Jesus the Esteemer

Part 3 | Return to Who is Jesus

Opening question

“All humans have equal worth and rights.” Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?

Jesus, children, and the worth of a human

We assume all humans should have equal rights—that it is the right thing to love the marginalized, vulnerable, and poor. But this was not always the case in human history and was not the world that Jesus was born into. 

In the ancient world, the head of the household could decide the life or death of a baby, particularly if the child was a girl, born outside of marriage, or appeared weak or disabled. The words for children in both Greek and Latin meant ‘not speaking’; children lacked the dignity of reason. Especially under Roman rule, children were dispensable if not useful to the state. Yet Jesus famously shocked those around him:

“At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”” (Matthew 18:1-5)

Such an elevation of the dignity of children–who were considered weak and lowly– was unheard of. Over time after Jesus’ life, people began leaving unwanted babies outside of a monastic community or a church. The beginnings of what would be known as orphanages began to rise. Jesus elevated the dignity and worth of individuals who society only saw as dispensable, and rebuked a culture who thought otherwise. Jesus saw in individuals an inherent worth not defined by their usefulness, appearance or intelligence.

Is this not something we all desire deep in our souls – that we have an inherent worth not dependent on our contribution? Jesus declared with his life that all of us are deeply loved and that our lives have meaning, regardless of others’ treatment of us, of our academic success, or even our view of selves.

A new way of seeing others

We are constantly determining worth. We want to know whether someone or something is worth our time. We want to know the worth of something lest we end up overpaying. Humans by nature tend to be tribal. We don’t think of “outsiders” as having the same worth or rights. Yet the bible reveals that all people are created by a loving God; that their Creator confers worth on them. Jesus spoke about the value of humans a lot:

“He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”” Matthew 12:11-12

“Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”” (Luke 12:24)

But perhaps more provocative was the way he lived out his view of humans. Jesus was constantly eating with and loving those who were seen as outsiders, morally deplorable, or not worth one’s time:

“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”” (Luke 6:27-31)

We see glimpses in history of what happens when people actually take Jesus at his word. Gregory of Nyssa famously spoke on the God given dignity of lepers, who were considered unclean and lived isolated–which led to the beginning of what would come to be known as hospitals. Elizabeth Fry was so struck by Jesus’ words that she began visiting women in prison and eventually began a prison reform movement to improve the treatment of prisoners. More recently, Latasha Morrison founded Be the Bridge, an organization dedicated to racial healing, equity and reconciliation. Jesus lived a radical way of seeing humans’ worth as one conferred by a loving Creator–how might this change how we see the worth of ourselves and others?

Reflection questions

  • How do you determine your own worth? How do you determine someone else’s worth?

  • Who in our world is seen as dispensable or burdensome? 

  • Meditate on one or two of the bible passages above again. What do you observe about Jesus? 

  • If there is a Creator that everyone is created by and in the image of, what are the implications – for you personally and as society?

Exercise

Pick one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) to read through and reflect on the way Jesus elevated the dignity of others.