The Example of Humility

Ταπεινοφρονούντων γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός οὐκ ἐπαιρομένων ἐπὶ τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ. Τὸ σκῆπτρον τῆς μεγαλωσύνης τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, καίπερ δυνάμενος, ἀλλὰ ταπεινοφρονῶν, καθὼς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐλάλησεν· φησὶν γάρ· Κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσεν τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; καὶ ὁ βραχίων Κυρίου τίνι ἀπεκαλύφθη; ἀνηγγείλαμεν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, ὡς παιδίον, ὡς ῥίζα ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ· οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ εἶδος οὐδὲ δόξα, καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τὸ εἰδος τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν καὶ πόνῳ καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν, ὅτι ἀπέστραπται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, ἠτιμάσθη καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη· οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ἀδυνᾶται, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐν πόνῳ καὶ ἐν πληγῇ καὶ ἐν κακώσει· αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν. παιδεία εἰρήνης ἡμῶν ἐπ’ αὐτόν· τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. Πάντες ὡς πρόβατα ἐπλανήθημεν, ἄνθρωπος τῇ ὁδῳ αὐτοῦ ἐπλανήθη· καὶ Κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τὸ κεκακῶσθαι οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα. Ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείραντος ἄφωνος, οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. Ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἤρθη. Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ. Ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἥκει εἰς θάνατον. Δώσω τοὺς πονηροὺς ἀντὶ τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ· ὅτι ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. Kαὶ Κύριος βούλεται καθαρίσαι αὐτὸν τῆς πληγῆς. Ἐὰν δῶτε περὶ ἁμαρτίας, ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν ὄψεται σπέρμα μακρόβιον. Καὶ Κύριος βούλεται ἀφελεῖν ἀπὸ του πόνου τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, δεῖξαι αὐτῷ φῶς καὶ πλάσαι τῇ συνέσει, δίκαιον εὖ δουλεύοντα πολλοῖς. Καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν αὐτὸς ἀνοίσει. Διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς κληρονομήσει πολλλοὺς καὶ τῶν ἰσχυρῶν μεριεῖ σκῦλα· ἀνθ’ ὧν παρεδόθη εἰς θάνατον ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνόμοις ἐλογίσθη. Καὶ αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκεν καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν παρεδόθη. Καὶ´πάλιν αὐτός φησιν· Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐξουθένημα λαοῦ. Πάντες οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἐξεμυκτήρισάν με. Ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν, ἐκίνησαν κεφαλήν· Ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ Κύριον, ῥυσάσθω αὐτόν, σωσάτω αὐτόν, ὅτι θέλει αὐτόν. Ὁρᾶτε, ἄνδρες ἀγαπητοί, τίς ὁ ὑπογραμμὸς ὁ δεδομένος ἡμῖν· εἰ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος οὕτως ἐταπεινοφρόνησεν, τί ποιήσωμεν ἡμεῖς οἱ ὑπό τὸν ζυγὸν τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ δι’ αὐτοῦ ελθόντες; Μιμηταὶ γενώμεθα κἀκείνων, οἵτινες ἐν δέρμασιν αἰγείοις καὶ μηλωταῖς περιεπάτησαν κηρύσσοντες τὴν ἔλευσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ· λέγομεν δὲ Ἠλίαν καὶ Ἑλισαιέ, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Ἰεζεκιήλ, τοὺς προφήτας· πρὸς τούτοις καὶ τοὺς μεμαρτυρημένους. Ἐμαρτυρήθη μεγάλως Ἀβραὰμ καί φίλος προσηγορεύθη τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ λέγει ἀτενίζων εἰς τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ ταπεινοφρονῶν· Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδός. ἔτι δὲ καὶ περὶ Ἰὼβ οὕτως γέγραπται· Ἰὼβ δὲ ἦν δίκαιος καὶ ἄμεμπτος, ἀληθινός, θεοσεβής, ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ. Ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ κατηγορεῖ λέγων· Οὐδεὶς καθαρὸς ἀπὸ ῥύπου, οὐδ’ ἂν μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ. Μωϋσῆς πιστὰς ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἰκῳ αὐτοῦ ἐκλήθη, καὶ διὰ τῆς ὑπηρεσίας αὑτοῦ ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς Αἴγυπτον διὰ τῶν μαστίγων καὶ τῶν αἰκισμάτων αὐτῶν· ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνος δοξασθεὶς μεγάλως οὐκ ἐμεγαλορημόνησεν, ἀλλ’ εἶπεν ἐκ τῆς βάτου χρηματισμοῦ αὐτῷ διδομένου· Τίς εἰμι ἐγώ, ὅτι με πέμπεις; Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι ἰσχνὀφωνος καὶ βραδύγλωσσος. καὶ πάλιν λέγει· Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι ἀτμὶς ἀπὸ κύθρας. Ἅγιος Κλήμης Ῥώμης, Ἐπιστολή πρὸς Κορινθίους, Κεφ ΙϚ'-ΙΖ' Source: Migne PG 1.240a-244b

