Main Reading: Philippians 2:5-8
Perhaps, many of us thought that Christ suffered only at the time He headed to the cross. We thought Christ suffered only when He is ridiculed, spat, whipped, and hit at the moment after the last supper until He died on the cross. But the Bible told us, and made it clear that He suffered not just at that moment, in fact He has to receive such humiliation at the point He entered to this world as a human (incarnation).
Philippians 2 verse 6 says that Christ Jesus, who “though he was in the form of God, ...”. The word form here is using the word “morphe” in Greek and not “schema”. Schema is also translated as form but it has different meaning. Here is an illustration to differentiate these 2 words: A “morphe” is a form that never changes, an example will be that all men possess manhood. A human is called man (male) or woman (female) is because they posses that manhood or womanhood and not because of any part of the body. Why? because you might be born with differences or disability. What about if a man is born with a genital disability and his genital can’t be seen as what the other man looks like? He will still be called a man, because he posses that manhood. That is morphe. Now “morphe” is shown in various “schema”. Schema is a form that changes. At one time he can be a baby, or even embryo, a child, a teenager, an adult, or an old man - all of them are still man in its “morphe” but has different variations. In other words we can say, a morphe is the essence of something; and so this verse 6 is saying to us that Christ is God Himself.
Philippians 2 verse 7 - He is God, but He decided to not cling on His equality as a God to be something that He should grasp. He decided to renounce His God’s privilege to be human. For God to become human is far more humiliating compare to human to become an animal because God’s quality is far more superior than human. Christ is God, but yet He has to experience what it feels to be hungry, to be cold by the night winds, to be sad, etc just like the way we feel. Imagine He is the creator of all things including a mosquito, but yet Christ felt how to be bitten by a mosquito. He is God, but yet now He has to submit under the law He has given (Gal 4:4; Luk 2:21-24). Christ who is God, became human and not just a man with highest position, but he became a servant (human with the lowliest position): In His birth, He was not born in a palace, but in a manger because there is no other room for Him - He is the king but yet He has to be born in a manger.
It seems that Philippians 2 verse 8 is like a repetition to verse 7. What i mean is the word “And being found in human form” (verse 8) seems to be just a repetition to the sentence before “being born in the likeness of men” (verse 7). Verse 8 is not just a repetition, it puts a stress to us that Christ is really being found in human form! Now the question is to whom? The answer is to the Jews, to His town-people, to the many! even today, many don’t believe that He is God. The verse is saying that Christ is being found in human form to the people. People can’t see that He is God! Christ is seen just as a normal human, in fact a lowly-human, and someone who has done blasphemous thing. In His daily life, He has to suffer for being unjustly hated or offended and ridiculed. Look on the story at Matthew 13:43-58, Christ is rejected by people from His own town; Look on the history noted at John 10:22-33 where the Jews picked up stones to stone Him, not because Christ did bad things, but because Christ is trying to tell them that He is the Son of God (see verse 33 - it is because of blasphemy). Isn’t Christ God? Yes! He is God. But they don’t believe Him, they rejected Him. Have we been rejected for the whole of our lives? Christ, our Lord and Savior has experienced the feel of being rejected. He who did not do any wrong things is being rejected, whilst we who are constantly doing sin often got people’s acceptance. For those of us that feel any rejection from our society, we can put our hope in Him, who understand the feel of being rejected. Now Look on what the history noted at Matthew 27:11-26, They rejected Christ, and unjustly hate Christ. They chose Barabbas over Christ (note on verse 18 - they did that out of envy), in other words they chose filthy man over the Holy God. Beloved, it would have been one thing for God to become man, but for God to become man and man to think He is only man, that is very humiliating. When Christ did all the works and performed all the miracles, they said, "This man has a demon." How humbling He is. God in human flesh, He is the King of Kings, the majestic King of the universe and they don't even know it. They treat Him not only like man but the worst of men. They treat Him like a criminal.
