Esteeming Others
(Exhortation - October 2003)
In obedience to the will of our Lord, we have met together this morning to focus on the emblems before us in remembrance of his death and resurrection. Participating in this simple ritual is a uniting force that can serve to strengthen faith and upbuild us spiritually, so that we are better able to face the week ahead.
The bread and wine are profound signs specifically directing us to think about the body and blood of the Lamb of God. More generally they enable us to think about Jesus as a person, his personality, character and the outworking of these qualities in the example he set. Attendance at the memorial service can then facilitate a deeper understanding of the ways of God and help us to know His Son: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn. 17:3 NKJ, as all references).
Life-giving knowledge
John, in his gospel, speaks of seeing
the Master in the manner of knowing, and then choosing to believe in him as
a prerequisite to everlasting life: “And this is the will of Him who sent
me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have
everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn. 6:40).
Paul strove for enlightenment in the ways of God and His Son, recognizing that it was to be valued above anything that this life can offer: “But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings…” (Phil. 3:8-10)
Seeking for answers
Discussion after a recent Bible class
centered around our understanding that the Lord Jesus shared our nature and
experienced all the trials and temptations to which we are subject:
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself
likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had
the power of death, that is, the devil…For we do not have a high priest who
cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we
are, yet without sin” (Heb. 2:14, 4:15). In light of this concept,
someone asked whether the instruction, “Let nothing be done through
selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others
better that himself” (Phil. 2:3), could have been applicable to Jesus.
Did he have to struggle with the desires of ambition, and how did he regard
others in relation to himself? From the account of the temptations in the
wilderness, we know that the Master rose above the temptation of pride and
ambition, but how could he possibly esteem others better than himself, when
he was far superior in obedience and faithfulness to his heavenly Father?
Exploring the parameters of this question may lead to an enhancement of our
understanding.
Essentially, in esteeming others better than ourselves, we put their interests before our own. We respect their views and opinions and are prepared to make sacrifices for them; we try not to dwell on their weaknesses, but look for and emphasize their good points. These characteristics were demonstrated time and time again as Jesus interacted with people; therefore we can confidently look to him as an example in this regard.
Scriptural examples
Now let us look to the scriptures and select characters, which at
various times in their lives demonstrated selflessness. The first one we
will consider is Judah the son of Jacob. Like us he was far from perfect.
There was one occasion, however, when his concern for others at the expense
of himself was exemplary. This was when Judah and his brothers were in the
presence of the great governor of Egypt who, unknown to them, was Joseph.
When the welfare of the youngest brother Benjamin was threatened, Judah,
knowing that to return home without the youngster would bring great pain to
his father and possibly cause his death, he interceded: “Your servant
became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back
to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’ Now
therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to
my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to
my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would
come upon my father” (Gen. 44:32)?
Remembering the cruelty that had been perpetrated against himself and the lack of consideration for their father, this total reversal of behavior affected Joseph to the extent that he could no longer refrain from revealing his identity.
Christ-like attitude
There are striking parallels with Christ found in this account: Jesus
took upon himself the punishment for our sins. He showed himself in the
role of a servant, and suffered treatment worse than that of a slave,
enduring these things out of love for his Father.
Conversely, the attitude of elevating self to the detriment of others is found in the incident of criticism leveled against Moses by close members of his family. Miriam and Aaron were finding fault with Moses in order to make a more favorable comparison with themselves: “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married…and they said, ‘has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?’ “ (Num. 12:1, 2). The following comment reveals that Moses possessed the quality of humility that was the very essence of the one whom he foreshadowed: “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3). Miriam, who must have been the instigator of the self-motivated rebellion, was struck with leprosy. True to the character so like that of Christ, Moses was full of loving forgiveness and concern and immediately interceded with God on her behalf: “And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘Please heal her, O God, I pray’ “ (Num. 12:13).
It is so easy to be like Miriam and Aaron in adopting a ‘holier than thou’ stance over some small aspect of a person’s spiritual service or behavior, seeing faults and things to criticize. Let us resolve to reverse the habit by focusing on the strengths and things to commend in our brethren and sisters.
David and Jonah
David concentrated on positive considerations
instead of the wickedness of two people who endangered his life, causing him
great grief. When, as a fugitive pursued by Saul, David came upon his
persecutor in a cave, he was urged by his men to kill him. Their rationale
was that the execution would rid both David and Israel of a tyrant. But
David, the God-fearing man, thought otherwise: “The Lord forbid that I
should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my
hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord” (I Sam. 24:6).
The other occasion was the death of Absalom. Instead of welcoming the death of the one who had committed murder and treason against him, David chose only to focus on the fact that the young man was his son and David would willingly have died in his place: “Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: ‘O my son Absalom-my son, my son Absalom- if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son” (II Sam. 18:33).
Turning now to the prophet Jonah we note that, besides being the great sign of the Lord’s three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:39,40), Jonah was also a type of Jesus in that he willingly sacrificed himself in order to secure the life of others: “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you (Jon. 1:12). Here was another who thought of the welfare of his contemporaries above his own and was willing to give his life for their sakes.
The
supreme example
Those we have considered had one thing in common: they were all sinners,
whereas the one we have come to remember this morning was untarnished by
sin. The Lord Jesus was the supreme example of esteeming others better than
himself, putting their needs before his own. The sinless Son of God
suffered the cross that we might have the opportunity of living throughout
eternity.
Barry Skinner