January 23 The cross will humble us all.
The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous. He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. ~Proverbs 3:33-34
And Mary said, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the mighty one has done great things for me—Holy is His Name! His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty things with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as He said to our Fathers.” ~Luke 1:46-55
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ~Philippians 2:3-4
We talked on January 17 about how God is not surprised. There is no greater example of this than in the cross itself. Read back through the above passages again with the cross in mind. On the day of the crucifixion, these passages would be very hard to believe, yet, they were more true on that day than ever before.
Were there ever more proud mockers than on that day? Yet the Pharisees, especially them, because they knew what they were doing, were the most severely humbled in the end.
In accepting her miraculous pregnancy, Mary sang her song to rejoice in the fact that she, a lowly common girl, had been lifted up and given the honor of being called to be Mother of Messiah. She thought that He would be a mighty conqueror, and He was, at the cross, though it didn’t look as expected. The lowly conqueror conquered all.
Finally, the hardest statement of all for me is that in that moment, on the cross, Christ was considering me higher than Himself. He was not hanging there for bragging rights or out of selfish motives. He was hanging there for me, because I needed Him too. He knew that if He didn’t follow through, I would be lost forever and He couldn’t bear that. So, He hung there for me and for you and even for those who would never accept His amazing gift of love. Imagine, Jesus could bear the cross more easily than he could bear the thought of losing you.
His cross has turned the world upside down. The lowly are lifted up, and the mocker is put in His place. The righteous are blessed and the humble receive grace. This is His wisdom for us to learn and follow.
Prayer: Today Lord, I celebrate Your Amazing Grace and Love that
saved our souls through Jesus' ministry on the cross and victory over death,
bursting forth from the grave! Also, I pray for any mockers I may know. You still
love them Jesus and You want me to tell them that for Your sake. So make me
humble enough to care about those who would mock me, in Jesus' name, amen.
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