The Humility of Jesus

It was January 30, 1994 and Super Bowl XXVIII was being played out at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The NFC champion Dallas Cowboys had just defeated the AFC champion Buffalo Bills, 30–13. Dallas scored 24 unanswered points in the second half, and Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith was named the Super Bowl MVP, with 30 carries for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also catching 4 passes for 26 yards. At the end of the game, Buffalo Bills player Thurman Thomas stayed on the Buffalo bench with his head in his hands. It had been Buffalo’s fourth straight Super Bowl loss. The Bills became the first team to both appear in and lose 4 consecutive Super Bowls. During the game, Thomas fumbled the ball three times which had contributed to the Bills losing the game. But Thomas looked up from the bench to see the Dallas Cowboys’ star running back, Emmitt Smith standing in front of him. He was holding his small goddaughter. Smith looked at her and said, “I want you to meet the greatest running back in the NFL, Mr. Thurman Thomas.” Smith and Thomas were competing for NFL records, but there was no gloating on Smith’s part. Emmitt Smith, if you do not follow sports, retired from the NFL in 2005 as the NFL’s all time rushing record holder, and one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is also a professing Christian. One article states, “Emmitt founded an organization called the Open Doors Foundation to help underprivileged children overcome and be successful. In an amazing act of selflessness he has donated much of his personal memorabilia collection, and has auctioned much of it off to support the foundation.” The article concludes, “This is just another example that Emmitt played for the game itself rather than the glory.”

Emmitt Smith is a contemporary example of Christian humility. Humility is a Christian character quality, because it was part of the character of Christ. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). He is telling us that as we learn to follow his example of humility, we will find rest. Pride and arrogance throw us into tension and turmoil, but humility allows us to rest from that competitive spirit. The book of Romans admonishes us: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment. . . Do not be proud. . . Do not be conceited” (Romans 12:3 & 16).

I want to point out three main areas that display the humility of Jesus. The first is: His focus was on the Father’s will, not his own. Here is the crux of the Christian faith. Whether or not we have entered into the Christian faith, and become a disciple of Jesus, is determined by whether or not we are doing our will or God’s will. You can know that you are Christian if you are no longer living by your own will, but have totally surrendered to and are seeking to live out God’s will in your life. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). He prayed as he was facing the cross: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). And if we are going to belong to Jesus, and be like Jesus, we have to come to the place where we live to do the will of the One