Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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Jesus healed the sick, restored missing body parts to maimed people, raised the dead, prophesied of things to come, changed water into wine, fed multitudes with just a little food, walked over water, commanded storms to be still, and performed other mighty miracles that no man had ever done before (Jn. 15:24). The night before he died, however, he told his disciples, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father" (Jn. 14:12).
The glory and power of Jesus is often and rightly emphasized, but when the humility of Jesus is presented to us, it can be very touching. In his time, Moses was the meekest man on earth (Num. 12:3), but when Jesus came, he took humility to a new level. Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Mt. 11:29-30). He is the master of life, the governor of the universe, the ruler by whom all things continue to exist and function. He holds the power of life and death over every creature everywhere, visible and invisible, yet he has never been cruel or unjust. He is full of humility, tenderness, and the love of God.
Paul said that the love of God never "vaunts itself" and that it "is not puffed up" (1Cor. 13:4); that is, someone living in the love of God never grasps after a higher position or more glory than that which he has received freely from God. Satan is the prime example of the absence of the love of God; he was unthankful for the perfect beauty and great wisdom and honor that was freely given to him in the day when he was created. Instead of being thankful, he became proud and envious, and foolishly grasped after an equality with God (Isa. 14:12-14). On the other hand, Jesus was the greatest example of the love of God in action, in that when he was created by his Father, he was content with his station and never grasped after equality with God (Phip. 2:6). Instead, "he made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phip. 2:7-8).
Jesus said that those who believe in him will do greater works than he did. He did not envy those who would do those greater works; it was their place, not his, to do them. Neither did he sulk about not being allowed to do those greater works; doing them was their gift from God, not his to do. Jesus knew his place, and he honored his Father by being content to stay in it.
Jesus was "a man under authority" (Lk. 7:8), and he was always aware of that. When James and John, with their mother, approached Jesus with a request that they be given the highest seats of honor in his coming kingdom, Jesus replied to them that only his Father had the authority to assign seats in the kingdom of God (Mt. 20:20-23). Jesus never crossed the line to interfere with or claim the power and the wisdom that belonged only to God. Only God, according to Jesus, knows when the Son will be sent to earth to gather the saints together to him (Mk. 13:32). Only God, Jesus said, had the power to do the mighty works that He did through Jesus (Jn. 14:10). Even on the day he ascended into heaven, he was still acknowledging to his disciples that there were things he did not have the authority to decide or to do (Acts 1:7). Jesus was the epitome of humility.
Before the coming of the holy Ghost, Jesus' disciples were hampered in their spiritual walk by the domination of their own corrupt nature, and they would remain limited by that nature in their knowledge of God until the Spirit filled them on the day of Pentecost. Therefore, Jesus used parables and examples to communicate to their spirits truth concerning the life he was living and that they would soon share with him. He told them that those who wanted to be the greatest in God's kingdom had to humble themselves the most (Mt. 23:10-12) and that the rulers that God would appoint over His people would have to learn to rule differently from the way men on earth ruled over others (Lk. 22:23-27). He acted as a servant for them, telling them to follow his example. He washed their feet and served them their bread and wine. He took a little child and, setting him in the midst, warned his disciples, "Except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 18:3-4).
"Let this mind be in you", Paul wrote, "which also was in Christ Jesus." When the saints attain to the mind of Christ, there will be no controversies among us, no envying, no strife, no misunderstandings, no harsh words, no doubting, and no fear. A carnal mind leads us to death, but "to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Rom. 8:6). With the mind of Christ, the saints have peace among themselves and joy in their hearts. With the mind of Christ, the saints know the will of God and are happily doing it. Our greatest enemy is not the devil; our greatest enemy is whatever it is that we don't know about our heavenly Father. Whatever we lack in obtaining the mind of Christ is our greatest enemy because the mind of Christ knows God. And to know God is to participate in eternal life (Jn. 17:3).
Do not seek to advance yourself, and do not seek to please men so that they will advance you. "Lift not up your horn on high; speak not with a stiff neck. Promotion cometh not from east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but God is the Judge. He putteth down one and setteth up another" (Ps. 75:5-7). Carnally minded men pursue their own wealth and status; but let those who seek eternal honor from God listen to the wisdom of the apostle Peter: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (1Peter 5:6).