The ⟦Humility?⟧ of True Greatness

Notes

1. The record of the manifestation of Jesus to the world and its results has been completed. We now come to the closing scenes of His earthly life. In this and the three chapters next following we have His last lessons to His disciples. "This indeed was the last evening of His life. Within twenty-four hours He was to be in the tomb." "This was virtually the last Passover that was ever to be celebrated; for type was to meet antitype in the slaying of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world." "It was in accordance with His true human nature that the love He bore his disciples should be felt at its intensest just now, when He was about to leave them."

2. To betray Jesus "was not the first thing that Satan had put into the heart of Judas. Satan does not begin by putting in such monstrous thoughts as these. . . . Anything that is in the heart is the heart's own, and could not at all be there if the heart had not consented. . . . So it is with the sinful volitions of men at the present day. They choose to do evil; they are not made to do it."

3. Jesus was conscious of His own true dignity and greatness. "It was not in forgetfulness of his divine origin, but in full consciousness of it that He discharged this menial function. . . . Not only does the dignity of Jesus vastly augment the dignity of the action, but it sheds new light on the divine character." "We shall never have any proper conception of what true dignity is until we understand that love is upon the throne of the universe. He that sitteth upon the throne came into the world and washed the feet of those Galilean fishermen, that believers might be blissfully aware that love is wedded to Omnipotence." "He into Whose hands the Father had given all things, with those same hands washes, not the hands, but the feet of His disciples."

4. "A contention had arisen among the disciples of Jesus as to who should be the most honored in His kingdom; for notwithstanding the express instruction they had so often received to the contrary, they had clung to the idea that Jesus would establish a temporal kingdom in Jerusalem; and the late demonstrations upon His entering the city, and the manner in which He had received them, revived this belief in their minds. Jesus had checked their aspirations for honor, and now strengthened the lesson by an act of humility and love, calculated to impress them with a sense of their obligations to one another, and that instead of quarreling for place, each should count the others better than himself."—Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, pp. ⟦84?⟧, 85. "In self-love, self-exaltation, and pride, there is great weakness; but in humility there is great strength. Our true dignity is not maintained when we think most of ourselves, but when God is in all our thoughts, and our hearts are all aglow with the love of our Redeemer and love to our fellow men. Simplicity of character and lowliness of heart will give happiness, while self-conceit will bring discontent, repining, and continual disappointment. It is learning to think less of ourselves and more of making others happy that will bring to us divine strength."

5. When the way seems dark to the believer, and the providences of God are utterly incomprehensible to him, he may remember the gracious promise, "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter."

6. No ordinance of the Lord's house has been more clearly established or more explicitly enjoined than feet-washing. The same course of reasoning which makes all this a mere parable, will set aside the use of the bread and the wine, and in fact any institution of the church to which one does not wish to submit himself, no matter how plainly it is commanded in the Scripture. Those who exalt tradition above the plain word of God, are not slow to point out the inconsistency of those who claim to follow the Bible and the Bible alone, and who do yet practice infant baptism, for which there is no command whatever, and omit feet-washing, which is among the plainest of commands. Thus has the cause of true Protestantism been hindered. The explanation of all this is found in the pride of the human heart.

7. "Happiness consists, not in knowing, but in doing. . . . Be content to be as your Master, and your Master will not be content without making you as He is. There is a woe where there is knowledge unaccompanied by obedience. . . . The knowledge that leads to action is blessed." "Let us look upon every Christian as one with whom Christ is identified, an ambassador in whom Christ is in a certain sense present with us."

Suggestions for Further Study.

1. For what purpose did the Father give all things into the hands of Christ? When will that purpose be fully accomplished? Compare 1 Cor. 8:6; 15:24-28.

2. The word "Master," in verse 13, is used in the sense of Teacher. See Revised Version, margin. What was He teaching now? What are some of the characteristics of Jesus as "the Teacher"?

3. The spirit which now casts aside this plain instruction of the Teacher, is the same as He met in His teaching. See Matt. 15:1-9.

4. That the practice of literal feet-washing was followed in the early church, is suggested by 1 Tim. 5:10.

5. To wash the feet of equals is regarded as an act of humility, but Christ took the place of a servant of His own servants. Compare Phil. 2:7 and 1 Sam. 25:41; Matt. 20:27, 28, etc.

6. What is the general teaching and purpose of the ordinance of humility? Has the promise of verse 17 been fulfilled in your case?