Lesson 9: Everything Jesus did showed He was a humble king.

Lesson 9: Everything Jesus did showed He was a humble king.

References: Matthew 8:20, Luke 2:7, Philippians 2:5-8, Romans 10:9-11

Jesus is God. He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, and there are so many more wonderful things that could be said about Him. But He never lived His life as an earthly king would while He was here on Earth. He never lived the life of a king, in a great palace. He was very humble. That means He was not proud, but He was modest, respectful, and meek. He was not in fabulous clothes. He did not live in a big house with servants and slaves, eating and drinking all the time. He did not treat people cruelly or unkind, nor did He use the power that He had to get what He wanted. He could have had lots of those things, but that was not what Jesus was here for. His life had a different purpose than what we would expect a king to have.

From the way He was born, we could see that He was going to be a different kind of King. Jesus was born in a stable in a manger, where all the dirty animals live. In Luke 2:7 it says, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” He lived with his parents. They were not rich; He was a carpenter with his father. When He started doing His ministry, He did not even have a home to live in anymore. Matthew 8:20 says, “And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Jesus’ life did not show that He was a King, as we would expect a king to be. He would have been poor in many people’s eyes, but we know He was great. All of His life was devoted to doing what God had planned. He did everything so that people would know God and believe in Him. That was what His life was about. He did not care about the things of this world (money, clothes…) - He cared about the things that matter to God. Jesus had a purpose. He was to die for the sins of His people. This was one of the greatest acts of humble obedience, when Jesus died on the cross to take away sin. Philippians 2:5-8 tells us that Jesus humbled Himself and was a servant, being obedient to what God had called Him to do. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus was God’s Son and He came to be one of us. He made Himself nothing, and was born in the likeness of men. If Jesus had not been a humble king, we would have died in our sins. But He did come to earth and died on the cross so that we could be saved if we believe in Him. Romans 10:9-11 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”