Maybe we may say “Stop! that’s enough! Christ has suffered enough”, but His suffering still goes on, that He has to die on the cross. Christ did not fight back, He even lower himself even more! Verse 8 says that He humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross. Did Christ do any wrong things? No, but yet He has to die on the cross. The end of verse 8 has a twofold meaning: First, Christ who is God has to obey God the Father to death. Can you imagine God has to taste death? This is why all the jews, priests, scribes, pharisees laugh and mock Jesus! If you are God, come down from that Cross, because God can’t be “defeated”, and God would not die. Second, verse 8 stress the way Christ suppose to taste the death. He didn’t die because of sickness, or because He has grown old, but as the lowliest man possible that ever lived on the earth. Death on the cross is supposed to be the penalty for the criminals, for people that has done the worst, yet Christ who knows no sin, has to die in this way. The jews hated Him so much as it is written “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Deuteronomy 21:22). The word “even death on a cross” put the stress on this. This is the ultimate humiliation that Christ has to bear in His obedience to His father to die on the cross. Christ was hung on the cross, naked, and helpless, and they mocked God; as if they were saying to Him “This is God who created the heavens and the earth. Look at Him!”
Now, when we look at what Christ has done, and what they have done to Christ, we can only say “they aren’t worth redeeming. In fact, they are simply unforgivable”. This is too humiliating for Christ, it is just too much. But yet, This is what Christ did: that He humbled Himself so much till His death on the cross in His obedience to God the Father, for our sins. Yes, for us. When we look at those people, we too are like them as we are sinners. Christ being humbled, and died on the cross, to save you and me! This is Grace! This is God’s love for sinners like us. He did all of those humiliating things to provide salvation for us sinners! Who would have imagined that such God would have done such thing. Christ Humiliation is both an encouragement and comfort (consolation) that God gave to us. (Phi 2:1; Luk 2:25) - Christ the Messiah is the consolation of Israel. Jesus has become our hope.
When we were born in this world, we can’t decide of what we will be born as: whether to be born from a poor family, or rich family, or broken home family, with or without parents. It was different from Christ: He chose to be born as a servant, He chose to humiliate Himself for our salvation! Truly, we are in debt to Christ’ work on our salvation, by living in obedience to God. God has loved us, while we are still enemy, and now we love Him because He first loved us. Again, we can only obey Him, to show that we love Him - just as Jesus said that “if you love me, keep My commandments” - John 14:15. what is His commandment? what is His will for us? God’s will for us is to imitate Christ. Christ has set an example before us, so that we could learn the heart of God to obey God the Father for being a servant to others out of love, to bring others to Christ. Verse 5 of this same chapter told us that our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, that is the introduction of why Paul describes verse 6 to 8 that we have to look above: to follow, to imitate, to be like Christ (see also Mat 11:29; John 15:12; 1 John 3:2)
Beloved, If we love Christ, and we really take his Commandment as an outward attitude, we will heed Christ’ command for us to love one another as Jesus has loved us. Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations (Mat 27:18-20), as He has set an example in Mark 1:16-20. Jesus went and called people to be His disciple, and He disciples them. Jesus command to disciple is the basis of why we love people. When we have the heart of discipleship, it will be natural that we will have a heart to love others. To disciple others then require ourselves to live as a disciple and take the cross just as Jesus said in Mat 10:38-39 and Mat 16:24-25. Follow what Jesus had done: to take up the cross. To be a disciple means to have a heart like Jesus, His passion becomes our passion, His purpose becomes our purpose: to seek His glory by saving lives, to not consider ourselves and self-pleasure for something that is important, or something that need be grasped, but to humble ourselves to be a servant just like what Christ did. This is the vision and the basis of why we are making disciple. Many Christian thought that to live taking our cross means that we have to live a life with no regards of comfort, or to taste suffering. That is true, but if that’s the only thought, i think we have missed of what it means to take up our cross. Imagine when one is carrying the cross, will he/she is thinking about what he shall eat? or how is her hair? what is he going to wear tomorrow? No! When one is carrying the cross, this is the thing that he or she might think of: one will think of the death that he will face soon, one will think of what happen after he/she die, one will think of what he/she has done - in other words if you are carrying your cross you are thinking of something related to the eternity (future)! you are thinking what is really need to be thought of: eternity. This is what matter when your death is near, isn’t it? For us today, is what you’ve done is really worth it for the eternity? That’s why you’re doing discipleship, because you care for the soul just as Jesus cares for our soul. Did you care? Living a life by taking the cross, is living a life thinking of God, and loving God. If you don’t think a lot and love your God who has saved you, and loved you EVEN by sending His only begotten son for our sins, your discipleship is a discipleship for your fame, and you are loving people for the sake of fulfilling your own pleasure to love someone. Yes it is a life to disregard our comfort, but it is because we look to Jesus, who has first taken the cross. We may find ourselves struggling and suffer but we suffer for Christ. We have to be patient to others, because we look to God’s patience for each of us. Our hearts is for His kingdom, and glory, because of His abundant grace, His depth of mercy, and steadfast love makes us to stand in awe just like what Paul said at the end of it all in Romans 11:33 "O how unsearchable are Your judgments and Your ways passed finding out."
