CHRIST'S EXAMPLE OF HUMILITY
Some years ago I talked with a woman who was quite troubled by Christ’s words,
“Why do you call me good? no one is good but one, that
is, God.” (Mark 10:17). She seemed to
think that Jesus was denying that He is God. However, nothing could be further
from the truth. She was making the same mistake that many others make, the
mistake of reading more into the words of Scripture than they actually say.
Jesus did not say that He was not God, and nothing He did say contradicts the many
passages that explicitly tell us that He is God. When we look at His words in
context, we find that Jesus was dealing with a man who believed that works can
make us righteous in the sight of God. Rather than confuse this man by saying,
“I am righteous but no one else is,” He tried to convict this man of sin by
stressing the fact that there is no one righteous “but one, that is, God” (Mark
10:18). Therefore, instead of reading unwarranted ideas
into his words, we should regard Jesus’ humble and non-self-seeking approach as
a good illustration of the words, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus: Who, being by nature God, did not see equality with God as
something to be used for self-glorification: But made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the nature of a servant, and was born as a man: And being
found in human form, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8).