The Meek Savior: Our Servant King
A study of the meek and loving nature of God, which is seen in Jesus Christ, and how the world is spiteful against Him without a cause
He’s Not What the World Expected
“He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” (John 1:10)
The Creator came down into His own creation to dwell among them, and they could not recognize Him. The likely expectation of the world of who the Son of God would be is a person who is boastful and self-exalting, one who thinks he should be treated as highly as he views himself. This person would be loud and having an outward glory to show for himself that he is something. They might think, If God were to come to us He surely would reveal Himself to be as lofty as He is and require that worship and recognition He deserves.
But to the contrary, Jesus is meek and lowly in
heart. Though He is surely worthy of all honor, so much that however much we
honor Him is how much we honor the Father, He did not require or demand it of
anyone. Though He is God, yet He did not exalt Himself far above His fellows.
Why is that? He told His disciples, I am meek and lowly in heart. His humility
was even greater than Moses, who was said to be the meekest man in the earth at
his time. And though God exalted Moses, he did not exalt himself. Likewise
Jesus did not exalt Himself, but in due time the Father would exalt Him high above
all principality and power.
Meek and Lowly In Heart
“And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.” (Psalm 45:4)
The truth, meekness, and righteousness in Christ
are His majesty. The fruit of His Spirit is meekness, not pride or haughtiness.
And let’s look at the definitions of those words for full clarity:
· Showing patience and humility; gentle.
Haughty
· Scornfully and condescendingly proud.
(wordnik.com)
But He’s not just a little bit humble, He is the most humble that anyone could be. Despite being the Most High and truly the loftiest being of all in the universe, God is yet the most humble of all at the same time.
“But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8)
Jesus came down from heaven where He had always been in full glory to become a man, and this put Him in a different set of circumstances whereby His character and attributes would be tried. No one is trying to tempt God in heaven. But He would have us know this about Him, that even though He dwells in the highest heaven above everything and everyone, He is capable of remaining faithful and true when put to the test.
Additionally, it is Jesus who reveals to us who God is, and that’s why He is called the image of the invisible God. He embodies all of the attributes and characteristics of God and reveals them to us in a way where we can know Him. We are earthly so we do not see into the heavenly domain. And even if we could, there are certain things about God we would just never know if we didn’t get to witness His personhood interact with this corrupt world. Who would’ve known about God that He is willing to lay down His life to save His creation if He came down as a man? Who would know how meek God truly is?
Jesus also made Himself of no reputation. He did
not go around announcing His own fame and power like many in this world take
upon themselves to do. He did not receive honor from men; He had no reason to
adorn Himself such that attention and glory would be directed at Him. He wasn’t
seeking to compete with Herod or Cesar, and He had no desire for a contest of
might and power. He didn’t come to prove Himself to be the greatest man to a
God-hating world. He lived according to the will of God and let anyone with
eyes to see behold His inward glory for themselves.
The Servant King
He also came in the form of a servant, not to be ministered to, but to minister and give His life a ransom for many. He is the Servant King. That’s rather unheard of and foreign to this world, but that’s how the Most High revealed Himself. Jesus did not deny that He is a king when Pilate asked Him, however He did flee when some of the Jews came to take Him by force to make Him king over Israel. They somewhat had the right idea since He truly is the King of Israel, even as Nathanael first confessed, but they were incorrect to assume that the heavenly King had plans to forcefully dominate this lost world. Rather His plan was to draw all men to Himself once He was lifted up, that is, by the cross. God draws people to Himself, not force them.
Jesus came to Jerusalem on a colt, a young donkey.
The Jews praised Him as He was on His way (which the Pharisees despised),
saying, ”Blessed be the King of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Though He is King, yet He chose a donkey to enter into Jerusalem instead of
some more glorious manner like horses and chariots. Something I notice from
this is that He is not haughty over His creation--whether it be the weak
things, the foolish things, or the things of naught. He is not a scoffer at the
weak and lowly, nor is He envious or competitive with the mighty.
The people of this world tend to want and strive for what they don’t have: power, riches and honor. But God already has it all. It’s His delight to be humble and abide with the lowly rather than surround Himself with all of the powerful (which He put there in the first place.) Those are the people who tend to be lofty in their own sight and full of pride, and would attempt to compete with God for honor and glory. But God doesn’t care for competition; He is the winner before anything even started. But if those princes and kings would humble themselves, they could receive the blessing to know the heavenly Father who created them and granted them everything they have.
