Now, if anyone could get a free pass to brag about themselves it would be Jesus. I mean, after all, He is God incarnate. Perfect, blameless, holy, divine, the list goes on. Yet, the most wise and powerful human to tread this earth also held a posture of humility everywhere He went. Even more astonishing, He made it a priority to humble Himself as a servant to those around Him, who by the way, had way less credibility and special skills on their resumes compared to Jesus. By all accounts, in our finite minds, this approach Jesus takes seems backwards. Especially when we consider a society that tells us the more you have the better you are, and the better you are the more people should do for you. Yet, just like He does throughout His ministry, not only does Jesus seem to teach the opposite of what most would think, He also does the unexpected. 

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the biggest plot twist and unexpected event that has ever happened in the history of creation. The God of the universe not only sacrificed Himself for all mankind, but three days after His death, breath would fill up His lungs and He arose from the grave with only a few scars on His hands. As incredible as this is at face value, if we take a few steps back to see the steps and significance of the greatest event in history, we are only left to marvel even more at the majesty of our God. 

The greatest being in history, the One who holds creation and all things in His hands, not only preached the good news with humility but He lived it out as well. The Pharisees at the time would follow the law of Moses and encourage others to abide by it as well; this itself was not so bad. But, the disconnect was this; the way in which they went about living it out was not rooted in humility. Following the law was done in a more legalistic fashion and their heart behind doing good things was for other people to catch them in the act of doing so. They loved the spotlight, they loved to be noticed for being such good and honorable people; all while they neglected to help others and would abuse their status to get others to do things for them and demand respect. Then Jesus comes onto the scene and He does what He does best. Speaking with authority seasoned with grace, He reminds the Pharisees and disciples that, “The greatest among you must be a servant.” (Matthew 23:11). So, other than making Himself available to sit at tables with sinners, perform miracles, and spread good news wherever He went, how else did Jesus live out being a servant? A part of being a servant is sacrifice, and Jesus performed the ultimate sacrifice for you and me when He willingly treaded the path this week that would ultimately lead Him to the cross. 

The greatest being of past, present, and future, with all the power and authority He possessed, made Himself less than and humbled Himself for you and me to give us a hope and future. I think Philippians 2:7-8 articulates it best;