It may be well for us to stop and try to imagine what was passing in the mind of Jesus while all these horrors were heaped upon Him. We know He was accustomed, during the course of His ministry, to dwell, both in thought and in speech, on the horrors that He knew awaited Him (Mt 16-1 iixi dd avTbv . . . TToXXct -rraBuv). If He so dreaded it from afar, how keen must have been the anguish of passine through it !
But these thin-s were slight in coniiiarison with what yet awaited Him : for (he -reat humiliation was yet to come. \\i- wns to he snl)je<ted to the accursed and infamous death tii < rueiiixion. When soldiers are to be put to death fur desertion or treason, they are shot. The lowest of criminals, those upon whom we wish to heap disgrace in inflicting death, we hang on the gallows. What the gallows is to-day, the cross was in the days of Jesus. It was the method of execution that .seoiu'ed publicity, wdiile it insured the utmost prolongation of the victim's misery. When the procession had reached the jJace, the cross was laid upon the ground, Jesus was denuded of all His clothing, He ^^ as stretched out upon the cross, long iron nails were driven through His hands and feet, the cross bearing His naked body was lifted up and dropped into its socket, and there, looking out on the sea of angry faces and suffering the infamous fa(e of Hie most, abandoned criminal, hung.lesu-, who, (houeh llelij.l I he ( .ms.'iou.sness
Son of (lo.l, yet willin-ly en.liii o, that He might become tie- lo Wherefore all the ages ami the races of men have united with i : the name that is above e\ery na accord agree in crowning Him l.o The descending scale' of Ills li the estate of conscious ci|u;ility grades and levels dowm to the humiliation of the cross, has been grasped and, with a few master strokes, graphically portrayed by St. Paul in the gi'eat passage of Ph 2"- ' : the humiliation of the Divine to the level of the human, the Immili.ation of the human to the level of the -ei\anl, to the level of the outcast and condemneil .liminal, and, lastly, to the degrad.alion of a puni-limc-nt the most humiliating, the most shameful, the most bitter, tlie most revolting, the most horrible then or ever known among men.
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HUMILITY
HUJIILITY
the leaders of OT history like Abraham and Moses (Gn 18", Nu 12'), and was inculcated by the prophets as a chief duty (^lic 6*). It belongs even to the earlier revelation of God's character (' that humbleth himself,' Ps 113"), and is the key to man's communion with Him (Is 57"). In Judaism and the Rabbinical literature we meet with a variety of examples and maxims enforcing the truth that ' God is the highest type of humility. ' These anticipations prepare us for the new and enlarged conception of humility which tills the NT, and was embodied in the teaching, example, and character of Jesus Christ. The moral quality of our Saviour's personality lies here (Mt 11-'^), and on this foundation of astonishing humility, ex- emplified on the cross, St. Paul bases his great ethical appeal (Ph 2'"''). It may be claimed that the gospel alone has popularized humility, but the temper of Christ's disciples in every age proves tliat it is an excellence of rare and difficult attain- ment.
i. Use and meaning of the word.— The noun (Taireivocppoaw-n, Heb. ."luj;, Vulg. humilitas. Germ. JJcnint) does not occur till it is employed commonly in the NT (Lightfoot on Ph 2') ; it is ' a birth of the Gospel ' (Trench, Syn. of the NT, § 42). In con- trast to the low and servile sense attaching to it in classical ■svritings, humility in the LXX, Apocr., and NT becomes the designation 'of the noblest and most necessary of all virtues' (Cremer's Lex.). It rests on a lowly and unpretending view of one's self, and is opposed to the workings of the am- bitious spirit (niyaKocppoavvrj, i'\{,ri\o(ppoavvri). The term refers mainly to inward (■liiuattcT, and some- times to outward concliticni. (_)t liumility as the animating principle of Cliristiaii character, Jesus Himself was the gi-eat example, being ' lowly in heart' (Mt 11=»), not merely in appearance 'like the professional religious leaders of the time. Pharisaism is the deadly enemy of humility or the religion of healthy-mindedness. The moral temper that inspired Cluist's life and service is echoed by St. Paul, when he singles out the motive that prompted his labours ('serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind,' Ac 20"^). Elsewhere humility is enjoined, along with kindred graces, as the means of averting unholy disputes and of promot- ing co-operation in the Church and among the members of the Christian society (Mt IS'' 23'-, Eph i\ Ph 23, Col 3'2). An exceptional use of the terra occurs in Col 2'8- ^, where the Apostle guards his readers against the counterfeit of this virtue (' a voluntary humility '). In some instances the luimble are viewed in the light of their earthly condition, which God may wonderfully raise and alter (Lk 1=-), and which, notwithstanding its indignities and trials, should be borne submissively and cheerfully (Ja P). This class of sufferers cor- responds to the afflicted and meek of the OT ("Ji;, a]!,), and would be numerous amon" the peasantry or fellahin of an oppressed and lawless country (Hatcli, Esinus hi liiblical Greek, s.v.). The ' poor in spirit ' spoken of in the first of the Beatitudes (Mt 5', cf. Lk 6^) are probably best understood as placed in such circumstances. In agreement with this, Ritschl {op. cit. infra) defines Taireivoippoaivri as 'that temper inclining to the service of God which accepts resignedly an oppressed and wretched condition.' The term, therefore, as one of deep imiiort, is freslily coined in the NT.