Be Like Jesus: The Model Of True Humility

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟑𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝟑:𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟖, 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟖-𝟐𝟗

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟔𝟖:𝟒-𝟕, 𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏 “𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫.”

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐈: 𝐇𝐞𝐛 𝟏𝟐:𝟏𝟖-𝟏𝟗, 𝟐𝟐-𝟐𝟒𝐚

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟒: 𝟏, 𝟕-𝟏𝟒

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “...𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒅.” (𝒗.11) 

𝐁𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐒: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘

        In reading the Gospel passage on this the last day of August, we probably need to ask if ever there was a time when you found yourself humiliated such as when you are caught lying or the times you may have offered a piece of information that was untruthful. Or how would you feel if you were invited to dinner and you feel everyone in the house was watching every move you make.

        Or when you stood before the country and boasted of having completed 5,500 flood control projects since you became President and suddenly found major parts of the country inundated by floods that caused untold suffering to millions of people you swore to serve and protect.

        I also found myself in such a situation when I was still working as a Business Reporter for a major newspaper and I was invited to a dinner that was hosted by the then Central Bank Gov. Jaime Laya for a group of foreign investors and bankers. It was a very formal dinner and there were three sets of utensils and cutlery on the left and right of my plate and honestly, I really couldn’t figure out how to use these things. The Central Bank Deputy Governor who was seated beside me came to my rescue and whispered to me “just follow which of these I will pick up and use and you’ll be alright.” 

         But this was not the case for Jesus because he already knew what their intention was when they invited him to dinner. They want to see if he would again violate the Sabbath upon learning that he did so in some instance.

        The Jews revere the Sabbath. It was a holy day of obligation, and no one was supposed to exert any physical effort that would constitute work. In other words, the Sabbath is a day of rest, an opportunity for each Jew to remember and celebrate the goodness of God.

        But as we have seen and heard from Jesus, the Sabbath should not hinder the flow of God’s Grace which means that love of God and love of neighbor should weigh more than the observance of the Sabbath which was merely a law created by man and Jesus has expounded on this in 𝑴𝒌 2:27 “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒉.”        

         Instead of allowing himself to be pinned down by the legalism of the Pharisees, Jesus lets out a parable that probably made his listeners shudder particularly the Pharisees who have turned themselves into mini gods in the way they have been pursuing their brand of faithfulness to God that has become burdensome for the people.

         There is no doubt that Jesus can speak about humility with authority because he had experienced it. St. Paul tells us in 𝐏𝐡𝐢 𝟐:𝟔 that Jesus “𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝.” Born in a lowly manger, Jesus grew up without the trappings of a comfortable life associated with the royalty even if he comes from the line of David.

         And here in this Gospel, Jesus also has a message for all of us as he advises us not to concern ourselves with the best places when invited to an event or in the case of church leaders – when we are asked to grace a gathering in other parishes or Christian communities where we are invited as speaker or as guests. While we may deny it, there are times when we want to sit in places of honor.

        This arrangement on how guests are seated is prevalent nowadays especially when event planners are involved though not necessarily their fault as it is also the host/s who qualify the guests who are placed in numbered tables in the order of their importance and or degree of relations.

         Everyone wants to be honored. This is natural and there’s nothing wrong with that except when it goes to your head. This also happened to me in my past life. It prides me when I am acknowledged for what I have contributed and did. Wealth brings power and prestige. God probably allowed me to enjoy these things to see how I would manage it. And I was back to the reality of my humanity when I lost everything except the roof on my head.

         Today, many of our brothers and sisters, especially those who still live in the material world, are fixated with raising their life status. They want to be with the right people in their social or business circles. They dress in accordance with their status and drive the right car. And this is not only happening in the temporal world. There are people who want to be honored and exalted even in church or community setting. Of course, they will deny it, but their actions will speak for itself.

         But the question is who we are trying to impress because at the end of the day, all these have no value when we stand face-to-face with Our God who not only created us but who is the source of all that we have and will have. 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟐𝟒:𝟏 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝’𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭.”       

        Humility is not about feeling bad nor of having a low opinion of ourselves or of thinking of ourselves as inferior to others. No. True humility is seeing ourselves in the way God sees us. A humble person is one who sees himself without the pretense or illusion for something that he is not.

         In other words, be what God made you to be. There’s nothing wrong with admiring someone, but we can’t just idolize someone who breathes the same air and or drinks the same water as we do. If we are going to admire or idolize someone, that someone must be one who is greater than us and he is none other than God Himself.

         Genuine humility is one of the two pillars of Christian living (the other is obedience) because humility allows us to view and correctly judge circumstances around us the way God would judge these. Instead of aiming for honor and prestige, true humility should move us to look for ways to serve God by serving others through the Church and or Community.

         If God desires that we serve on a higher level such as a leadership position in the temporal world or in the Church, then God himself will make it possible, but we cannot manipulate what only God can do. At the end of the day, it’s all about placing ourselves in subservience to His Will. As a Christian, we must see ourselves as unworthy servants when we place ourselves in comparison with the radiance and magnificence of God.

         This brings us to the case of our elected officials who were given the opportunity to serve our country and our people. This is such an awesome privilege that comes from God who is the source of all things in the world He created. Yet look at how our officials betrayed their divine duties and responsibilities. The greed in their characters are now manifested in the tragic events around us.

         With humility as our armor, it will lead us to die to our pride and self-exaltation. Admitting that we are nothing will give us the courage to remove our masks, our pretenses and, most of all our prejudices towards others. The 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟓𝟓𝟒 says it clearly “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.”        

         Towards the end of this Gospel, we have another parable about giving as a better alternative than receiving. Christian generosity must be premised on the condition of our hearts that feel mercy and compassion for the poor driven only by the thought that our generosity is our response to the Grace of God who loved us first and who by his passion, death and resurrection gave us a perfect example of what it takes to give.

         And Jesus tired from the day spent in preaching and healing will never refuse an invitation to dinner but in this Gospel passage he lectures his host on who he should or should not invite to dinner the next time around. In very particular terms, Jesus is reminding us not to invite those with the capacity to repay but to invite “𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅.” (𝒗.13-14)       

          In other words, we should not expect any reward or compensation in exchange for what we give. This reminder from Jesus is not without basis because what we give is not ours in the first place because we own nothing of what we have and possess.

         We cannot buy spiritual favors from God. In the same way, we cannot pay our way to heaven which means that the Grace we receive is an initiative of God and not because of our generosity towards others no matter the good these may bring. Without our asking for it, God gave his only begotten Son to be the ransom for many and because of this action, God practically made us into his prized possession (𝐓𝐢 𝟐:𝟏𝟒) and from whom we continue to receive everything that we need in life (𝐍𝐞𝐡 𝟗:𝟐𝟎). 

         Jesus tells us “𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅.” In other words, we are to give to those who cannot reciprocate our generosity. Since Christian generosity reflects the character of Our Lord in us, we are thus mandated to give on account of God’s love that dwells in us.

         And Jesus assures us that when we give without expecting any reward or recompense, our reward will come at the proper time when we receive our invitation to the wedding feast.

        As we cannot apportion our salvation by our own effort and thus are dependent on God’s generosity, we must go through life with utmost confidence that Our God will reward those who give as an expression of God’s Will for us to be clothed ourselves with the image of Christ in us.

         In other words, this Gospel passage is teaching us to be honest with ourselves and if we believe that everything here on earth is owned by Our God, then it presupposes that we can give back to him what is His in the first place. And payback time is not here and now but when we are finally made to account how well we have managed what God has entrusted to us. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 31, 2025)