Humble Obedience in the Christmas Story

All throughout scripture, time and time again we see God work through the humble obedience of those who love Him.

It’s no surprise, really. We cannot have a relationship with God without first coming with humble obedience. We must recognize our total need for Him and be obedient to repent and receive Him as our Lord and Savior. Once we have taken that initial step of humble obedience, an effective life of faith looks like humble obedience day in and day out in the big and small alike.

If we want to participate in God’s greater plan for His Kingdom, we must begin with humble obedience.

The Christmas story bears several profound examples of this.

Humble Obedience in the Christmas Story

Mary

When the angel visited Mary, she humbly responded, “ ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled’” (Luke 1:38). There were questions that could have been asked, there were certainly hurdles to be surmounted ahead, but Mary humbled herself and took on the role of the Lord’s servant, willing to obey though she couldn’t possibly begin to understand the magnitude of God’s call on her life.

Joseph

Like Mary, Joseph received a visit from the angel Gabriel. Prior to the angel’s visit, Joseph had planned to quietly divorce Mary so that she would not be disgraced though she had been found expecting out of wedlock. However, when the angle visited Joseph and told him that the child was the promised Messiah, the book of Matthew tells us “he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife” (Matthew 1:24). Again, the questions and odds appeared insurmountable, but still, Joseph humbly obeyed.

Zechariah

Zechariah is an interesting character to look at when it comes to humble obedience. He was a man of leadership in the temple and was performing priestly duties when Gabriel appeared to him to tell him his wife Elizabeth would have a child who would prepare the way for the Messiah (John the Baptist). When Gabriel told him this, Zechariah’s first instinct was to question: “How can I be sure of this?” he asked (Luke 1:18). Because of his lack of faith, Zechariah was made mute until the birth of John. It was at that moment that we see a change in Zechariah. When it came time to name the child, the leaders dedicating him questioned the name “John” since it was not a family name. They even suggested he be named after his father to carry on the family name. But Zechariah, in humble obedience, “asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John’” (Luke 1:63).

The Shepherds

Can you imagine being on the night shift at work, minding your own business, and an angel appears to tell you that God’s long awaited promise has arrived? The shepherds are not given a command by the angel, but they are the first to be told the good news of the Messiah’s coming. In the same fashion we later see James and John leave their fishing nets to follow Jesus, we see these shepherds drop what they are doing and run to see the long awaited Savior of the world. Luke 2:13 tells us that “when the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go…” There is no hesitation. There is no questioning. There is only humble obedience – and excited obedience – to go and see this beautiful mystery that awaits them. And what do we see next? After visiting the manger side, the shepherds become the first evangelists, telling the good news of Jesus’ coming. It says “They spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed” (Luke 2:17-18).

The Magi

Whether you call them magi, kings, or wise men, what we know is that these prominent figures from the East were likely intellects who studied astronomy among other topics. They tracked the rise of the north star and lined it up with Hebrew history and knew it marked the coming of the promised king. Upon arriving, they “bow downed and worshipped” Jesus and presented him with treasures (Matthew 2:11). What is remarkable to see from these men, though, is that they didn’t return to King Herod as they originally planned. Instead, they obeyed a dream from God that warned them to return to their home country by a different route. These learned men obeyed God despite orders from earthly leaders. They embodied the same boldness and humble obedience we see later in the apostles in the book of Acts: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Simeon and Anna

Eight days following the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took Him to the temple to be consecrated to the Lord. While at the temple, they met two incredible figures, Simeon and Anna. We are told in Luke 2:25 that Simeon was “righteous and devout” and “the Holy Spirit was on Him.” It had been revealed to Him that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah. The day he met Jesus, he was moved by the Spirit to go to the temple and he humbly obeyed that nudge in his spirit to witness God’s promise fulfilled. Meanwhile, Anna was a widow prophetess who lived at the temple and “worshiped night and day.” Upon seeing Jesus, “she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:37-38). She lived every day in humble obedience to boldly speak what was revealed to her through the Spirit. Both of these figures lived lives of patience and righteousness before God. We see their humble obedience on display both in how they waited for the Lord’s promises and in how they praised God upon seeing those promises fulfilled.

Living in humble obedience

Living in humble obedience requires two things – humility and obedience. We must first recognize our need for God and posture ourselves to receive from and follow Him each and every day. We practice moment by moment listening to His Holy Spirit guidance, and when we hear His direction, we simply say “yes” and obey.

Much of the Christian life is a lot simpler than we like to make it. God says it clearly, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). When we seek to obey Him in humility, He will guide us to do so and give us opportunities to do so.

All there is for us to do is realize how desperately we need Him, turn to Him as our ever-present help, and obey as He makes Himself known to us in big and small alike.