The Gospels presents the message of humility, self-effacement and self-abnegation as a central Christian virtue or spiritual and moral disposition without which no one can find the salvation of Christ. In the message of humility as indeed in his other fundamental teachings, Jesus Christ literally reverses everything the world regarded as correct, normal or desirable. In Mark 9:30-37 he shatters the expectation of his followers when he announced that the Son of Man will suffer and die at the hands of evil men. He went further to challenge their concept of success and of greatness, asking them to embrace the disposition of the servant, in humility and self-abnegation.

In a world of power and domination, command and control, wealth and privilege, here we are with Jesus preaching the gospel of poverty and humility, meekness and gentleness. In the midst of a world caught up in the rat race to succeed, a world where everyone is engaged in the mad rush to be number one, a world where everyone wants to be the first, and no one wants to come behind, the message of Christ is truly radical and uncompromising when he says that "the greatest among you must be your servant," and "those who wish to be first must make themselves last of all." The message of Jesus on humility must really be a strange one, a hard nut to swallow, for the men and women of our generation, and the people of our country who are ready to do anything conceivable to get the first place.

See what people do in our society to get the first place: manoeuvring their way to the top, manipulating their way to the front row, wangling their way to the first position, stealing their way to the high table, and even shooting their way to the throne. Yes, in the eyes of those who must be first, in the eyes of those who must lead and control others it doesn't matter how many people will die in the process, as long as they get to the top. They will crush the poor and trample on the weak; they will kill and maim, and destroy any obstacle on their way to the front row or the high table.

In the prevalent logic of the world, the winner is the one who is richer than others, the winner is the one who is stronger or more powerful than others, the winner is the one who is faster than others, the winner is the one who gets to the first position, even if it means pushing others off the way, or actually crushing them. The winner in the eyes of the world is the one who is dressed in purple, who is adorned in gold, who lives in the best mansions, who rides around in the best cars, and who surrounds himself or herself with waiters and servants and orderlies. In the logic of Jesus Christ however, "the greatest among you must be your servant." For him it is the poor, not the rich that are truly blessed, it is the meek and gentle, not the proud and arrogant that are truly blessed, it is those who hunger, those who thirst, those who mourn, that are truly blessed, not those who today are satisfied (see Matthew 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-26).

The quest for power, privilege and position is a universal one, so is the human instinct to control and dominate others, or to conquer territories. In the entire history of humanity, the quest for relevance, expressed in the inordinate desire for power and the desire to control or dominate others has led to many brutal wars and violent clashes. But with his new logic, Jesus strikes at the very core of this human quest for relevance. Jesus constitutes himself into a sign of contradiction for a generation like ours whose whole existence is organised around the quest for the first position, a generation that is passionately committed to having more and more, a generation which seeks fulfilment in building bigger and bigger houses, a generation which is fascinated about travelling faster, flying higher, and producing things faster. Humbling oneself is an attitude which the world of today does not accept. Humility and lowliness are looked upon with disdain, and those whose lives are ordered by the principles of humility, meekness and lowliness are an oddity. Instead it is the proud, the arrogant the self-conceited and the self-assertive that are presented as models of wholesome personality.

However behind this pre-occupation of modern humanity to run faster, to build larger mansions and taller sky-scrappers, behind the ambition to be first in everything, behind the passion to outdo or outshine others in everything, is the sinful disposition of pride, pride which we are told is the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. Jesus, who came to establish a civilisation of love throws a bombshell before his listeners when he says that the "first shall be the last and the last shall be the first." He shocks them beyond pardon when he says that those who wish to enter the Kingdom of heaven must desire only the back seat at the banquet.

The book of Genesis tells us that disobedience, born out of pride, arrogance and the inordinate ambition "to be like gods" is the sin of Adam and Eve - the "original sin" which made them lose their primordial innocence, earned them expulsion from paradise, the garden of bliss, and a curse that continues to haunt and plague their progeny to this day. Jesus came to destroy the myth of power and domination, and to reverse the curse incurred by Adam and Eve. So he preached the message of humility, poverty, self-effacement, self-abnegation and renunciation as the way to salvation. In Matthew 23:11 he says: "the greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted. Again in Luke 18:17 he says: "anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."  To be admitted for the eternal banquet of the Kingdom of God, the fundamental condition is childlike humility.

Paradoxically in the logic of Jesus, the person who thinks himself last and who assumes a lowly disposition, is more ready than the proud-hearted person to receive the gift of eternal life - the same gift of which the person considers himself or herself unworthy. Jesus taught this lesson, not only by word of mouth, but by his entire life, death and resurrection. He was the Son of God, equal to God in dignity, but he did not count on this equality. He accepted to be born into the world as a human being with all its limitations (Philippians 2:6-11). The circumstances of his birth and the conduct of his daily life amidst his disciples, were themselves a lesson in humility. Thus he was born, not in a king's palace, but in a stable; he grew up in the small town of Nazareth where he learnt carpentry, the humble trade of his foster father; he subjected himself to baptism by John the Baptist; he gathered around himself simple peasants and fishermen; he mixed freely with sinners and outcasts; he served his disciples and even washed their feet (John 13:2-11); he suffered hunger and thirst; and above all he endured persecution, condemnation, and a shameful death on the cross at the hands of those who were actually creatures of his own hands.

The humiliating experience of crucifixion that culminated in His glorious resurrection and ascension is a supreme lesson on humility. The fact that the paschal mystery does not end with the crucifixion but with the resurrection and ascension, is proof enough that all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, the logic of Jesus is correct, and ultimate salvation is to be found in this logic. The Lord commends his own humility as a model from which we should learn. He says in Matthew 11:29 "learn from me and know that I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Mary His mother made her historical witnessed to this virtue of humility when she responded to the angel who brought to her the incredible message of the incarnation with the words: "I am the handmaid of the Lord" (Luke 1: 39).

God accepts only the worship of those who are humble. It is those who acknowledge their lowliness and weakness before the almighty God that are acceptable to him. As St. James says, "God rejects the proud, but gives his favour to the lowly." Only those who acknowledge their powerlessness and helplessness before the all-powerful God may come into his presence. Only those who acknowledge their sinfulness and unworthiness before the all-holy God, and their desperate need for salvation, may be admitted into the heavenly kingdom. Those on the other hand who rely on their own abilities and resources, those who think that they can claim eternal salvation as a right, or those who think they merit salvation as a reward for fulfilling the law, will never get in (see Romans 3:21-31; Galatians 2:16-21).  Jesus tells his disciples that "Truly, truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you (Matthew 21:31). The lesson here is that whoever is absolutely sure of salvation will not get it. Thus the greatest obstacle to salvation is not sin, but rather the sense of self-righteousness, born of pride and arrogance. The human being shall find exaltation and salvation only through pursuing a life of humility.