May the humiliation that Christ chose and received, humbled our hearts before Him, and mold our hearts to long to be like Him.
In Christ,
Paul Hartono
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Summary
In what kind that Christ’s act of humility consists?
1. God entering human nature / Incarnation (Luk 2:1-6)
2. The King has to received low position (Luk 2:7 - His birth in a manger; Luk 23:33 - His death on the cross)
3. The Law-Giver has to submit to the law (Luk 2:21-24; Gal 4:4; Mat 5:17)
4. He (God) has to suffer / experience our misery (Isa 53:3)
- He experience hunger, and temptation (Luk 4:1-13)
- He experience being unjustly hated / offended, ridiculed (Mat 13:54-57; John 5:18; John 10:31; Mat 27:16-18)
- He experience poverty (his birth), pain and sorrow
5. Jesus has to suffer from God’s wrath (Mat 27:46)
6. Jesus has to experience death (1 Cor 15:4, Luk 23:46) - EVEN death on the CROSS (Luk 23:33)
Reflections:
1. Christ act of humility is both an encouragement and comfort (consolation) that God gave to us. (Phi 2:1; Luk 2:25) - Christ the Messiah is the consolation of Israel. Jesus has become our hope.
What is our response then if we have realised the depth of His grace, mercy and love?
1. We are thankful that He chose to humiliate Himself for our salvation, and we are in debt to Christ work on our salvation, by living in obedience to God. God has loved us, while we are still enemy, and now we love Him because He first loved us. Again, we can only obey Him, to show that we love Him (just as Jesus said that “if you love me, keep My commandments” - John 14:15)
2. God’s will is for us to imitate Christ (Mat 11:29; John 15:12; Phil 2:5; 1 John 3:2)
What is our mission?
If we love Christ, We also should love His Commandment (Love God) as an outward attitude; that means we are in mission to:
1. Love people just as Jesus has loved us
2. Go and make disciple just as Jesus go and make disciple (Mark 1:16-20). This is the basis of why we have to love people
3. Living as disciple and take the cross (Mat 10:38; Mat 16:24). This is the vision and the basis of why we are making disciple.
Imagine when one is carrying the cross, will he/she is thinking about what he shall eat? or how is her hair? what is he going to wear tomorrow? No! When one is carrying the cross, this is the thing that he or she might think of: one will think of the death that he will face soon, one will think of what happen after he/she die, one will think of what he/she has done - in other words if you are carrying your cross you are thinking of something related to the eternity (future)! you are thinking what is really need to be thought of: eternity - this is what matter, when your death is near, isn’t it? And so, for us today, is what you’ve done is worth it for the eternity? That’s why you’re doing discipleship, because you care for the soul just as Jesus cares for our soul. Did you care? Living a life by taking the cross, is living a life thinking of God, and loving God. If you don’t think a lot and love your God who has saved you, and loved you EVEN by sending His only begotten son for our sins, your discipleship is a discipleship for your fame, and you are loving people for the sake of fulfilling your own pleasure to love someone.
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