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15)
But even His own people did not receive Him.
He Was Rejected of Men
God is rejected by His own creation. And for what reason?
Whatsoever people did or thought of Jesus is only what they thought of God, as He said, “He that hateth me hateth my Father also.” (John 15:23)
Isaiah 53:3
“He is despised and rejected of men: a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)
God has been rejected ever since the fall of man. And what does He think of this, and our sin? He is sorrowful. In Ecclesiastes Solomon said, “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” To know and understand what’s truly going on in this world is to see how terribly far it is from its Maker. Is there a greater sorrow than this? In the days of Noah God said it repented Him to have made man upon the earth, which means that He was sorry or regretful. And there is no greater sorrow in this universe than that which God has.
Verse
three of Isaiah 53 also says that we hid as it were our faces from Him. I see
this in a couple of ways.
In one sense it means we hid ourselves from Him because we didn’t want
to hear what He had to say, namely that we are sinners in need of repentance.
We hid our faces so we wouldn’t have to acknowledge the truth of our condition
and the consequences of it.
In another sense it means that we couldn’t bear to see the reproach and rejection of Him, as though it were too shameful to look upon Him. Seeing that He bore our griefs and sorrows, taking upon Him the shame that we deserve, we were too afraid to see the reality of our own shame. We were reluctant to look at the punishment and suffering that we are deservingly due, seeing that He embodied it. And in a way when we look at ourselves with honest and convicted eyes, realizing the horror of our sin, we are spiritually looking at the cross of Christ. The shame with which we are convicted was the suffering of the Lord.
“Looking
unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
(Hebrews 12:2)
Upon more thought I also looked at how most of our five sense are in or around our faces: our sight, hearing, smell and taste are there. To turn away our faces from Christ is like saying we want nothing to do with Him, not even to hear, see or sense His presence. And that reminds me of how Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden tried to hide from God after they sinned. WE as human beings separated ourselves from God. WE hid ourselves from Him. Why? Because of pride, and we know that we are wrong and He is right, but He’s the one with the power to judge. We don’t want to be wrong, even though we are. We don’t want to be condemned, though we are transgressors.
But
Jesus would rather be numbered among transgressors and suffer our shame than to
watch us perish without any salvation. He wasn’t willing to give just a little,
or even a lot. He gave ALL that was required, and that was everything.
God Gave Everything: He Gave His Son
Nothing less could save us than the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It couldn’t be gold or silver, oil or fruit. It couldn’t be an animal nor a sinful human.
God could not have given more than what He did.
His only begotten Son in whom He is well pleased at all times, His beloved who
is in His bosom, most dear and precious, is priceless. There is no value with
which to compare Him. All we do know is that the salvation of our souls is
worth His soul, because His soul was made an offering for us. His being, which
is of infinite value and worth, was poured out. He was entirely undeserving of His
treatment, “yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” (Isaiah 53:10) “Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
(John 15:13) To take what is most valuable and most difficult to give for
anything, and then give it up (His soul), is love. Our souls are worth that to
Him.
He Is Rewarded Hatred For His Love
The cross of Jesus is the greatest revelation of God’s love toward us, and yet to the Jews it is a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. And if anyone does not have either of those two strong views, they are otherwise indifferent and careless. They don’t regard Him. “And we esteemed Him not.” (Isa 53:3) In fact that’s what many people think of God and the things that pertain to Him—they just do not care.
There is no record of sin in Jesus, no darkness
nor deceit nor violence. But His name, even His
name is blasphemed and cursed every single day in this world. He is lied
about, misrepresented, dishonored, and He is not esteemed as He ought to be.
His cross is turned into entertainment and comedy or mockery. Is not this the
ultimate sorrow? He not only gave Himself to suffer on the cross, but while
still hanging He was mocked by the thieves beside Him and the Pharisees
standing by. He is mocked to this present day by many. He showed the love of
God to this world, and this is how it responds.
He commended His love to us while as yet we did
not love Him.
But it is strangely the case for some, that the greater the love of God is toward them, the greater their hatred and spite is. They despise His grace and mock at His compassion. The love of Christ is nothing to them. Oh the mystery of iniquity…
“But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.” (John 15:25)
“They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.” (Psalm 69:4)
“And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.” (Psalm 109:3)
And so the scripture says this,
“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let
him be Anathema Maranatha.” (1 Corinthians 16:22)
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