Matthew 23:12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Today we hop into the book of Matthew to look at a short verse, but a powerful reminder of how we should act. A quick overview of the context from which it is drawn – we have Jesus speaking as He contrasts the arrogant behaviors of the Pharisees with the humble lifestyle required of His followers. The verse is the culmination of the teaching in which Jesus said the greatest among us would be a servant. We see the contrast between the behaviors of the religious leaders of the day and how the followers of Jesus are supposed to act.
Let’s do a quick word study of exalt and then one for humble. The Greek word for exalt in this verse is hypsōsei. It is a verb that is translated as to elevate or raise on high. It appears as part of a future-tense warning indicating a direct consequence in the future. Exploring it a little further, the English word “exalt” (which is what we see in the NIV, which is used for these devotions) comes from the Latin word exaltare, which means “to lift up.”
Looking at humble, we see the same Greek word used that we have studied before: the verb tapeinoō which means to lower, abase, or reduce in stature. Our verse uses this verb in two different, but similar, forms: tapeinōthēsetai (will be humbled) and tapeinōsei (humbles). We see from the word structure that the first response to self-exaltation is a divine humbling (not our choice) with the second being a voluntary humbling (one we choose to do ourselves).
We have had multiple lessons already this month that have reminded us of the need to humble ourselves, but none of them spoke of God doing the humbling for us – at least not until today. Jesus is very clear in this verse that those who exalt themselves WILL be humbled. And we know from other Scripture that those who humble themselves will be exalted by God (Luke 14:11, 1 Peter 5:6).
Each day we should be making the choice to humble ourselves before God and with one another. We should be choosing humility over our own self-interests and needs. Knowing now what Jesus said about the possibility of divine intervention and involuntary humbling, perhaps we will be a bit more willing to live a life of humility.
What are some ways you have been living a life of humility since starting this month’s theme? And what are some areas that you can still choose humility in?
Prayer: Lord, I don’t want to have You humble me. I want to be humble on my own. Help me see what areas of my life I have yet to humble myself in. Amen
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