Advent ABC's: Humble

Jesus invited the weary ones to come to him, to learn from him, for he was gentle and humble. Gentleness, as we discussed yesterday, is strength under control. Jesus exhibited that strength in his incarnation. He was very God and very Man. For me, that’s like trying to comprehend the national debt: it’s just too big to wrap my brain around.

So how shall we understand Jesus’ humility? It seems to be easier to identify what humbleness is by saying what it isn’t. For sure, it isn’t arrogant or proud. Innate to humility is the attitude of serving other. Paul speaks to this issue of humility in the same passage we read yesterday: 7but [he] made himself nothing, taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:7-8)

In “Baker’s Dictionary of Theology,” the entry regarding humility uses such phrases as unselfconscious and selfless. I can’t imagine that this image did much to inspire the crowds. They were oppressed. They wanted a hero Messiah who would restore them to power and respect. Jesus wanted them to learn how to keep their strength reined in and put others first. He seems to expound on this in the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, especially when he tells them to go the other mile and turn the other cheek.

Yet somehow this must have resonated in the hearts of those who loved and followed him. In Peterson’s “The Message” he uses a phrase in his translation of the Matthew 11 passage, “Learn the unforced rhythm of grace.” Their souls craved that rhythm. They longed for what would set them aright. They needed to get back to original plan.

Did you know that the root for our word humble and humility is humus, dirt or ground? What was it that we were created from? In Genesis 2, it says that God formed the man from the dust of the ground. Humbleness is in our DNA, Jesus came to bring us back to who and how were created. He was born as a baby, in poverty. He lived a simple life, serving others, loving others, healing others. But his ultimate demonstration of humility and obedience was his acceptance of your sin and mine as he died upon that cross.

How will you learn of him this Advent? Where will you find and share gentleness and humility?