Shalom,
Everyone of ussurelywants to be like Jesus. But,how is it possible?Through the work of the Holy Spirit. Itis worth noting that the HolySpirit is our Helperthat is withus forever (John 14:16) and our Comforter who teaches and reminds us (v.26).
In addition, the Holy Spirit leadsus into all truth (John 16:13) and Jesus is the perfect truth (John 14:6) without blemish because He is God. If we want to imitate Jesus, weshould prepare our hearts to be engraved with the Word of God by theHoly Spirit (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:3).
What truth of the Word does the Holy Spirit remind us of thistime? Ephesians 5:20-21 write, “Alwaysgiving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord JesusChrist. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Why must we be humble? Humility out of reverence for Christwill result in a great victory over the devil and hewill flee from us (James4:7). But the devil approaches and makesfriends with the arrogant.
As we know, Jesus is the most humblePerson ever. Hence, weare required to learn humbleness from Him (Matthew 11:29).Humbleness gives us a merry heart. Weare slow to grumble despite the challenge we face. Consequently, we have peacedeep within us. On the contrary,arrogance and self-esteem bring us restlessness,anxiety, self-conciousness, fear of defeat,making our souls uneasyout of restlessness.
What is the characteristic of humility?Philippians 2: 3-5 write, “Donothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility valueothers above yourselves, not lookingto your own interests but each of you to theinterests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the samemindset as Christ Jesus,”
Please take notethat when it comes to salvation, we must be independent (cannot ‘count on’ others). However, we cannot live on our own in the society since we are social beings.
Who should we submit to?
“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands… as thechurch submits to Christ (Ephesian 5:22-24). Husbands, love your wives just asChrist loved the church (v.25).Children, obey your parents in theLord.(Ephesian 6:1-3). Fathers, do not exasperate your children..(v.4). Slaves,obey your earthly masters with respect and fear…(vv.5-8). And masters, treatyour slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them…“ (v.9).
Typically,husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves can practicehumility withstrings attached (on condition that). A wife, forinstance, will submit to herhusband if he meets herneeds; a husbandwill love his wife if sheserves him well. On the other hand, children will obey and honor their parents if they can understand what young people will, etc.
Can husbands valuetheir wives abovethemselves, andvice versa? In reality,a husbandand a wife often quarrel because they look down on each other. Parents treat their children in an authorative manner becausethey feel they have spent lots of money raising them. In thesame way, masters boss theiremployees around at will for they thinkthey pay them, and the listgoes on and on.
Besides consideringothers more important, we must also takeothers’ interests into comsiderationas we live in the society. Just for an illustration:Membersof the body need tocollaborate with andcare for each other.
For example, the feet gotheir own way (feeling ableto reach the destination). Meanwhile, the eyes do not care what the feet need, letting them take care of themselves. Eventually, the feet stumble and never get to the distination because they take thewrong way.
When it comes to marriage, households and professions, Jesus is the perfect role model.Why did He come into the world? Wouldn’t it have been betterfor Him to live in His eternal Kingdom? He came for the sake of the sinners and delivered HisWord. Sadly, men rejected Him.What was the proof? God created Adam first.
Thenfrom his rib, God created Eve (Genesis 2: 7, 21-23). A husband is the head of the familyand is responsible for making decisions. Eve, as a wife, made her owndecision to pickand eat the forbidden fruit. Later sheshared it with Adam and both fell into sin. In this case, God demanded that Adam, notEve, account for their marriage and professions (Genesis 3:17). Since that time, men have been losingthe image of God.
How did Jesusset an example of humility for man? → lowliness: status /posisi yang rendah (ecek-2)
Tohusbands and wives (Ephesians 5: 22-23)
For the sake ofHis love for the church, Jesus willingly died for their stain of sin so thatthey would be sanctified and presented without blemishbefore Him.
Wives are first mentioned to obeytheir husbands (Ephesians 5:22) then husbands (v.25). This showsthat husbands play an overall roll intheir families. In otherwords, a husbandis responsible for the success of his household.In terms of a concept, a grown-up girl ripefor marriage knows that a wife is expected to understand her husband’s needs andprofession, not merely their sex lives.
Donot be interested in hismoney, ignoring how your husband gets it. Likewise, amature man who wants to get married knows his wife’s needs and hisresponsibilities for his family.He loves his wife just when she is weak and not in good condition, because he understands his wife is busy running the householdas well as the needs of all familymembers.
Tochildren and parents (Ephesians 6:1-4)
Nowadays, more and morechildren disrespect their parents. Actually, the Apostle Paul oncegave his written warning 2000 yearsago, saying that in the end time, lots of children will break thefifth commandment, namely, “Honoryour father and your mother, so that you may live long” (Genesis 20:12; cf.Romans 1:30; 2Timothy 3:2).
Jesus, as a child, gavean example of humbleness by obeying his physical parents, Joseph and Mary. When Jesus was12 years old, His parents took Him to the Passover Feast inJerusalem with them.After the feast was over, Joseph and Mary went back toNazareth. Without their knowingit, Jesus was notwith them. How nervous andworried they were when they realized that their son was ’lost’.
