The person of Christ
This week we begin looking at the person of Christ in terms of His personality traits. To be sure, the distinctive characteristics or qualities that Christ manifested during His incarnate days are many.
One that stands out is humility. His coming in human flesh was itself prime evidence of humility.
Such is the thrust of the oft-quoted message of Philippians 2:6–8, that Christ “who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Both the incarnation and crucifixion bear testimony to the humility of Christ.
Christ’s humility
Christ’s humility can be seen in His unpretentiousness. He did not put on airs or play to the gallery, as we might say. He did not conform Himself to many of the common expectations of His religious contemporaries. He gladly kept company with sinners and outcasts.
At the climax of His earthly ministry, He entered Jerusalem on a lowly donkey. Nothing about His words or deeds leaves the impression that He sought to enhance His reputation in order to gain recognition and applause. In fact, He made Himself of no reputation, as attested in the verses from Philippians cited above.
He chose for His closest companions and fellow ministers men from common occupations, fishermen and a tax collector, instead of men of noble birth. He felt no compulsion to surround Himself with people from the higher rungs on the social ladder.
Divine right laid aside
Humility also is detected in His self-forgetfulness for the sake of others. When He took the role of a servant in washing the disciples’ feet the night before the cross, He not only laid aside His robe but also His divine right as the Son of God and Lord of Lords.
‘Lowly in heart’
Christ’s meekness was the handmaiden of His humility. His testimony in Matthew 11:29 was, “I am meek and lowly in heart.” Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was couched in an image of lowliness. With echoes of Zechariah 9:9, the Bible says the implicit message that day was, “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, gentle and riding on a donkey.’”
Both in that time and in ours, the term “meekness” suggests weakness. However, the idea is better understood as great strength being kept under control. It is the refusal to be self-assertive even though one might possess the right and power to be assertive.
What Christ demonstrated in His earthly life at the point of lowliness and meekness is what the Bible commands for His followers. First Peter 5:5b–6 tells us, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,” before commanding, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.”
Powerful example
Indeed Christ presents to us a powerful example of what humility and lowliness looked like in sandaled feet. In a society that promotes pride and assertiveness, people need to see what it looks like today in shoe leather.
Remember that Jesus promised, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).
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