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Jesus Was Humble (3 of 5)

In the military, an "about-face" is a command to make a 180 degree clockwise turn resulting in a precise reversal of direction; in other arenas (moral, spiritual, philosophical, political, etc.) an "about-face" is simply to reverse one's position on one or more important matters. Peter was a man familiar with about-faces. He had been a participant –even a ring-leader- of some in the spiritual arena. We will consider a couple of these as we think about Jesus and humility.

First, consider some of Peter's own inspired statements as he brought his first general epistle to a close: "Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (1Peter 5.5-7). The "quote within a quote" is taken from Proverbs 3.34 and it provides the rationale for humility; if God exalts the humble but resists the proud, then believers ought to choose humility over pride.

There is a figure of speech in Peter's statement that must not be overlooked, i.e. "be clothed with humility." Obviously humility is not a garment to be put on or off at will, but it is an attitude that must typify one who pleases God. A. T. Robertson, a recognized Greek scholar, says that the word "clothed" in 1 Peter 5.5 refers to the tying on of a white scarf or apron what was typical of a servant's attire in the first century. This outer garment was much like a uniform worn by people in the certain service industries (e.g. nurses and waiter/waitresses) today. Hence to be clothed with humility is to be prepared to serve.

Now watch Peter's lack of humility as the shadow of the cross draws near. Jesus revealed to His apostles that He "… must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day." (Matthew 16.22). Upon hearing this bit of unsavory news, "Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!'" It was in response to this event that Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." At this moment in time, the selfish desires of Peter outweighed the need to achieve the Divine mission of redemption, Christ's absolute mandate upon the earth. Such being the case, Jesus then added, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (see Matthew 16.22-25 for the verses just cited). Humility seeks to serve and the humility modeled and demanded by Christ does not stop short of total self-sacrifice! Peter did an about-face!

This was not the only time Peter stood in the way of something Jesus was determined to do. After eating the last supper Jesus proceeded to ready Himself to wash the apostle's feet. Once again, Peter speaks to Jesus: "You shall never wash my feet!" (John 13.8). This just does not seem like a man "clothed with humility" and, in fact, it is not. The Peter who spoke these words was different from the one who penned 1 Peter 5.5. Peter did an about-face; more to come.

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

Moralism