Immediately, theyreturned to Jerusalem (a three-day trip) and found Him in the temple of God talkingwith the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. When Mary, Hismother, asked Him why He had doneit, making His parents worried,Jesus answered that He had to be in His Father’s house.
But they did not understand His reply.Jesus did not mean tobe superior, “lecturing on”His parents; after all, He went down with them back toNazareth and lived under their care (Luke 2: 41-51). Aged 12, Jesus had learned to obey His Heavenly Father and Hisphysical parents alike.
Therefore, God blessed Him withwisdom and physical growth, growingin favour with Godand men (v. 52). Being an obedient son, Jesus set a goodexample (cf. Proverbs 1: 1-4,7-8).
Introspection: Where have thechildren been when they come home late? Did they go to theirfriend’s home without permission with the excuse of doingschool assignments together. In fact,they went to see amovie or let it all hang out somewhere?
Please note: Parentscannot demand that their children honor and obey them unless they first set examplesto their children. For instance, how can parentspossibly teach their childrennot to lie while they live a lie all the time? Can a father possibly tell his chidlren not to steal, but he himself commits corruption at work?
How can parentspossibly disciplinetheir childrento fear the Lord while they give God’s Word nochance to discipline them. They demand respect, butthey do not give honor to God and His Word. Children will neverchange unless parents show them how tobe humble and obedient by example.
The ApostlePaul positioned himself as “a mother” who raised the church in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2: 7) andas “a father” who advised and strengthened their hearts (v. 11). Of course, he must have disciplinedhimself first before he became an example for them.
It was normal that Jesus, being ahuman, was afraid to die. Butas a Son, He obeyed and suffered until He died (Hebrews 5: 7-9). Be alert as thefalse teaching says that Jesus is Godwho cannot die; so He was pretendingto suffer painand die on the cross.
Didn’t he once reject to drink thecup of God’s wrath? As a human being, He had no physical strength to endure all the sufferings He would have to go through (Matthew26:38-39). Some said that Jesus did not die, but somebody else replaced Him. Pilate was witness to Jesus’ death. Hence, they did not breakHis legs (John 19:33). Meanwhile, theybroke the legs of the twocriminals crucified with Jesus on that day(v.32). → be witness to / a witness to.
As a Son, Jesus became theperfect role model and the source of eternal salvation for all people who obey Him (Hebrews 5:9).
Remember that our obedience to men (a pastor,a father,a mother,a leader,etc.) does not leadus to salvation unless we obey Jesus and His Word. How do we know Jesus? Readthe Bible diligently! By knowing Jesus, we know God the Father, too (John14:9).
Toslaves and masters (Ephesians 6:6-9)
Both slaves and masters must be obedient andhumble according to their respectivepositions. This also applies tothe servants of Christ. → Simple Presen Tense (Active Voice): kata kerja tidakmemakai “to be.”
Joseph, Jacob’s first son withRachel, was 17 years old when he wassold by his brothers and became a slave in Egypt (Genesis 34:28). What happened to him as a slave in Potiphar’s house and as a prisoner?Wherever he was, God was with him; and whatever he did, God made it prosper (Genesis 39:2, 23).
Boaz, a richman from Bethlehem, respected his field workersand they respected him in return (Ruth2:4). Masters/employers who fear the Lord esteem theirworkers/employees. Boaz saw Ruth picking up the grains in his field and knew the backgroundof herlife (Ruth 2:5-7, 11-12). Eventually, he married her and shegave birth to Obed (Ruth 4:13). Obed was the father of Jesse, David’s father(v.17), and the ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1:1).
Jesus is theperfect role model. DespiteHis godly nature(Master), He was willing to take the nature of a servant. He became an man obedient to death - death on the cross - bearinghumiliation (Philippians 2: 5-9). On anotheroccasion, Jesus, as a Teacher, humbled Himself by washing His disciples’feet (John 13:4-5).
Jesus never demanded that He be equalto HisFather. Instead, He took the natureof a servant (the lowest point of humbleness) to release and lift up the slaves to sin. For that reason, God exalted Himand gave Him the name above every name (the culmination/top point). At His name, everyknee should bow, of those inheaven, on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confessthat Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).
As it turns out, being a humbleservant promotes us to kings with Him forever (Revelation 22: 6-7,12). How does the world see the humble Jesus through us?
How beautiful the impact of humility tohusbands and wives, parentsand children, and masters and slaves.Admittedly, itis not that easy to be humble because it is just like bearing a cross. But thinkof the result as experienced by thechurch in Philadelphiathat had obeyedthe Word and had not denied His Name (Revelation 3:7-8, 11-12). Wereceive the assurance to enter the new Jerusalem through our utterances andbehaviours in the society. Indeed,how blessed we will be if we learn tobe humble like Jesus! Amen.
ByPastor Paulus Budiono
Johor,Sunday, November 11, 2018
