Unity Through Humility: Jesus Example of Humility and Exaltation

The Son of Man did not come to be served...

Mark 10:45 ESV

45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

“What unity through humility looks like is serving one another. Giving your life as a ransom for the joy of others to know the joy of Jesus.”

Jesus is the supreme example for the Philippians to follow.

Christian you can achieve unity in the church by setting your mind to practice the ethics of Jesus’s humility and exaltation.

Ethics are a set of moral values that guide one’s behaviors.

Verse five provides the ethical link between section 1-4 and 6-10. Paul says,

Philippians 2:5 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

The phrase “have this mind” refers to a mindset or a “kind of thinking.” It is the kind of thinking that leads to action. Gerald Hawthorne suggests one interprets the text as, “Act in this way, as [it befits those who are] in Christ Jesus...”

Paul is encouraging the Philippian church to emulate in their lives the mind-set of Jesus, as those who are in Christ. That is, they are to act out the same convictions as the Christ who resides in them. How did Jesus work out His convictions about humility, or how did Jesus practice His humility?

Jesus loosely held His divine status (Philippians 2:6)

Philippians 2:6 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

What does Paul mean when he says, “who was in the form of God”? There is a lot of discussion on this question. It is my conviction that Paul is speaking of Christ’s preexistence as the divine second person of the Trinity who was clothed in garments of divine majesty and splendour (O’Brien 209). He was and still is God. He existed before the world began positionally as the Son of God, conditionally as the divine being of God, in glory as the majestic beauty of God, in character and nature as the holy and righteousness of God.

Paul captures a glimpse of Jesus’ preexistent position, condition, glory, and character in his letter to the Colossian church. Describing Jesus, Paul says,

Colossians 1:15–20 (ESV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Jesus made these claims about himself in the Gospel of John. When Jesus prayed to the Father, He prays,

John 17:5 (ESV)

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

John 17:24 (ESV)

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus is God and before the foundation of the world (see John’s Prologue John 1:1-15), he held all the rights and privileges of being God. And Paul says, he did not count equality with God as something to be grasped. That is, he did not cling to his rights and privileges as the Son of God. When the Father revealed His plan to save sinners through the atoning work of His only begotten Son, Jesus did not scream back at the Father, “How dare you? I have rights! I am the Son of God!” Instead, Jesus convictions were not geared around self-exaltation. Everything we know of Jesus through the Scriptures points to his unwavering commitment to glorify His Father and to save sinners. He says things like,

John 5:30 ESV

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

What was the will of the Father?

John 6:40 ESV

40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

To save sinners and secure them for eternal life, raising them up on the last day, for the glory of the Father, Jesus could not cling to his status as th Son of God. He had to humble take the form of a servant.

Jesus willfully took the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7)

Philippians 2:7 ESV

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Jesus left his heavenly divine majestic status as King, one who was worshiped and adored, and joyfully and eagerly obeyed in heaven, as the a supernatural being, and he emptied himself by putting on human flesh and becoming a servant.

Jesus was not a theophany. He did not come down from heaven in human form. He lowered himself by putting on flesh in the womb of Mary. He came into earth through the birth canal of a human woman. Jesus was fully man and was fully God. The Bible says Jesus was so human that he could completely identify and sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15). That being said, He did not empty himself of his divinity. Even though he gave up some rights and privileges of being God, he never stopped being fully God. John says of Jesus,

John 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Jesus says of himself,

John 10:30 ESV

30 I and the Father are one.”

Jesus did things that only God can do: turn water into wine, restore the sight of the blind, heal the lame, cast out demons, control creation, and feed thousands of men, women, and children with three loaves and two fish. Jesus was fully God, and yet, he was fully human. Yes, Jesus is the King of Kings while at the same time being the Son of Man, a servant to all.

Positionally speaking, there is nothing higher than being the king of kings and there is nothing lower than being a slave. Jesus humbled himself by willfully lowering himself from a kingly status to a slave status, to such the the extreme that he served humanity by putting on flesh for one main purpose; to atone for our sins.

Jesus obediently embraced the cross (Philippians 2:8)

Philippians 2:8 ESV

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

It was the Fathers will to crush the Son for the sins of His people (Isaiah 53:10-12). It was the Fathers will for sinners to be redeemed by the blood of a perfect divine sacrifice that could atone for our sins.

Jesus was both the perfect Great High Priest and sacrifice. In the Old Testament, God told his people that the penalty for sin is death. He established a system of animal sacrifice that temporarily atone for sin. For only blood can purify sin and provide a way for forgiveness.

Hebrews 9:22 ESV

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

The animal sacrifice was not enough. The Bible says that human blood is required to pay the permanent penalty for sin. If there is going to be a substitute, it needs to be sufficiently qualified. Only a human can die in place of other humans to truly satisfy sin’s penalty. The problem is every human being born under Adam is under the curse of sin. The Redeemer would have to be fully human and fully God. Jesus held loosely his status as the Son of God to put on flesh in order to serve us by obediently embracing the cross to be the perfect sacrifice that atones for our sin.

This kind of humility takes such a degree of sacrifice that one might wonder of Jesus was ever resentful for having to exercise such humility. No. The Bible is clear about Jesus’ attitude. His humility was rooted in joy.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

It is Jesus’ nature to obey the Father. He gets joy out of making much of the Father. Just the Gospels and pay attention to every verse Jesus mentions His Father. He is always about obeying and glorifying the Father, and the Father was all about glorifying the Son. The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father and fully trusts the Father, so much so that Jesus could joyfully suffer and die on a cross knowing the Father would raise him from the dead and glorify him.

Jesus patiently waited for the Father to exalt Him (Philippians 2:9-10)

Philippians 2:9–10 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

Jesus does not worry about how people will respond to his humble ethics. The center of his concerns is not the praise of men. I mean, listen to how John describes how people respond to Jesus’ humility.

John 1:10–11 ESV

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

As we’ve already seen above, the world killed him. Sinful man was not grateful for Jesus’ humility, and Jesus knew it.

John 2:24 ESV

24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people

John 2:25 ESV

25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Jesus’ main concern was obeying the Father so that the Father was glorified.

Philippians 2:11 (ESV)

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So, Jesus entrusted himself tot he Father and he waited for the Father to glorify Him. The Father glorified Jesus by raising him from the dead, and

Philippians 2:9–10 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

Philippians 2:11 (ESV)

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Father exalts the humble. Keep your eyes on the Father. Worry about obeying the Father. Practicing Jesus’s ethic means your primary concern is what the Father thinks and values, not the gratitude or opinions of others, even those whom you are giving your life as a ransom of joy in Jesus so they may know the joy of Jesus.

What does this look like at FBCL?

Because Jesus did not grasp his status, you must not grasp your status in the church, community, and home.

Because Jesus took the form of a servant, you must become a servant in the church, community, and home.

Because Jesus obediently embraced the cross for your sake, you must obediently take up your cross for the sake of others in the church, community, and home.

Because Jesus patiently waited for His Father to exalt Him, you must wait for the Father to exalt you in the church, community, and home.