²⁰ “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word…”

Humility of Christ is on display in this Upper Room prayer. As God incarnate, it was certainly within His realm of ability to perform all the things He asks of the Father. The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness (Matt 4:1-11) was real for this very reason—He had the ability to act outside of His role as the second person of the Trinity, that of dependency on the Father’s will. Theologians have wrestled with this for two millennia, the nature of the Trinity and the relationship of the Son and the Father. In this prayer we clearly see humility in the Son’s submission to the Father. A few comments are in order.

First, He was humble in His incarnation. “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). For One who is “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power,” (Heb 1:3) to voluntarily join the ranks of human image-bearers, that is humility defined. That is like the tree becoming like the tree’s shadow. He subjected Himself to the very human imperative of dependency on His heavenly Father. He resisted the urge to take things into His own hands; He was subject to the Father.

Second, this humility renders, in human form, the humbleness within the Godhead as evidenced by the differing roles of the Trinity members. The Holy Spirit is sent out by the Father and Son (what theologians call the eternal procession), and the Son was sent by the Father into the world, as Jesus acknowledged in this prayer (vs. 18). The humility of submission emanates out from the second person of the Trinity into the incarnation.

Third, the character trait of humility is therefore a divine attribute. Indeed, if Christ-likeness is commanded of us, and Jesus Christ exhibited humility in being sent to die for us, then humbleness must be more than just a trait for the human side of Christ. As God, the second person of the Trinity, He is humble. Otherwise, our emulation of Jesus’ humility would cease when we are glorified, when we see Him as He is and become like Him (1 John 3:2). Humility is a trait of His perfection.

Humility is one of the most difficult things for us mere human beings to emulate, for at the very core of our fallenness is an independent spirit. Only by humble submission to God can our tendency to self-exaltation be overcome.

Lord, I confess my tendency to not call upon You in dependent prayer.