Greatest Expression of Humility – Unworthy to Tie His Sandals
Mark 1:7
“And he was preaching and saying, ‘After me, one is coming, mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.’”
John the Baptist had quite a thriving ministry. It says, “that all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him to be baptized.” The stoplight is all on him and yet he takes this opportunity to turn the focus away from himself and onto the one he was unworthy to tie the sandals of. As he shifts all the attention and glory from himself to Jesus, John the Baptist is humbled by this encounter with Jesus and exclaims, “I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.” This statement of humility shows he clearly understood his position of importance in the scheme of things. Do we?A Divine Revelation
How does this apply to us? You may be thinking, “I’m not a preacher so the stoplight of ministry isn’t on me.” Oh, but it is! We enter the wilderness of this world every day with the same commission as John the Baptist had; to point the lost to the One mightier than ourselves. Like John, humility is required. Only when we are transparent about our unworthiness will others feel safe in their unworthiness. Humility also creates a vulnerability that exposes our need for a Savior so others will see their need for a Savior and come to Jesus.
Yet too often, our fleshly need for the acceptance and approval of men fails to put the stoplight on Jesus, the true source of our spiritual accomplishments or giftedness. As believers, Philippians 2:3 commanded us to, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;” but do we? Sadly, we are often guilty of demanding respect and honor from others but fail to give others the same honor and respect we demand. For those of us in ministry, do we minister in such a way as to glorify ourselves and promote our own righteousness? Or have we learned how to accept the praises of others with humility to give God the glory He so richly deserves?
A Divine Challenge
Our identity in Christ is where our worth comes from and “not from works lest any man should boast.” If we, as believers, think we are worthy in and of ourselves then we have lost the privilege of identifying with the humility of Christ. Even Christ “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself (became nothing), taking on the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of a man. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:6-8) However, the story doesn’t end there. Verse 9 says, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,” for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
Call to Action
May we come to know that same humility that John the Baptist understood and that Jesus, Himself demonstrated so that our lives might point to the “One who is truly mightier than I.”
Father, break off the attitudes of pride and arrogance that exalt the flesh instead of exalting You and teach us the importance of humility in our service to You and others “for apart from You we can do nothing.” In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!