For Christ is of those who are humble minded, and not of those who lift themselves up over His flock. The sceptre of the greatness of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, although powerful, was humble, as the Holy Spirit spoke regarding Him; for He says: 'O Lord, who has believed what we have heard, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have announced it in His presence: As a child, as a root in thirsty ground, without glory, so we saw Him, and He had no form nor beauty; but His form was without eminence, lacking in comparison with the form of men; He is a man of blows and suffering, bearing with weakness: for His face was turned away; He was despised, and not esteemed; He bears our iniquities and our faults, and we judged that He was the cause of His suffering and blows and affliction; but He was wounded for our sins, and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was on Him, and by His blows we were healed. All of us, like sheep, went astray; each man wandered in his own way; and the Lord gave Him up for our sins, and in the midst of sufferings He does not open His mouth. As a sheep to the slaughter He was brought, and as a lamb dumb before the shearer, so He does not open His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. For the transgressions of my people He was brought to death. And I will give the wicked for His tomb and the rich for His death, because He did no wrong, nor was guile found in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify him with stripes. If you make an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord is pleased to relieve Him of the affliction of His soul, to show Him light, and to shape Him with understanding, the Just One who ministers well to many; and He Himself shall bear their sins. By this He shall inherit many and divide the spoil of the strong, because His soul was delivered to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and for their sins He was delivered.'' 1 And again He says, 'I am a worm, and no man; a reproach to men, and despised by the people. All who see me have derided me. They have spoken with their lips, they have shaken their heads, saying: He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delights in Him.' 2 You see, beloved, what the example is that has been given to us; for if the Lord so humbled Himself, what shall we do who have come under the yoke of His grace through Him? Let us be imitators of those who went about in the skins of goats and sheep 3 proclaiming the coming of Christ; I speak of Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel, the Prophets, with those others who gave the same witness. Abraham was especially honoured, and was called the friend of God, and he, regarding the glory of God, humbly declared, 'I am but earth and ash.' 4 And then it is written of Job: 'Job was a righteous man, blameless, truthful, and God-fearing, keeping himself from all evil.' 5 But he accused himself, saying, 'No man is free from defilement, even if his life be but a day.' 6 Moses was called faithful in all God's house, and by use of him God punished Egypt with plagues and tribulations, yet he, so greatly honoured, did not speak proudly, but when the Divine oracle came to him out of the bush, he said, 'Who am I, that you send me? I am a man of feeble voice and a slow tongue.' 7 And again he said, 'I am but as the smoke of a pot.' Saint Clement of Rome, from the Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 16-17 1 Isaiah 53. 1-12 2 Ps 21.7-9 3 Heb 11.37 4 Gen 18.27 5 Job 1.1 6  Job 14.4-5 7 Exodus 4.10