There’s a truth about the life of Jesus that many of us would prefer not to think about. But it’s a factor that played a big role in Jesus’ time on earth: humiliation. 

We shouldn’t forget that Jesus was conceived before his mother was married. Jesus was part of a tribe of people who were living under the rule of armed soldiers—soldiers who regularly reminded them that they were the ones in control. And in the end, Jesus lost his life in a brutal and humiliating act of injustice. Like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Philando Castile, and far too many others—Jesus knew humiliation, in life and in death. 

Most of us would prefer to gain the humility of Jesus without experiencing the same humiliation. Jesus did not want to experience humiliation any more than we do, but humility and humiliation are closely connected. Pray for the eyes to recognize the ways God is using your humiliation in the process of your restoration to having a right relationship with God. 

Question to Ponder: Can you think of a time when you were humiliated? How did God use that time to make you more like Jesus?

​This week’s devotional reflections have been adapted from the book, Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. Beacon, Boston. 1976.