The Humility of Jesus
Philippians 2:5-11
June 7, 2015
We are studying how everything in life is to be all about Jesus.
And therefore we have determined that we need to know all about Jesus.
We are taking Paul’s list which he supplied to the Colossians
And using it as a checklist to learn about Jesus.
Colossians 3:12-14 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
We have seen the compassion of Jesus.
We saw Him take a much needed vacation only to be caught by a selfish crowd.
But Jesus, instead of avoiding them, was moved with compassion for them.
• He saw their need
• He saw their pain
• And it took precedent over His own.
• He fed the 5,000
We have also seen the kindness of Jesus.
There was Jesus sitting by a well in Samaria when He encountered a woman of low moral standards.
• She was a different gender
• She was a different race
• She had a different moral code
• She was of a different religion
• And yet Jesus was kind to her (so kind in fact that both she and His disciples were shocked)
• Jesus ultimately led this woman to faith and forgiveness.
• And not only her, but many in her town as well.
Well tonight we move on to the third attribute on our list
And that is “humility”
It is a Greek word that means “lowliness of mind”
It may in fact be the absolute last attribute
That we would have expected to see
In someone who was God in human form.
It is one thing to think you are better than others
It is one thing to think you are smarter than others
It is one thing to think you are more able than others
BUT JESUS ACTUALLY WAS
To quote the adage of Dizzy Dean, “If you can do it, it ain’t braggin”
Jesus DID know better
So to have “lowliness of mind” or “humility” is absolutely astounding.
And that is the attribute that we want to examine tonight.
Now we are going to study the amazing passage of Philippians 2,
But before we do, I do want to quickly look at
An everyday example from Jesus’ life.
In John 13 we have one of the most remarkable scenes unfold in the Bible. It is a scene filled with important instruction
And yet also beautiful imagery.
TURN TO: JOHN 13:1-17
(1-11)
It is clear that the humility of Jesus is profound.
His willingness to wash the feet of
• Those cowards who would abandon Him,
• That blowhard who would deny Him
• That worm that would betray Him
Is absolutely phenomenal.
And yet it is also a very symbolic event.
• Jesus “laid aside His garments” – picturing His emptying of self.
• Jesus “taking a towel” – picturing His taking the form of a servant.
• Jesus “wash[ing] the disciple’s feet” – picturing His sanctifying work.
It is a vivid analogy of what Christ had been doing for the last three years
And would ultimately complete the very next day on the cross.
There is so much beauty pictured here.
And yet this event was not just some abstract analogy.
This event was not just a beautiful show.
This event was for the purpose of setting a divine precedent.
(12-17)
Jesus wasn’t just putting on a show to be enjoyed,
He was giving an example to be followed.
This type of selfless service was not meant to be unique only to Christ.
This type of service was to be the trademark of all of His followers.
Some denominations actually believe that foot washings
Is a third ordinance for the church. (w/ baptism, Lord’s Supper)
In one sense they are absolutely right.
While the physical washing of feet is not the same and not the point,
The humble service it represented is very much a mandate for the church.
And it is a mandate repeated continually throughout the New Testament.
The Christian is called to be a humble servant of his brethren,
Just as Christ was.
He set the precedent here in the upper room,
And it is intended to serve as the chief example
Of Christian attitude perpetually.
Well, that is exactly what Paul is saying here in Philippians 2.
So let’s look at this attitude of Christ.
There are 5 things we see in this text.
#1 HIS DIVINE EXISTENCE
Philippians 2:6a
“who, although He existed in the form of God,”
To fully grasp the magnitude of the sacrifice of Christ
You must full understand exactly what He sacrificed.
A life of poverty isn’t impressive unless
You first see the amount of riches that were sacrificed.
Here we find two important statements about Christ.
1) “He existed”
Make no mistake about the eternal nature of Christ.
You and I didn’t begin to exist until we were conceived,
But Christ existed long before conception.
He always was.
He confidently stated to the Pharisees:
John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
There was no point at which Jesus came to life, He always was.
He is eternal, having neither beginning nor end.
There was no need of birth and no expectation of death.
“He existed” eternally.
2) “He existed in the form of God”
Make no mistake about the deity of Jesus.
He is fully God.
He has always been fully God.
It is amazing today the number of people who deny the deity of Jesus.
But the New Testament has no problem proclaiming His deity.
In fact when you read the New Testament
They spend more time defending His humanity than they do His deity.
1 John 4:2 “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;”
2 John 7 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
See in their day it was not as hard to believe that Jesus was divine
As it was to believe that He was human.
When you look at His miracles, when you see His resurrection
There was never any doubt that He was divine.
People began to doubt that He could have actually been human.
Him being God was obvious.
And it should be.
“He existed in the form of God”
John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
Colossians 1:15-17 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
There is no doubt as to the deity of Jesus.
