Covenant Devotional #2 - Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

(Matthew 23:1-12 ESV)

At every turn, Jesus wages war against the idol of self. Indeed, for the western world, this is perhaps his most troublesome characteristic. In a culture addicted to the exultation of self, the teachings of Jesus concerning self-regard are inescapably piercing. Thanks to the digitized and globalized projections of self enabled by the explosion of social media, I can’t even eat a sandwich without capturing, transmitting and caring what the whole world thinks about my gastro-existential experience. How, then, am I supposed to exercise the manner of self-regard that Jesus calls us into?  

The answer we are given is that idols are not simply laid down; they must be replaced. We do not achieve genuine humility by simply willing to regard ourselves less, but by regarding our Creator more. It is in the light of that preeminent glory that we are at once made laughably small AND eternally significant. This is the mystery of grace; that as we humble ourselves before the glory of the Lord, that very glory lifts and carries us Heavenward in Christ Jesus.