Contrast #10: humility vs arrogance … (10/05/18)
There is possibly no greater – nor more telling – difference in character between Paul & Jesus than the jittery arrogance of the former and the assured humility of the latter. Indeed, Paul (no less than a self-proclaimed “apostle” of Jesus Christ – see Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1, Colossians 1:1 et al) has the repetitive gall to openly glorify his own ministry (Romans 11:13), to publicly claim that his ministry is given directly from God (2 Corinthians 3:5 & 2 Corinthians 10:17-18), to harshly condemn his religious opponents (Galatians 1:7-8), to judge the readiness of his followers (1 Corinthians 3:2), to laud his own efforts as being better than &/or more worthy than those of all others (1 Corinthians 15:10 & 2 Corinthians10:8), and to demand that his readers “be imitators of me” (1 Corinthians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 11:1 & Philippians 3:17) and “maintain the traditions just as I have handed them on to you” (1 Corinthians 11:2) …
Jesus Christ, on the other hand – despite the Bible’s clear portrayal of him as a bona fide embodiment of the Divine, is shown repeatedly humbling himself before others (“I am among you as the one who serves” ~ Luke 22:27). First & foremost, Jesus always places God above and beyond himself1 (see Matthew 4:1-10, Matthew 23:8-9, Matthew 26:37-39, Mark 10:18, John 5:41, John 6:38, John 8:50-54, & John 12:44-50 et al). Second, Jesus is shown regularly & repeatedly associating with the downtrodden and others considered to be “undesirable” (e.g. lepers in Matthew 8:2-3, Mark 1:41 & Luke 5:13, prostitutes in Luke 7:37 & John 8:3-11, Samaritans in Luke 17:11-19 & John 4:7-40, Pharisees in Luke 7:36, and tax collectors in Luke 15:1 & Luke 19:7-10). Third, Jesus frequently demands that others not treat him as holy or announce him as the Messiah (see Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 1:21-25, Mark 1:40-44, Mark 7:32-36, Mark 8:27-30, Mark 9:1-9, Luke 5:12-14, Luke 8:49-56, & Luke 9:18-21 – see also John 6:15 & John 13:5 et al). Finally, in his teachings Jesus places humility above all other virtues (see Matthew 11:29, Matthew 20:27, Matthew 23:11-12, Luke 9:48, Luke 14:7-11, Luke 22:26, & John 13:14, et al); even making it a direct requirement for one’s personal Salvation (see Matthew 18:3-4 – also John 14:12).
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1 It is true that Jesus seems to claim divinity in a number of “I am” verses in the New Testament – most notably Mark 14:62, where he seems to answer “[Yes] I am” when asked if he was the Messiah. Of course, when we look to the Greek texts of this and all his other similar “I am” verses (including John 8:58), we can clearly see that Jesus does not ever say eimi – which could indeed be correctly translated as “Yes, I am.” Instead, the texts show him saying ego eimi, a phrase which is literally translated as “I, I am” – and which contextually means “I am the essence of I Am” or “I am an embodiment of the Child of God within.” (see also John 14:12 & John 14:20)
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