Divinely Full
Matthew 11:26 Yes, Father, because of these circumstances, purpose has produced in your sight (before you).
Jesus spent the better part of Matthew’s chapter eleven slamming and recapping the failures of the Jews, a pity-party of sorts, describing the ways in which the Jews rejected Him. But what He knew at the time and still knows, that most of us should know and often forget, is that nothing has gone unseen by the Father. Not only that, nothing comes to fruition, good or bad, that our Father can’t use for His purposes. For instance:
What if the Jews accepted Jesus instead of rejecting Him? What then? Where would the cross of Christ be? How would Matthew 16:24 (renounce, raise a cross) make any sense?
On the surface, the appearance is a fully-human side of Jesus who felt thwarted, and He let that be known. But the fully-Divine side of Jesus would always bend the knee to His Father’s will. Those in Christ are fully-human and fully-Divine as well. Divinity isn’t proven by miraculous healings, serving opportunities or prayerful times with the Lord. Acts of knee-bending Humility require more Divine power to squash fleshly pride and ego. The Humility of Jesus is required to turn the other cheek and rejoice in persecution when pride and ego have been stomped on. The Humility of Jesus is required to value an enemy and to reconcile with that enemy, even when the enemy might be in the wrong.
Jesus was thwarted by His enemies, and He walked His own walk of Humility when He gave Himself up to their arrest, even though He was right and His enemies were wrong. He kept strict His own commands, turning the other cheek when He was being beaten and scourged. The joy of the cross set before Him allowed him to rejoice in persecution while hanging on said cross, and He prayed for His enemies: “Forgive them, Father.” His blood was the reconciling payment for their sinful propensities.
Avoiding acts of Humility is fully-human. What proves the fully-Divine self is not by saving the day for other people’s problems. Producing spirit-fruit is the proof. Producing clemency (Divine and unnatural forgiveness) and self-restraint proves my Divinity, giving up the right to be right (pride and ego) and taking up a Jesus-shaped cross. The prospect is a painful one, but there is a consolation prize; anyone else’s cross doesn’t come with blood.
