garden of Eden at the behest of the crafty tempter (Genesis 3:1-7). At our physical birth, we the descendents of the Fallen Adam inherit the same “fallen, broken and damaged personality”. Now the Redemption work of atonement required that all the three parts of the fallen man be set right.
The terrible suffering of our Saviour on the Cross on ALL THE THREE FRONTS ensured that the “complete redemption package “is in place on the First Good Friday. His terrible physical anguish before and during the Crucifixion (a horrific death sentence where pain is maximal with death the “pain reliever” arriving oh so slowly) was immeasurable. The flogging and crowning of his head with “laurel wreath of thorns” only compounded it. Yes we were “sick” from head to toe (Isaiah 1:6) hence it required that our Saviour in his atoning work on the cross bleed to death from head to toe.
Now what about his emotional (soul) suffering before and during the Crucifixion? I would caution the readers’ not to be carried away by some “Christian” paintings which depict Christ praying in a dignified posture in the Garden of Gethsemane and being crucified with the loin cloth on? Even as the Cross with all its indescribable pain loomed before the spotless Son of God, so emotionally was he perturbed that he fell prostrate on his face (read the Gospels to know the truth – Mark 14:35) sweating blood. Then what about the insults that accompanied Him, all along this ordeal …the spitting and stripping (Matt 27:27-31)… the historians tell us that in order to instil uttermost fear of rebelling against their authority, the Romans ensured that the perpetrator was insulted publicly in toto, by crucifying him stark naked. So virtually Christ covered the shame brought about by sin (Genesis 3:7) by Himself enduring shame on the cross (Heb 12:2).
Coming to the spiritual suffering, let it be said that when ALL sin came upon His sinless self (2 Cor 5:21), He experienced HELL for us in order we do NOT end up there. Nothing more, nothing less and nothing else! Jesus’ only source of comfort in this fiery affliction till then (the Father’s Holy presence) also abandoned Him as the Holy God whose pure eyes cannot see evil (Hab 1:13) could not stay in the presence of despicable sin, hence that heart-rending cry from the cross …”My God, My God (Note: Not My Father, in the way Christ had along addressed His Father) why have you forsaken me” (Matt 27:46) in perfect fulfilment of the prophecy recorded about 1000 years back (Psalm 22:1).
Perpetual...
The enormity of Christ’s humility of coming down in a mere man’s body assumes different proportions altogether when we consider one more act of his inimitable humility...that is his conscious choice of remaining confined in it for eternity. His condescension meant, He would forever remain man albeit in a Glorified body after ascension (Rev 1:12-16).
Consider these Scripture portions (in present tense) penned after Christ’s ascension, which are a “clincher” as it were, in substantiating this “chilling” truth…
For in Christ there is all of God in a HUMAN body – Col 2:9 (TLB)
That God is on one side and all the people on the other side, and Christ Jesus, himself MAN, is between them to bring them together- I Tim 2:5 (TLB)
I looked and saw a Lamb standing there before the twenty-four Elders, in front of the throne and the Living Beings, and on the Lamb were wounds that once had caused his death. – Rev 5:6 (TLB)
Let me conclude now with a relevant, touching story which goes thus…
There was an orphaned boy living with his grandma when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, perished in the flames. The boy’s cries for help were finally a nswered by a man who climbed an iron drainpipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck. Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town’s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the lad’s eyes remained focused on the floor. Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hands from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe. With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man’s neck and held on for dear life. The other men silently walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. Those marred hands had settled the issue.
In these days of Lent, even as the Good Friday is around the corner, let us reflect on the truth that Christ’s hands and legs still retain the scars (He will never get back the perfect state, He was in before the First Christmas) we inflicted upon Him and respond with a resolution of showing life-long loyalty purely out of love and humility for the ONE who out of his indescribable humility has given His ALL to us!!! WHAT A SAVIOUR!!! HALLELUJAH!!!
Yours in His service,
Suresh Manoharan
An Unworthy Servant
