What does it mean that those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12)?

Surely also we can and ought to take the moral profit of our Lord's censure of the scribes and Pharisees: for what is the heart! We have to beware of imposing on others that which we are remiss to observe ourselves. We have to watch against doing works to be seen of men. We have to pray against the allowance of the world's spirit — the love of pre-eminence, both within and without (vers. 4-7). Hence the word is, "Be not ye called Rabbi; for One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no one your father upon the earth; for One is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for One is your Master, even Christ." The question here is not of the various gifts which the Lord confers by the Holy Ghost on His members in His body the Church, but of religions authority in the world and a certain status and respect by virtue of ecclesiastical office or position. But the great moral principle of the kingdom (which is always true) is enforced here: "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (vers. 8-12). The cross and the heavenly glory would but deepen the value and significance of these words of the Saviour; but even before either, and independently of the new order of things in the Church, they bore His stamp and were current for the kingdom.

In God's eyes therefore the one who takes the lowly place of servant is greater, if comparisons are to be made. If one were to exalt himself, he should be abased; but he who humbles himself shall be exalted. This is a purely divine principle, pre-eminently seen in the Lord Jesus, who humbled Himself to the lowest place of ignominy and suffering, now exalted to the highest place over all the universe.

Verse 12. What a prominent place has this! Here is a grand principle. The first man thought to exalt himself, and so snatched at equality with God; seeking to improve on what God had done for him, and to exalt himself. God humbles those who exalt themselves, whereas, he that humbles himself shall be exalted. The one pre-eminently Who humbled Himself we find in Phil. 2. There is the perfect pattern. There is no Name so sweet as that which has been given to Him! "Jehovah, a Saviour," for this is the meaning of "Jesus." There is a word for us that ought to be a great blessing to our souls. True humility is not the saying bad things about oneself, for this may consist indeed with the most dreadful pride. The blessed thing is to be able to forget oneself, to be so taken up with the Lord that sell is shut out. When Moses thought (if we may so suppose) that his face shone, the people did not see it, but when he was long enough in the presence of God to get his face shining, all others saw it, but he did not. It is quite presumptuous to attempt to draw the portrait of the Saviour. We are not to have even a mental picture, or we should have had such a description of Him in detail that we could not have made a mistake. But not a word have we. I saw a very striking picture yesterday, it would attract people, but I should not like to have it in my house. We want spiritual communion with the Lord, not that which acts on our nature and feelings.

But how different is the "ministry" which is really that, which seeks no lordship for itself, and no authority, but, like the Baptist of old, points only to that Other, in whose presence it stands self-emptied, because filled, satisfied, glorified with the light, unseen of the world, into which it has entered! True, it will not lead men universally to faith, which Christ's own presence in it was not able to do; yet the faith to which it brings men will be how different! But it is not of this the Lord speaks here. He carries us back instead to that glimpse of an open heaven, which He so lately Himself has opened to them, and again He repeats: "The greater of you shall be your servant." In service ― in the ability to serve ― true greatness is. And if the spirit of service be love, and love be the spirit of heaven, then it must be ― there can be no avoidance of so plain a fact — that "whosoever shall exalt himself among you shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted."

But further. Our Lord adds to this parable the Divine statute, that "every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." On two other occasions our Lord put forth the same solemn declaration; but both were in reference to seeking honour and distinction among men. Here, however, He sets it before His hearers as a doctrine of eternal importance. Every one that exalteth himself, by professing to stand on the ground of carnal confidence, self-righteousness, and self-importance, can only be judged by God as worthy of eternal banishment from His presence. To stand before God without the wedding garment, without that spotless and infinitely perfect righteousness that Christ is to every one that believeth, is to be exposed to the just indignation of the King of kings, who must abase such, and whose sentence must be, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." How deep, how eternally full of bitter anguish will that abasing be! On the other hand, "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Such do not contend for their own opinion about the things of God; they boast not of their own abilities or attainments; they believe that "God is greater than man;" they lay aside their own thoughts; they give God His due place; they incline their ear to Him, and hearken to His word. Taught by His Spirit, and enlightened by the word of truth, they acknowledge that all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and confess that they are unclean and undone. Such God will exalt; for "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." In this present life, they receive a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, and the oil of joy for mourning; they are consciously exalted from the degraded gratifications of carnal lusts to the enjoyment of fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ; even now they are exalted from the slavery of Satan's bondage to liberty and sonship in the presence of God; and when the Lord Jesus shall come again, while many are left behind for His terribly abasing judgments, they shall be exalted to share His throne of glory. They shall see His face, be like Him, and share His glory for ever. How high, how holy, how perfect, and unchangeably happy will this exaltation be!

