Beyond Our Reach
To teach [the disciples] and us the lesson that no outward instruction, not even of Christ Himself; no argument, however convincing; no sense of the beauty of humility, however deep; no personal resolve or effort, however sincere and earnest, can cast out pride.
Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness, Andrew Murray
Jesus taught them for three years, yet even at the Last Supper there remained contention about who would be the greatest. The Sermon on the Mount opened with the blessing on the poor in spirit; He taught them continually to learn from Him, His gentle and humble heart; the greatest shall be the servant. Yet they showed pride many times, even to the night before His crucifixion.
Yes, there were sporadic displays of humility, but, being sporadic, these did not represent a changed heart; they still lived in the old. The change came at Pentecost, after the triumph of Christ’s humility over Satan’s pride.
…may I urge the pressing need to seek a deeper conviction of the unique place that humility holds in the life of every believer. Let us consider how far the disciples were advanced while this grace was still lacking….
We can learn lessons from this pre-Pentecost example of the disciples. First, there was enthusiastic and active practice of Christianity in them, even when humility was lacking. The disciples were attached to Jesus; they had forsaken all to follow him. They believed in Him and they loved Him. When others fell away, they remained faithful. Yet, the selfishness and pride remained.
We see this in ourselves – to make it personal, I see it in me: flashes of humility that cannot withstand even the mildest test.
Humility it a virtue that only comes in power when the fullness of the Spirit makes us partakers of the indwelling Christ and He lives within us.
Further, we learn that external teaching and personal effort cannot get us there – cannot move us from pride to humility. The disciples had the greatest teacher and greatest example for three years, and we know their story.
Nothing works but this: that the new nature in its divine humility can be revealed in power to take the place of the old – to become our true nature.
Finally, we see that it is clear: only by the indwelling of Christ can we become truly humble. We have the indwelling of Adam’s pride, and this can only be removed by the indwelling of the Second Adam’s humility.
…it must be our true selves, our very nature. As natural and easy as it has been to be proud, it must become natural for us to be humble.
But this is not to discount the value of the teaching and example. All of Jesus’s teaching and example was to prepare them for this, just as we are to learn from His teaching and example to prepare us for the same.
In His death, He destroyed the power of the devil. He put away sin and produced an everlasting redemption.
Then came Pentecost. We see the change in the lives and letters of James and Peter and John.
He that humbles himself – that must be our one aim – shall be exalted; that is God’s aim. By His mighty power and in His great love He will do it. … This is the path to the gladness and the glory of Christ’s presence in us, of His power resting upon us.
And now comes the test. How do we live? How do we display this? How do we know? It is measured by our everyday relationships, our actions with others. If it isn’t displayed here, we might come to find that our love for God is a delusion (and we come back to the two great commandments from Jesus to understand this point: the only way we know we love God is if we love our neighbor).
…our humility toward others is the only sufficient proof that our humility before God is real. … It will manifest itself in all our bearing toward others. … It is in our relationships with one another, in our treatment of each other, that true lowliness of mind and a heart of humility can be seen.
But what happens when we see ourselves as better, smarter, wiser, than others? We are reminded that before God we are nothing. We are still to serve, without jealousy, without envy, without bitterness, without comparing.
Amid temptations to impatience and irritableness, to hard thoughts and sharp words that come in response to the failings and sins of fellow-Christians, the humble person carries the oft-repeated injunction in his heart and shows it in his life: “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, even as the Lord forgave you.”
When Jesus takes the place of self, it is not impossible to forgive as Jesus forgives. Yes, we will have failures; these failures can remind us to turn to the meek and lowly Lamb of God. His humility will flow through us, and this will prove our holiness:
The one infallible test of our holiness will be our humility before God and others. Humility is the bloom and blossom of holiness.
The holiest will always be the humblest: we have as much holiness as we have God, and we have God to the extent that self disappears.
…where Christ the meek and lowly Lamb of God is truly formed within, there comes the power of perfect love that forgets itself and finds its blessedness in blessing others. Where this love enters, God enters. And where God has come in His power and revealed Himself, the vessel becomes nothing. This is the condition in which true humility can be displayed toward others.
Conclusion
“God created the world out of nothing, and as long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.”
- Martin Luther
Humility is beyond our reach. Imagine the pride it takes to believe that through our effort we can remove the pride of Satan and replace it with the humility of Christ.
Let us study the words we have been reading until our heart is filled with the thought: My one need is humility. And let us believe that what He shows He gives, and what He is He imparts.