The Son’s Humility

Ultimately, to be humble is to do what is right even when it may hurt, or you do not feel like it. Doing what is right is ALWAYS doing what God desires. Accomplishing His will is righteousness since He is righteous. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, always did what His Father told Him [John 8:29]. He was pleased to do so. That means that even in human form on earth He obeyed regardless of whether it hurt [Luke 22:42]. It was not so much about whether He felt like it because He was not concerned with His feelings over His Father’s plan. His feelings were always adjusted to whatever was asked of Him by the Father, but He knew that His Father only asked of Him the most honorable deeds.

The opposite of humility is self-centeredness. Doing whatever we want is arrogant in a world where we are not the center of the universe. Interestingly, Jesus Christ is the center of the universe, and He chose to submit to His Father. Of course, as mentioned in a prior post, God is Tri-unity. That means the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all as One the center of the universe together but each function uniquely. Yet, neither of them excludes the other.

There are several lessons we can learn from Christ’s humility. Submission to authority when appropriate is as divine as the authority over us. That statement is qualified by “when appropriate” because sometimes we cannot submit to human authorities if it leads us to sin. There are many occasions, however, that we are not being led into sin but desire our own will and defiantly disobey and disrespect authority. It is noble to submit when we are not enthused about it. This also points to the fact that respect for authority is to be earned and not expected intuitively in all scenarios. Obviously, God the Father is worthy of the highest respect so much so that Christ has never defied Him.

We can also learn that having power, wisdom, and fame doesn’t mean we must be conceited. Jesus Christ is God but didn’t prize His divinity over cherishing His Father’s design [Philippians 2:5-8]. Think of how Jesus Christ multiplied a few loaves of bread to feed tens of thousands of people [Mark 6:30-44], but when tempted by the devil himself after 40 days of fasting, Christ would not make bread [Matthew 4:1-4]. Why not? His Father had not told Him to do so and therefore He will refrain from even eating if His Father says that it is what is best [John 4:34].

Christ’s humility is fascinating. It is a lesson for us all. At COR [City of Refuge], we have started a new teaching series on What We Believe. We are currently focusing on Christ the Son of God. We invite you to learn and discuss with us at 10 am Sunday mornings.