This coming Sunday is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time. This has been a series of posts critiquing the scribes and Pharisees and admonishing the disciples to take another path and follow Jesus as the authoritative teacher of the Law. 11 The greatest among you must be your servant.  12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 

Further sayings about status, already familiar from Jesus’ teaching in 18:1–5 and 20:26–27, complete the paragraph. Similar axioms appear in Prov 29:23 and in Luke (Luke 14:11; 18:14). These sayings encapsulate Jesus’ repeated assault on pomp and self-importance, and reinforce the portrait of Jesus’ disciples as a community of “little ones” which is important to Matthew.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reflects on this teaching in Mt 23:11-12 in paragraph 2546, stating: “The ‘joy of God’ is ‘the gladness of humility.’ Humility makes us recognize that ‘God chose what is low and despised in the world to shame the strong.’ Humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought,’ are we ready to freely receive the gift of prayer. ‘Man is a beggar before God.'”

This passage emphasizes that true exaltation, in the eyes of God, comes through humility. Humility is a virtue that recognizes our dependence on God, acknowledges our limitations, and places our trust in His mercy and grace. By humbling ourselves, we open our hearts to receive the abundant blessings that God desires to bestow upon us.

Furthermore, Jesus’ teaching on humility is echoed in the example of His own life. He, as the Son of God, humbled Himself by taking on human form, living a life of service, and ultimately sacrificing Himself on the cross for the salvation of humanity. Through His humility, Jesus was exalted by the Father, being raised from the dead and given the name above all names (Philippians 2:5-11).

A Final Thought

Eugene Boring notes that a modern reader of these verses may be prone to dismiss the concern as being of another time, especially the concern about phylacteries and tassels. A closer reading points to the “humanness” we share. We like to be acknowledged at social events, greeting in public (the marketplace). It is not hypocritical as much as it is being human, the social creatures that we are. It strikes at our self worth to be ignored or to be put down socially.  We all experience internally imposed constraints of peer pressure and the desire to be accepted by others. Is it normal or is it the darker side of the cultural idol of self-esteem? [Boring, 1994, 432]

Image credit: Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees (Malheur à vous, scribes et pharisiens) James Tissot, 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum, PD-US