Jesus is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. We need daily to learn of him. See the Master taking a towel and washing his disciples’ feet! Follower of Christ, wilt thou not humble thyself? See him as the Servant of servants, and surely thou canst not be proud! Is not this sentence the compendium of his biography, “He humbled himself”? Was he not on earth always stripping off first one robe of honour and then another, till, naked, he was fastened to the cross, and there did he not empty out his inmost self, pouring out his life-blood, giving up for all of us, till they laid him penniless in a borrowed grave? How low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then can we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed; see the thorn-crown; mark his scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills; see hands and feet given up to the rough iron, and his whole self to mockery and scorn; see the bitterness, and the pangs, and the throes of inward grief, showing themselves in his outward frame; hear the thrilling shriek, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it: if you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know him. You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God’s only begotten. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you, bow yourself in lowliness at his feet. A sense of Christ’s amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt. May the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross. Let us sit there and learn our lesson, and then rise and carry it into practice.
There is an antidote to pride, and it is not to think less of ourselves. Instead, we ought to dwell upon the God who did become one of us, who gracefully withstood our scorn and self-adulation. Jesus is the God who, in the face of pride, calls us to the cross. How can we be proud there, where our evil pins our God to a tree? In the midst of rejection, Jesus embraces our smugness and extends an accepting embrace. But we must look upon him. We must give up our self-made authority, and sense of accomplishment, if we are to receive his forgiving, awe-inspiring embrace.
We recover awe when we acknowledge the greatness of his sacrifice, the depth of our sin, and the height of his love — all in the person of Christ.
Bring before my face a picture,
Of a hillside bleak and dross.
Let me see the gentle stranger,
As they raise that wooden cross.
See the prisoners now emerging,
In Jerusalem’s breaking dawn;
Where the Lamb so bruised and broken,
Lifts a cross and presses on.
Where the sinless Lamb, the Savior,
Gazes toward that wretched hill,
Knowing well it must be finished,
For it was His Father’s will.
Should my thoughts begin to wonder,
While in this war I still abide;
Draw me back beneath the fountain,
Where they pierced His precious side.
Bring before my face a picture,
Of the thorns upon His brow;
If I there envision Calvary,
Let me look upon Him now.
What is man, that God incarnate
Chose to bear the cross that day;
Bowed His head and said, “It’s Finished,”
Sweeping all the debt away,
Sweeping all the debt away.
It’s not conservative or liberal
However they’re defined;
It’s not about interpretation
Or the judgment of the mind;
It’s the opposite of politics
Power or prestige;
It’s about a simple message
And whether we believe
It’s still the cross
It’s still the blood of Calvary;
That cleanses sins
And sets the captives free
It’s still the name
The name of Jesus
That has power to save the lost;
It’s still the cross
We can water down theology
And preach a word to suit our needs;
We can justify sweet subtle lies
That are wrapped in noble deeds;
We can alter our convictions
To adapt to social whims;
But we cannot change the gospel
Or the truth contained within
Though some may say it’s man’s religion
Or ancient history;
The cross of Jesus still remains
The price for sin that sets us free
It’s still the cross
It’s still the blood of Calvary;
That cleanses sins
And sets the captives free
It’s still the name
The name of Jesus
That has power to save the lost;
It’s still the cross.
Mark Cowan
Watchmen On The Pod 