Kingdom Principle: What does it mean to humble oneself? It means to see ourselves as we truly are; incapable and insignificant. Those prepared for the kingdom of Christ are those who see their only capability and significance coming from the capability and significance of another, namely Jesus, the Son of God.
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We are In-_______________________________
Luke 18:15 (ESV) — 15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them…
I am not sure there is a better picture of absolute incapability and dependency as an infant. Babies are helpless.
The blind beggar is a picture of absolute desperation. It is a picture of complete helplessness. It is a picture of utter incapability.
In Adam we all died. (1Cor. 15:22) In the natural man, there is no part of us that is animated toward God. There is no source that we can pull from to move toward Him. We are life-less.
John 6:44 (ESV) — 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:37 (ESV) — 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
Like the parents brought their children to Jesus for his blessing, and like the crowd carried the blind man to be near to Christ, so the Father must bring us to the Son. We are offered up to the Son by the Father, in order that we have no merit upon which to stand.
Ephesians 2:5 (ESV) — 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved
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We are In-________________________
Luke 18:15 (ESV) — 15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
Luke 18:38–39 (ESV) — 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
At this point in Jesus’ ministry he is pretty important. And so those following him (disciples/crowd) think they are pretty important as well. A mentality Jesus must disabuse them of.
1 Corinthians 1:26–31 (ESV) — 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
You are empty!
What we learn from Jesus is that when we come to grips with the reality of who we truly are, we are ready then, and only then, to receive the capability and significance of another.
“Humility is nothing but the disappearance of self in the vision that God is all… Here is the path to the higher life: down, lower down! Just as water always seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds men abased and empty, His glory and power flow in to exalt and to bless.” Andrew Murray
Questions to Consider
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Do you see yourself as nothing, so Christ might be all?
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In what ways do you see God humbling you so that you might depend on Him?
