PHILIPIANS 2:6-11

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

BACKGROUNDER

The very lowest point of Jesus’s life on earth was “death on a cross”. There is no greater humility in human history.

Appreciating the humility of the cross starts with knowing who Jesus is in eternity, before he took on our human flesh. In this passage we read that, “he was in the form of God” – Jesus is one with the Creator of the universe. Jesus is one with this same Lord who entered a covenant relationship with Israel.

Remember the First Commandment? “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Jesus is the Word of God who is “one with God”, who “was God” (John 1:1). We worship Jesus because his essence is divine. He doesn’t need to “grasp at” equality with God.

But Jesus also emptied himself, really becoming human, humbled. The Word of God “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). His humanity is not an act or a disguise. But his humility is seen in obedience to the Father. He obeys because he loves and trusts God with his whole self. His humility is evident for all to see on the Cross.

The humility of the Cross is not just about the intense physical, emotional, and social suffering of Jesus. The humility of the Cross is even more about the infinite intensity of the bond between Jesus and his Father. All of his suffering is offered out of this intense love.

But the humility of the Cross is also about us. It was “while we were enemies that we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). Jesus doesn’t just teach to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), the Cross is his supreme love for us, when we were enemies of God, when we deserved death. Humility is suffering offered in love.

The humility of the Cross is not a defeat for Jesus (or for us). Because of his humility, God highly has “greatly exalted him”. One day, as we read here, every creature will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord – the humility of the Cross leads to glory – to the glory of God the Father.