Be Humble or Be Humbled

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BE HUMBLE OR BE HUMBLED

Matt 23:1-12

23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' 8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.   11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

NIV

This is only the beginning of Jesus’s teaching about the teachers of the law and how the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. We are going to be seeing the seven woes next, but for now, let us consider this idea of practicing what we preach. This is not exclusive to preachers, although those who have been called to that task, should take special note as to living life by the same standards they preach, whatever those standards are. Nevertheless, anyone who claims to be a Christian and professes they follow Jesus should be warned enough here regarding living out the life according to the witness we give to other men. We also need to be careful not to do our acts of righteousness before men, so that we can have some amount of praise, even those types of comments like, “See how much he does” “He is a good man, he serves in so many ways”, or something to that nature. Preachers need to be careful because they can become puffed up, because of the adoration given them for their fine words, or sermons. This does not just apply to preachers, but to all who are in the ministry. It would be good for them to not burden themselves with too many identifiers, showing off their titles as a sign to men. Jesus calls out the Pharisees for doing all that and more. But he warns us to heed the words of God spoken by such people, but not to make an effort to emulate them, but rather look to Jesus as our master, and if we are to try to live like anyone, it would be to live as Jesus did, to walk as Jesus walked, to have the love and compassion for people in need, both the believer and the non-believer alike. We would do well to recall that Jesus did not come for the healthy, as the healthy are not in need of the physician, but he came for those who need a healing of their spirits. He came for the sinner, who we were indeed the chief of sinners, and so as we walk as Jesus did, we too should be looking to the sinner and their need for the knowledge of Jesus. He is the one teacher, the one Son of God who brings light, truth, and life into the world. He is the only one worthy of praise, not men who are like the Pharisees. Jesus makes sure we should reserve the word, father, only for our Heavenly Father. It also behooves us to remain humble before our God and before men. If we try to exalt ourselves in any way, we will indeed be humbled. Therefore, the central theme of these words of Jesus is to be humble or be humbled.