Is this Jesus? [Humble Jesus]

What does humility really look like? Is it selling yourself short so that others don't feel threatened by you? Is it allowing others to trample over you? Does it mean you never show your strengths and major on your weaknesses? Somehow Jesus was BOTH strong and humble. He managed to balance being God, and having supreme power and strength, with hanging out with the down-and-outs, the forgotten, the outcasts of society and never making them feel threatened.

Jesus, God in human form, did not consider his god-likeness a deserved right, but made himself of no reputation, coming instead in the form of a servant (to God's will), lived an innocent life and died a criminal's death so that our sins might be forgiven and we could be restored to God (Philippians 2:5-11). Jesus had every opportunity and temptation to reveal himself as God. When the Sadducees and Pharisees called him blasphemous, when the soldiers taunted him 'the King of the Jews', when Israel nailed him to a cross and then proceeded to say, 'if you are God get yourself down from there', oh the temptation to just show them the truth. To reveal himself in his glory...to make them eat every last word of theirs, to regret every doubt and accusation, to realise the mistake in the actions they chose. But Jesus, in his humility, stayed true to his Father's will, and said "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) A picture of weakness?

Pride gets in the way of our relationship with God. It puts me, myself and I at the forefront of my life's agenda and doesn't let God get close. Even in our christianity we can allow pride to filter in...think about what you do in church, who you sit next to. Do you consider yourself more important? Do you play a more vital role in church life than they do? We have to remember that we are part of the body of Christ, no one part is more important than another (1 Corinthians 12:14-26). Remember our salvation had NOTHING to do with us, it was, and is, all about Jesus. We can't earn spiritual brownie points for living a more 'holy' life than we did last week, Jesus is our righteousness and he never changes. If we shall boast on anything let it be on Jesus - keep him the centre of our attention! (May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:13-15)

Humility is not about having a high, or a low, opinion of yourself, it is about achieving a balanced view of yourself. Romans 12:3 urges us to have a 'sane' opinion of ourselves and of the capabilities that God has given us, recognising the source of all these gifts, talents and strengths - God. As soon as we feel we can cope, or we can preach, or we can do this or that, we are 'skating on thin ice' - humility is acknowleding the source of our strength, that we are dependant on more than our own natural ability.

Had Jesus come to earth full of pride he would have alienated the world, set an impossible standard to follow, and in doing so left the world to eternal judgement. Instead he left his power, glory and majesty in heaven and came to the world as a defenseless, dependant baby where he grew up and lived a humble life of submission and obedience. Instead he embraced the world, the dirty, the unrighteous, the sinners, the unforgiveable, the cheats, the proud, that's right, us, and brought us near. Remember this humble Jesus, who demonstrated that humility and meekness is 'strength under perfect control' and let us be those who remember who our source is and never become 'too big for our boots'!

Is this Jesus? [Strong Jesus]

The world places a huge emphasis on external shows of strength; it gets respect, it intimidates, it commands some form of leadership. Yet Jesus, this self-proclaimed messiah, did not come with brute strength, or commanding armies, he disappointed, in fact insulted Jewish expectations by coming to serve, to bring peace , to spend time with the sick and rejected and to eventually die the most humiliating criminals death on the cross - hardly a show of strength. So how can we consider Jesus strong?

1 Corinthians 1:24-25 describes Jesus as the 'mighty power of God...and God's weakness is far stronger than the greatest of human strength.'
God's kingdom has a different, often upside-down, perspective on life to ours. 1 Cor 1:27 goes on to say that God deliberately 'chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful.' Jesus knew another strong military or political leader would never change the world, he needed to model a strength that would never be overcome.

Throughout the Bible there are stories of men and women who, in their weakness, found God to be their source of strength, and went on to accomplish mighty things. In Matthew 4:1-11 we encounter Jesus in a physically weak condition after fasting for 40 days. The Devil tries to tempt him to turn stones into bread (which shows the powerful capabilities Jesus had) but Jesus had an inner strength to resist these external temptations.

Throughout his life Jesus was tried/tested/despised/beaten/rejected/mocked/insulted/betrayed/spat at/hated/falsely accused/laughed at/humiliated/ridiculed and murdered, yet he remained strong through it all.

How can we be strong like Jesus?
We need to SUBMIT to God. Whilst the word submit gives visions of defeat and weakness, Jesus entrusted himself to the Father's will, knowing that God knew best and would ensure his will be done, even when the physical circumstances were tough (1 Peter 2:20-24).
We need God's SPIRIT. God has given us his Spirit and therefore he commands us to be strong (Ephesians 6:10--18). He has also given us spiritual tools and weapons to use, if we will just pick them up.
We need to be those that STAY. Too often people are put off by wishy washy Christians who don't know what they believe and live like they don't believe anything (James 1:6-8). We need to make choices for our lives and stick by them; be consistent in all we say and do.
We need to eat SOUL FOOD. Who do you know who only eats on Sundays? I don't know any. And yet so often the only time we feed our 'inner man', is when someone else is spoon feeding us from a stage. If we don't feed our physical bodies we become weak, prone to sickness, vulnerable and useless. Similarly if we don't spend time in God's word (his food for us) then we too become weak. All too often we choose the wrong things from 'the menu of life' and these things will always leave us feeling hungry again (John 4:13-14; 6:35).

Psalm 27 God desires to be our source of strength. Ephesians 1:19-23 talks of the incredible greatness of his power for us, the same power which raised Christ from the dead and has placed Christ over every ruler, power, principality or anything else. Jesus has strength for every situation that is beyond us; for everything that threatens to drain us of the little strength we have Jesus is strong enough, we just need to believe and trust.

Jesus is looking for a church who will be strong and take heart.
Not a polished church, but one with the heartbeat of Jesus.
A church that will be a strength to one another
a strength to the community
a strength like the strength of Jesus.