Jesus said, “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”St. Matthew 23:11, 12
Contained in these words of Christ is an essential lesson about how it is supposed to be when we really try to live as God wants us to live. He teaches us that we will not fulfill God’s Will in our lives if we spend our energy trying to lord it over others, or if it is human respect we crave. Rather, God’s Will is fulfilled when we are being servants – servants of God and servants of each other.
This is what Jesus means when He says that we should call no one “master,” because in God’s kingdom there is only one Master, Jesus Christ. In God’s kingdom we must not try to dominate other people, because we are all brothers and sisters of one another. In God’s kingdom no one has the right to “lord it over” someone else, because we are all children of God our Father. No one, in an ultimate sense, is master or father or teacher, because there is one Master, one Teacher, one Father; namely, Almighty God.
So then, this puts a single demand upon each one of us – whether pope or bishop or priest or deacon or religious or layman – and the demand is that of real and true humility. Jesus said, “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant...”
So then, this puts a single demand upon each one of us – whether pope or bishop or priest or deacon or religious or layman – and the demand is that of real and true humility. Jesus said, “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant...”
But, of course, that’s not the way things are in the world, and so it is something for which we must strive. It doesn’t come naturally to us. We must constantly fight against our desire to dominate other people. We must work at suppressing our pleasure in being important. The truth of the matter is this: we cannot be giving glory to God if we are spending our time looking for our own glory in the world.
However, we should never think that true humility means that we deny our talents and capabilities. We all have gifts which are to be used – but they are to be used with the knowledge that we are instruments to be used by God for the furtherance of His kingdom and for His glory.
We have been called by God to a respect and a glory which is much higher than anything the world has to offer. We belong to Christ, which means that we are to follow Him in everything. He was humble, so we are to be humble – and as He was exalted by his Father, so we will be exalted by our heavenly Father, who will reward us with eternal life.
However, we should never think that true humility means that we deny our talents and capabilities. We all have gifts which are to be used – but they are to be used with the knowledge that we are instruments to be used by God for the furtherance of His kingdom and for His glory.
We have been called by God to a respect and a glory which is much higher than anything the world has to offer. We belong to Christ, which means that we are to follow Him in everything. He was humble, so we are to be humble – and as He was exalted by his Father, so we will be exalted by our heavenly Father, who will reward us with eternal life.
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Image: "Christ Enthroned" from Codex Bruchsal, 1220