On His relatively brief visit to earth Jesus taught so many things during His public mission. When He told His follower Peter that He would provide the keys to the Kingdom, we believe one of these keys was humility. He (and John the Baptist) launched their missions with the same statement: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17) To repent means to “turn away and turn toward.” We are to turn away from dishonor and bondage toward honor and freedom. Wow.
In Matthew 5 (the beatitudes) Jesus begins a living truth thread with the words “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” While it has been often translated “blessed are the poor” the language brings a much deeper picture. It is “those who know they are spiritual beggars.” This is why Peter eventually concluded: “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:66-69)
So we conclude that humility is one of the “keys” to open the Jesus door to the Kingdom of heaven. Without it we are trapped in our pride. If we cannot look outside of ourselves we will never become free. Jesus is the Door (John 10) and humility is one of the keys that opens the door to Life. And not just for us, but for our neighbors, families, and friends. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19
This is rooted in a prophecy about Jesus from Isaiah 22:22 “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, when he opens no one will shut, when he shuts no one will open.” King David was a very imperfect man (like most in the Bible) but he was chosen to give us a picture of the Kingship of Christ. What was David’s enduring quality? Humility. This is one of the reasons we have so many of David’s psalms. He was the human king of humility before God. Psalm 51 helps us see this. “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.”
One of Jesus’ conflicts (He had many – mostly with self-righteous religious leaders) extended to those “learned in the Law.” “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.” (Luke 11:52) Do you get the sweeping nature of this statement regarding what is true and just?
Peter boldly says this regarding those who follow our Creator in honor: “…and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5 quoting Proverbs 3:5) The humility thread is woven throughout the Word of God.
We complete this humility woven thread in Revelation 1:18: “I Am the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” So Jesus continues to hold the keys even though He has loaned His key of humility to all His disciples who choose honor. (see Revelation 3:7 as well)
√ Have you recognized the empowering of humility in living a God honoring life?
√ What have you learned about being “poor in spirit?”
√ What are the other “keys” Jesus has provided to unlock the Door?
Peace upon your journey of humility friend. Not as easy as it sounds for sure!
Dave and Burnadette