“His Humility, Our Humility"

    The willingness to be corrected speaks much of the character of Christ, as formed in us by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

    "Correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul" (Proverbs 29:17).

   This may seem strange since the Lord Jesus, while often tempted, never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).  How then would He know about correction?  The narrative of His life, as recorded in the Gospels, provides the answer.  Recall the episode of the temple, when at twelve years old He remained behind to astound the teachers of the law by His knowledge and wisdom.  When Joseph and Mary found Him in their midst, He clearly believed the time had come for His ministry to begin.  "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" (Luke 2:49).  Certainly it was His Father's business that our Lord should declare and explain the Truth as no one ever had.  But not yet, that is to say, His ministry of preaching was not scheduled to begin for nearly two decades.  Thus, the boy realized His Father's will, as revealed through Joseph and Mary.  He had not sinned by remaining behind at the temple, but He did recognize and respond to the "correction" in His understanding of the Divine timetable - "He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them" (Luke 2:51).

    A similar episode occurred at the time when the ministry of the Lord Jesus was in fact scheduled to begin.  At the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee, a shortage of wine led Mary to seek His help, with obvious expectation of the miraculous (John 2:3).  "Mine hour is not yet come" responded the Lord Jesus, not yet realizing that the time of miracles and teaching was actually at hand.  At some point in the matter, the Lord realized that His hour had in fact come.  He stood corrected, as it were, not from sin, but rather to the redirection administered from His Father through Mary.  This speaks to His character of humility before God and humanity, and to the same disposition that will be formed in those who become the dwelling place of the Spirit of Christ through faith.

    "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up" (James 4:10).

   The more Christ is formed in us, the more we will recognize the ongoing need for correction.  In our case, more than simple redirection may be involved as we may also need reproof regarding sin.  Thus we must maintain always an attitude of humility whereby we realize the possibility that our chosen paths are not the God's chosen paths for us.  Realizing this to be a character trait of the Lord Jesus, we look to Him for guidance and enabling to redirect our steps as our Father clarifies our vision regarding His purposes and will.

"Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

(Matthew 11:28-29)

Weekly Memory Verse

   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ."

(Ephesians 1:3)