Verse 9. We have next, the moral features of, and suited to, the kingdom, the characters which are in harmony or discord with the state of things introduced by grace. The Pharisee and publican set forth, not the doctrine of atonement or of justification by faith, but the certainty that self-righteousness is displeasing to God, and that lowliness because of our sin is most acceptable in His sight. The Pharisee does not set God aside. He "stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee." But then he thanks God for what he is, not for what God is. The only hope of the publican was in God Himself. He was very ignorant, no doubt, but he had the right spirit to get at God. Light had broken in and shewn he was a sinner, and he submitted to the painful conviction, and confessed the truth of his state to God. He was cast on God's mercy to his soul. He dared not appeal to justice, he did not ask indifference, but that mercy which measures the sin and forgives it. The revelation of grace had not yet come in, the work of reconciliation was not yet done, so that the publican stood "afar off," but his heart was touched, and God was what he wanted. If a soul is brought to a sense of sin now, it need not, and ought not, to stand afar off. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared. Nevertheless, though he did and could not thus know grace, the publican gives God and himself their true character. It was not full knowledge, but the knowledge, as far as it went was true. "I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Universal truth! but where so shewn as in Jesus? For if the first man, exalting himself, was abased to hell, He who was God, made Himself of no reputation, humbled Himself to the death of the cross. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him," etc.

157 In one sense men cannot humble themselves, because they are sinners already, and cannot go lower; a saint may. True humility is forgetfulness of self.

134 The point of this parable is seen in verses 8-11: it refers the heart to the Master, to "him that bade thee." If I am conscious of being a sinner, and therefore deserving no place, I shall take none, but wait till God bestows one on me. I shall have honour indeed, when God gives me a place. The point is, What does He bestow upon me? Having the eye upon God, and referring to Him, seek for the lowest place as Christ did. It will not do to say, I will not have a place in the world; the great thing is, the heart resting on God's place in the world. When the eye is thus upon God, self is forgotten; if not, I am thinking of the slights I receive, and neither faith nor grace are in exercise. If I could think nothing of myself, I should be perfect. The man who bade the guests has the right estimate of each and the honour due to them. The evangelist's place, the pastor's, the apostle's, etc., will all be appointed by God. When God gives me a place, it is one of power and nighness to Himself; but when a man takes a place for himself, it is one of weakness and alienation from God, because self is the object.

But the Lord in the next scene puts forth "a parable to those that were invited, remarking how they chose out the first places." It is not only that there is a hindrance of good to others, on the part of those who have no sense of need themselves, but there is a universal desire of self-exaltation. The law does not hinder this: it can only condemn, and that, too, for the most part, what the natural conscience condemns. But Christ here brings in the light of God's grace, of Divine love in an evil world as contrasted with human selfishness. He marked how those that were guests chose out the chief rooms. They sought for themselves; they sought the best. But "when thou art invited," says He who was Himself the perfect Pattern of love and humility — "when thou art invited by anyone to a wedding, do not lay thyself down in the first place at table, lest, perhaps, a more honourable than thee be invited by him. And he who invited thee and him come and say to thee, Give place to this [man]; and thou begin with shame to take the last place." Assuredly it would be so with Israel themselves. They had had the outward call of God, they had chosen the chief seats, and now they were going to lose all place and nation. Jesus was in the fullest contrast with them. He went down to the lowest room, He took it in love for God's glory; and certainly there is One Who will say for Him, Give this man place. Clearly, however, it is an exhortation for every heart and more particularly for those who heed the call of God.

Then comes a more positive word: "When thou hast been invited, go and put thyself down in the lowest place" — He had done so Himself — "that when he who has invited thee comes, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher." He took the form of a servant, was found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. "Wherefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name." (Phil. 2:9.) As He says here, "Then shalt thou have honour before all that are lying at table with thee. For every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that abases himself shall be exalted." (Cf. Matt. 23:12.) They are universal principles of God: the one true of Christ and of all that are Christ's, as the other is of the spirit of man. The first Adam sought to exalt himself, but only fell through the deceit of Satan. The Second Man humbled Himself and is set above all principality, and power, and might. "All": so most Edd., as ℵABLX, 1, 33, 69, Syrcu Sah. Memph. Aeth. Blass, after DΓΔ, etc., most cursives, Syrsin Old Lat. Goth. Arm. omits.

"Wherefore" is the word with which His exaltation begins. It reminds us of our Lord's own words, repeated twice: "He that humbleth himself, shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11 & 18:14). And none ever humbled Himself as the Lord of Glory: well is it indeed that He should be supremely-exalted! "HE humbled Himself," but, not, you will note, "He exalted Himself." No, "GOD supremely-exalted Him." Nor may we pass by that little word "also." "Wherefore God also supremely-exalted Him." In the Greek it is placed in a very emphatic position: as if to contrast God's thoughts of His Son with man's treatment of Him.

A Word to the Guests. — Of the dropsical man we hear no more. But next the guests at the table are addressed in parabolic language (7-10). Self, and the gratification of self, governed them, for they chose out for themselves the chief seats. Now there, as elsewhere, where they might be as guests, such conduct was very unbecoming. It was favour, or grace, which moved the host to invite them. It was their place, then, to let him appoint to each one his seat. If they would take a seat, let them take the lowest, leaving it to the one who had invited them to give them a better. That was the conduct suitable for those who were subjects of grace. And if in natural things that was becoming, how much more is that suited for the subjects of Divine grace? "For whosoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted."