Can Important People Be Humble?

Jesus' healing of a boy after His transfiguration had attracted a large crowd. So {30} "they left that place." Why?

"Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples." Jesus was spending time with them individually and privately to explain to them what they had observed up to this time in His life. But He was especially focusing on what they were going to observe shortly so that they might be ready for it. What was that? This is the second time he specifically told them, {31} "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."

The disciples had two reactions. What was the first? {32} "They did not understand what He meant." They understood the facts. They, however, didn't understand why he had to go through this. "We don't understand" really means what? We don't agree with what the person said because we can't figure out why he would be saying it.

The second reaction was: {32} "They were afraid to ask him about it." The last time they had this same discussion Jesus had called Peter Satan for telling Him not to go ahead with this. So, why afraid? I don't know about you, but I would be afraid to discuss these things with Jesus and risk being called Satan. Secondly, Jesus had indicated that He was going to be betrayed by one of them. Why afraid? The disciples didn't want to have to deal with that. They were afraid to ask Him about it.

Who is humble in this lesson? Jesus is. He was going to undergo the humiliation of being handed over to His enemies by one of His friends. He was going to undergo the terrible treatment previous to and including His crucifixion. He was doing all of this because He had been assigned that function by the heavenly Father. He was doing all of this even though He was true God and could have stopped all of it or overcome all of it. That is humility. Willingness to place oneself, no matter what one's position is, underneath the will of somebody else.

Who is humble in this lesson? The disciples were not. They had heard the facts about the upcoming death of Jesus. They didn't understand why God had chosen to have things done in this way. They didn't like it. They had indicated their disagreement before. They still didn't understand. They didn't want to be told they should submit to God's will. So, they just didn't bring it up anymore. Unwillingness to submit to the plan of God for their own salvation.

Are we humble? Are we willing to submit to the Lord's will in our lives? God's will is that we be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. For that to happen we need to be in agreement with God's evaluation of us. God says I am a sinful human being. Do I submit to that evaluation? Do I acknowledge that it is the truth? God says that I cannot make myself right with Him on my own. Do I submit to that evaluation? Do I acknowledge that it is the truth? God says I am totally dependent on Him for forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life? Do I submit to God's will for my salvation? Do I acknowledge it is the truth?

Are we humble? Do we insist as did the disciples that God's way isn't the best way? Maybe we don't agree with the way He evaluates us. We aren't really sinners like those bad people in the world out there, are we? Maybe we don't agree with the way He has planned salvation for humans. We should be able to do something that makes us feel good about our relationship with Him, shouldn't we? Maybe we don't agree with what he allows to happen in our lives. Why should we have to suffer? Why should Jesus have had to suffer? The questions become intertwined and convoluted.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, lead us to be humble like You: willing to submit to the Father's will in our lives.

After completing the trip to Capernaum, what did Jesus ask His disciples? {33} "What were you arguing about on the road?" Jesus did not ask them for His own information. He asked them to get them to think about what they had been doing.

{34} "But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest." Why didn't they answer? Because they were embarrassed about the content of their conversation. They knew it was not pleasing to Jesus. Jesus had always taught them that they were to be humble and willing to serve. Arguing about who would be greatest didn't fit that very well.

{35} Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." His lesson to them was: Your view of what constitutes greatness needs to be changed. If you want to be first, you shouldn't be looking down on people or looking back at people. If you want to be first, you should be behind and underneath people, supporting them, helping them, benefiting them, serving them.

Why did Jesus teach this lesson so often? Because it is needed all the time. Focusing our attention on ourselves comes naturally because I am the closest person to me. Striving after what is beneficial for me comes naturally because I am the logical person to watch out for myself. Promoting myself and congratulating myself comes naturally as a defense mechanism so I can get along in a world which tends to tear people down and apart. God commands that we love Him with all our heart, and soul and mind and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. That means focusing only on ourselves, living to benefit only ourselves and glorifying ourselves is sin. We need to hear what Jesus has to say. "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the servant of all."

Can I be a servant? "I have a responsible position. I have people under me. I have to make important decisions. I have to give people orders, sometimes to do things they don't want to do. I am supposed to be a dynamic leader, not a servant. Bosses are not servants. They are bosses." Jesus doesn't exempt certain segments of His people from his statement, "If you want to be first, you must be a servant of all." Yes. The boss is a leader. But the boss can still be a servant. On what basis do I make my important decisions? Should I make the decision that I know will make my stock option package more lucrative and my bonus at the end of the year bigger? Or should I make the decision that I know will make the company more financially secure for all the employees for the future. I can give people orders and still get behind them, and under them, and serve them when they need help with a family crisis or health problem, or most especially a spiritual need. Can I be a servant? You bet I can be, even though I am a boss.

Can I be a servant? "I have a responsible position. I have people under me. I have to make important decisions. I give people orders, sometimes to do things they don't want to do. I am supposed to be a leader, not a servant. Parents are not servants. We are bosses." Jesus doesn't exempt certain segments of His people from His statement, "If you want to be first, you must be a servant of all." Yes. A parent is a leader. But parents can still be servants. On what basis do I make my important decisions. Should I make the decision that insures that I have the time for recreation for myself? Or should I make the decision that I know will leave me more time with my family? I can give children order and still get behind them when they need encouragement, under them when they need support, help them with problems they can't handle on their own, and most especially point them to Jesus on a regular basis. Can I be a servant? You bet I can be, even though I am a parent.

OK. Jesus wants me to be a servant. What kind of people do I tend to serve? People who are pretty similar to me. Why? Because I am most comfortable with people who are pretty much like me. Why? Because I can assume that they think pretty much like me. Which means I can sort of by intuition know their needs, know when they are struggling, and do for them what I know I would need in the circumstance.

What kind of people do I tend to serve? People who are pretty similar to me. Why? Because they think pretty much like me. Which means they can sort of by intuition know what is going on in my life. They know when I have a need, they know when I am struggling, and they can do something for me when I am in circumstances that demand attention.

After discussing with His disciples the fact that greatness comes from serving, {36} Jesus took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them: "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Why pick a child as an illustration of what He was trying to get across? Because a child is different from us. A child doesn't think as I do. I can't by intuition know exactly how I should serve them. And they are incapable of returning the favor when I have needs.

Jesus uses children as a good illustration because it is a good picture of how God deals with us. God serves us even though He isn't like us at all. He is perfect. We are sinners. He is almighty. We are weak. And we could go on with the list. God isn't ever going to have needs so that we can repay him. God serves us because He is a God of grace. He loves us even though we are sinners. He forgives us because of Jesus' death on the cross not because we deserve it. He covers us with Jesus' holiness because he loves us not because we did a partially good job of being righteous. He gives us eternal life because of Jesus' resurrection, not because we did a decent job of trying to live our lives on this earth to him.

Notice how closely Jesus links himself to this process of loving children. He says we are to {37a} welcome people in his name. That means we are to treat others with the same consideration and love which Jesus himself would have used. We are to be taking Jesus' place in the situation since he isn't there himself to physically do what is needed. Notice also he says that when we welcome such folks we are {37b} welcoming him and the heavenly Father. We are used to Jesus' speaking in these terms. Whenever we do anything or say anything in our lives we are doing or saying something to Jesus.

What does all of this have them to do with humility? Let's get practical. There are certain people we just wouldn't welcome into our lives. Why not? Because their life style is different. So, we can't figure out how to serve them. And their life style makes it impossible for them to serve us. Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes one of these people who are different from us and can't repay us, welcomes me."

Who do we welcome into our congregation? You know the right answer. Everybody. We want to serve everybody with the Gospel. That means the people who are much different from us. That means the people who have no capacity to give us anything back. Humility. The willingness to serve anybody A willingness that has to be nondiscriminatory.

You are very important people. So important that God had His Son live and die and rise for you. And in spite of that You can be very humble people, submitting to God's will and willing to serve without discrimination.

Prayer: LORD Jesus, thanks for considering me to be important. Please make me humble.