`He humbled Himself`…
Our Lord as boundless and endless as He is in His greatness is in His humbleness as well. He humbled Himself till the end and took human body.
` The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth`, writes saint John the Evangelist [1] and He became a flawless man to free us of sin. The entire Holy Trinity descended and the Son hung himself on the cross for a man made of clay, a disobedient and a traitor who became a vessel of irrational passions and of the demons.
He searched us to make us friends and sons of God by rebirth while the sin had made us be estranged of Him and enemies of His. He approached us, He accompanied us, He knew us as we are in a humanly way, He pitied us as being killed by sin, with awful wounds, full of stink. He was not disgusted by us, He took His cloth and knelt and washed our feet. God knelt before the man! The Creator before His creature! The One without passions before the One possessed by passions! The pure One before the soiled one! He washed the feet of his betrayer! He was not disgusted by him although He knew he was going to betray Him. Couldn`t He stop him? Of course He could, cause what is impossible for God? But He leaves Him free with his own will and choice. And He endures all this injustice. Boundless are His Love, humbleness and patience. And all these are for showing us the path leading to God, which is humbleness.
` And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross![2]
By His humbleness He obeyed His Heavenly Father before His conception and His Cross. `Not as I will, but as You will.` He answers `Your will be done` and by His obedience he walks towards His Suffering and Cross. And He didn`t show humbleness only towards His Heavenly Father but He also showed flawless obedience towards His Mother after Body and towards His apparent father. We see God bending so much and saying us:
`Everything you see me doing, do. If I humbled Myself to wash your feet this is what you must do too.`
Let us love from our hearts Christ`s humbleness. Let us bring Christ before us in everything we do and search what Christ did here and what He did there. I should do the same myself. He, being without sin and I being human. He suffered for my salvation but I, if I am not aware of that to do everything for God everywhere, should at least try to do that to save my soul. God showed obedience towards the man while we find it difficult to show obedience for God even towards our spiritual father. And if someone doesn`t humble himself, he can`t be obedient. Since the right, the true obedience implies humbleness.
This is the only way which frees the Christian of any demonic burden. The poor man can`t save his soul without humbleness. Pride threw Lucifer and his whole suite out of heaven. Pride led Adam to disobedience to gainsaying, to his expel from heaven. Selfishness and pride rise a kind of wall and God can`t communicate with us anymore. On the contrary humbleness this most holy virtue embalms the man. The humble man is taught by humbleness how to behave with his brother. The humble one never speak any tough word, never saddens his brother. The humble one wherever he would go becomes known for his virtue. That is why the great fathers those having the grace of humbleness had the spiritual nobleness with which they conquered the hearts of all the people
In the same way we should try to avoid being seen by people when we intend to do something good. As much as we can, we should practice in secret the commandments of God. And God Who knows any hidden work of the man and even the deepest thought he has, to hide his deeds for not being known and praised has His plan to bless that soul.
No deed or prayer made humbly is rejected by God. The more someone humbles himself, the more he rises. The more we avoid glory the more it follows us. Many holy men tried to hide their virtue for not being praised on earth. But the more they tried to run away of the human praise the more God made them known and blessed them and honored them.
[1] John 1, 14.
[2] Philippians 2, 8.
Excerpt from the book The Art of Salvation, published by Evanghelismos.
