Through Christmas We Learn of God's Humility


prisonchaplain
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In my Christmas message at the jail I will highlight how Christ humbled himself out of love for us.  I suggest that in many ways Jesus' incarnation was similar to the experience of prison.  Does it make sense to say that God the Son can be humble? 

 

See what you think:  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/through-christmas-god-became-humble-tommy-ellis?published=t

 

 

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PC,

 

Yes, it makes perfect sense.  Here's a quote from "Beyond Politics" by Hugh Nibley (talking about scripture from the Book of Mormon):

 

 

Moroni, recording these things, also recalls, “I have seen Jesus, and . . . he hath talked with me face to face, and . . . he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things” (Ether 12:39).

Note the significant concept of humility set forth here—humility is not a feeling of awe and reverence and personal unworthiness in the presence of overpowering majesty. Anyone, even the bloody Khan of the Steppes, confesses to being humble in the presence of God. Plain humility is reverence and respect in the presence of the lowest, not the highest, of God’s creatures.

 

It's too long to quote here, and I couldn't really find a way to get the idea across without the whole thing, so, if you're interested, here's a section of 1 Nephi wherein an angel teaches Nephi of the "condescension of God" - condescension sounds like humility in this case (not the negative kind of condescension that implies arrogance).

 

While I may have some doctrinal disagreements with your post, I liked it - and I think it will be a positive influence for those in prison.

 

Free proof-reading:

End of second paragraph: "his confinement would be worse that the tiniest solitary confinement cell" - "that" should be "than".

 

Second-to-last-paragraph: "Then he endured death-by-torturous execution."  This either needs to be: "Then he endured death by torturous execution." or "Then he endured death-by-torturous-execution." or "Then he endured 'death by torturous execution'."

 

Same paragraph, but this may be a regional dialect difference, I don't know.  The word "no" should be "any", in the dialect I'm used to: "Is it no any wonder that God the Father, and we, his followers, honor Jesus so?"

Edited by zil
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When we were going over the Gospels earlier this year someone in the class asked about Jesus washing the apostles' feet.  It said that this fulfilled a prophecy.  She (nor anyone in the class) had never heard of a prophecy that said he would wash some of his servants' feet.

 

The prophecy referred to was that he would "descend below all things".  The washing of feet was a common courtesy.  But it was to be done by either the lowest of servants or by slaves.  To anyone else, it was "beneath them".  This is why Peter initially refused to allow him to do so.  Not only was it a servant's job.  It was the lowest of servants' jobs.  

 

Jesus truly did descend below all things.

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In my Christmas message at the jail I will highlight how Christ humbled himself out of love for us.  I suggest that in many ways Jesus' incarnation was similar to the experience of prison.  Does it make sense to say that God the Son can be humble? 

 

See what you think:  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/through-christmas-god-became-humble-tommy-ellis?published=t

Nice thought – but I would add that humility is a greater example of what G-d is than is the idea of all powerful or all knowing. I know that you and I have some disagreement in what is truth in understanding the attributes of G-d - but I believe we do not understand any attribute of G-d until such attribute becomes an attribute of ourselves. That we become the very attribute of G-d when we truly come to know him. This is why I believe that we are saved by coming to know G-d. We become like him – one with his attributes – we become not just an example – we become G-d.

Mostly I want to agree with you – that we begin to understand and be like the Father – as did Christ – with the humility to which we were born.

Edited by Traveler
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