Thursday: Look at Him
Daily Lesson for Thursday 16th of April 2026
Read Luke 22:27 again. What is the key message for all of Christ’s followers here?
In stark contrast to the disciples’ desire to be superior and their belief that they were better than the next guy, we see Jesus—the ultimate example of humility. Jesus, who said, “ ‘Yet I am among you as the One who serves’ ” (Luke 22:27, NKJV). Jesus, who every day gave to those in need around Him because He was filled with compassion and saw the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd. He knew that humanity needed Him more than anything else in life, though few realized this simple truth. Jesus, who gave up heaven to die for the human race in the hope that they would understand His act of grace and respond to His invitation to have a relationship with Him.
Read Philippians 2:3-8. What do these verses tell us about how we should live in light of the Cross?
Image © Phil McKay at Goodsalt.com
Jesus did it all. He bore all. When we pause long enough to see Him—truly and purely—we can’t help realizing our impurity, our filth, and our desperate need of Him in our lives today.
When we look to Him, everything else (especially ourselves and our own perceived greatness) pales into complete insignificance. Who Jesus is, what He has done, and how much He loves His creation becomes front and center. Self will surely disappear when we look at Him.
Jesus. What a beautiful, mighty name. He is the epitome of humility. When our open hearts learn about Him, when we understand what He has done for us, and when we allow His words of life to seep into our minds, we realize how proud and wretched we really are. If His own disciples, who lived and learned from Him, struggled with pride, we can’t fool ourselves that we are any different. Ultimately, we can grow in our relationship with Jesus only when we are humble.
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Spend some extra time with Him right now. Take your Bible, a pen, and a journal or some paper and find somewhere quiet—perhaps even outside. Invite God to soften and speak to your heart. Write out Psalms 138:1-8, word for word. As you write, what words especially stand out to you? |
In a world obsessed about being the greatest we Christians should be examples of leadership through humility. Here is the passage from Philippians in a modern translation:
The current memes doing the rounds in our modern world include. “Make America Great Again”. Make Christianity Great Again, “I am the greatest”, and so on. Christians need their own meme, “We are here to serve!” and we don’t need a slick, high-priced advertising campaign. We need to show we are living by that meme. That is what Jesus did.
Huge Amen!
A Look at Him
God has consistently given a simple command-look at Jesus. Sometimes we make things harder by refusing to accept that God’s solution to our sin problem begins with something so simple as a look. Yet looking at the light of Christ makes serious demands on our lives. When Paul encountered Christ and truly looked at Him, he was changed forever. As Christians, we sometimes choose to ignore or fail to understand the demands of Christ. At other times, we try to fit His teachings into our desires and circumstances, or we dismiss them altogether.
Stacy Orrico expresses this idea in her popular song, “Don’t look at me, look at Him,” emphasizing the need to point people to Christ in our brief lives. Our lives should echo that message: “Don’t look at me, look at Jesus.” God is growing us in grace and truth, but Jesus Himself embodies truth, for He is full of grace. In plain, contemporary English, John 1:14 says, “We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us.” When we look at Him, we fully understand how grace freely provides salvation and how patient Jesus is with our sins and shortcomings. We must continue learning from Him, recognizing that looking at Him is a demanding yet gracious gift.
Looking at Jesus has never been, and will never be, a casual glance; it is a desperate plea for salvation. When God made a way for the Israelites in the wilderness, He told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on a pole. Those who were bitten only needed to look at it to be healed. It was a look of desperation, dependence, and faith—they knew they had no other hope. In the same way, Jesus said in John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Christ was raised on the cross and died for our sins. A look at Him is what we desperately need for salvation from our sin problem. We simply need a look of faith.
A look at Him helps me understand my sinfulness and acknowledge that I have a problem. It prompts me to take a mental inventory of my life: how many times I have lied or stretched the truth? deceived others by omission or commission? taken something that was not mine? or coveted what belongs to someone else-the Bible calls this lust. I reflect on how often I have taken advantage of others? disobeyed authorities? or failed in countless ways? The list is endless, and looking at Jesus exposes the depth of my need for grace.
Today’s lesson (Look at Him) has a section that strongly appeals to my inner being.
“When we look to Him, everything else (especially ourselves and our own perceived greatness) pales into complete insignificance. Who Jesus is, what He has done, and how much He loves His creation becomes front and center. Self will surely disappear when we look at Him. Jesus. What a beautiful, mighty name. He is the epitome of humility.”
Jesus is the epicentre of humility in heaven and on the earth. “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8). Jesus is the answer to pride problem. He has got the power to make pride to melt away. If only we have the mind that was in Christ Jesus. By looking at Jesus (contemplating), the more we see our pride problem and the more we desire for help. By beholding we become changed (2 Corinthians 3:18). Each day, we should contemplate the nature and character of Jesus and by so doing in sincerity our mind and heart will be transformed. The Bible tells us that we should meditate upon the goodness of the Lord always. The name of Jesus has power to renew our mind. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2). On a daily basis we need to practice to surrender our will to the Lord. “Not my will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).
Christ is our example. He sets the example of service. By washing the disciple’s feet. What do we get out of this example? If we choose to be a part of the example, we are choosing to be a part of Christ.
“Peter said, I am not letting my God wash my feet!” Then Jesus said, “If you won’t let me wash your feet, then you’re too proud to be my disciple.” John 13:8. The Clear Word.
Indeed, we are washing Jesus’ feet when we help those in need. Matthew 25:40. Our desire to be a part of Christ is satisfied by helping others. There are other aspects to being a part of Christ, or in Christ if you prefer. We will get to those further down our journey this quarter, I do believe. Some aspects we have already covered in our reality check, and study of God’s character.
Jesus in His devine nature was able to sacrifice Himself for humanity. If we seek God and the Holy Spirit,They would empower us to do likewise.
How different our values can be from Christ’s. We often allow titles, education, knowledge, or material possessions to determine our worth and the worth of others. Yet Jesus deliberately set aside every visible mark of status to serve and save us.
The so what for me is this: humility is not a weakness but one of heaven’s highest values. Jesus showed that true greatness is not found in what we possess, what we know, or the titles we carry, but in a heart willing to stoop low in love for others. If the King of the universe could humble Himself, then humility must be one of the clearest signs of divine character.
This means our spiritual growth is seen less in how impressive we appear and more in how willing we are to serve, listen, forgive, and lift others up. Humility changes how we see ourselves and how we treat people. Instead of ranking worth by achievement, we begin to value the quiet grace of Christlike service.
In a world that rewards self-promotion, Jesus teaches us that humility is not just admirable—it is divine.