Yes, Christ was humble, but did he bow to unbelievers?
not to the pharisees, not to pontius pilate.
I don’t know about who Christ did and did not bow to. Do you have some video to back this up?
God in many cases used the worst people on earth to at times achieve stuff to His end. Christ even bothered to help prostitutes against judgment, so it seems to me he might have greeted people the same way others did in His time.
Thinking about it logically, I do thing Christ could have bowed to unbelievers since he was trying to hang with them all to bring them home to Dad later. I mean you get farther with some sugar than you do sour fruit.
Christ washed the feet of his betrayer and before bowing his head and dying, He prayed to His Father to forgive his executioners for they did not understand what they were doing.
No but he dined with them. Even worse in those days.
Romans 13:6-8
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
And remember, Paul was writing to and about the Romans; and the Roman Empire proved itself willing, through sporadic persecutions over a period of 300 years, to burn, crucify, and cut the heads off of Christians.
So I reckon the Pope was both offering the due diplomatic honors, plus the spontaneity of love --- hasn't anybody commented on the fact that he was bowing to a woman? You know, that subset of the human species whom the Muslims customarily treat like shi'ite?
I guess love in Christ --- a pastor's love --- is so rare, some don't even recognize it when they see it. But some do.