But here it is important to note more than just His deity,
For He didn’t give up His deity when He came to earth.
What is unique here is His “form”
He was “in the form of God”
On earth He was in the form of man.
But He was not always in this form.
And all I have to ask you is:
IS IT BETTER TO BE IN THE FORM OF GOD OR THE FORM OF MAN?
Obviously God
That is a much higher position.
That is a much higher form.
Well, that is where Jesus was.
He maintained an eternal divine existence.
• Unlimited in power
• Unlimited by time and space
• Unlimited in understanding
Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent
Fully transcendent in all ways
That is where He was.
His Divine Existence
#2 HIS DISREGARDED EQUALITY
Philippians 2:6b
“did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,”
We would all agree that Jesus held
The most personally advantageous position that could be held.
I mean you couldn’t get any higher than God.
And you would think of all the things that should be cherished and held on to, the main thing would be your high position.
We live in a day of pathetic politicians who in the eternal scheme of things
Are absolutely insignificant.
And yet they will fight and scratch to keep their office.
Walk up to any of them and say, “Would you leave your office for the good of America?”
And I promise none of them would.
They have found an advantageous position and they won’t let it go.
BUT THAT WASN’T THE MINDSET OF JESUS.
He “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,”
He didn’t see that position as something that had to be held on to at all cost.
And it is important that you see that.
We’ll see His action in a minute,
But it is important that you first see His mindset.
98% of humility is mindset.
If you don’t have the right mindset you won’t have the right action.
Jesus had the right mindset.
He had the right “regard”
And His regard was not focused on Himself, but on others.
The point here is that a selfish heart never leads to a sacrificial life.
Before you can walk humbly you have to believe humbly.
Jesus existed in the form of God
But didn’t regard that as something to be grasped.
His Divine Existence, His Disregarded Equality
#3 HIS DELIBERATE EMPTYING
Philippians 2:7
Now there is the incarnation.
There is Jesus taking off His outer garments and wrapping Himself with a towel.
There is Jesus stepping out of His high condition and into a lowly one.
• He traded heaven’s castle for Mary’s womb
• He traded the glory of heaven for the scorn of Jerusalem
• He traded the comforts of heaven for the dusty streets of Israel
And He did it on purpose.
And notice that no one did it to Him.
He “emptied Himself”
Many today will accept adversity if someone forces it upon them.
But few will volunteer for it.
Jesus did.
He “emptied Himself”
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Did He give up His deity?
No, but He did give up many of the benefits of it.
• For instance He was no longer omnipresent
• He was no longer omniscient
Remember Him saying even the Son doesn’t know the date of the return
It wasn’t that those things couldn’t be His,
But that He willfully refused them.
He let those divine privileges be set aside.
But if you want the clearest explanation, just keep reading the verse.
“emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant”
That is mindboggling isn’t it?
It certainly blew Peter’s mind.
In John 13 Peter said, “never shall You wash my feet”
• You are not a servant, You are a King
• This job is below You
• Don’t stoop to such a level
• There are other people who can do that
And that is what Paul is driving at.
By saying that Jesus “emptied Himself”
Paul is reiterating that He left the privileges of His high position
So that He could step into the burden of a low position.
2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”
And just as the ATTITUDE of verse 6 is important,
The ACTION of verse 7 is equally important.
For a humble heart without humble action is hypocrisy.
“You know them by their fruit”
It is not enough to claim that others are more important than you,
It is a belief that must be verified by action.
Jesus verified it.
He stepped out of His high position and into the most lowly.
He took the form of a slave.
He went from the One who called the shots,
To the One who took the orders.
His Divine Existence, His Disregarded Equality, His Deliberate Emptying
#4 HIS DEFINITE ENDURANCE
Philippians 2:8
And the point here is that Jesus took His humility all the way to the end.
Sure He became man.
But He didn’t become invincible man.
He walked through the hardest moment every man will ever face
And that is death.
“obedient to the point of death”
Incidentally, that is one of the reasons He became man.
If you want to taste death you have to become mortal.
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
And if we stopped there it would be enough, but Jesus didn’t.
“even death on a cross”
Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”
He didn’t even die a noble death.
He died a criminal’s death of disgrace.
AND THAT IS JUST AMAZING.
• He became human, but not just any human, He became “a bond-servant”
• He died a death, but not just any death, He chose “death on a cross”
AND THE CONTRAST COULDN’T BE CLEARER.
He went from the highest pinnacle of glory and power
To the lowest point of humility and shame
No human could ever start so high or drop so low as Jesus did.
No human could ever claim to have paid as high a price as Jesus did.
Jesus once said it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,
Namely because they have so much to lose in this life.
In fact Jesus said it was easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
And yet, no rich man could even be asked to lose as much as Jesus did.
HIS SACRIFICE CAN’T EVEN BE FATHOMED IN THE HUMAN MIND
Because we have no comprehension of the height were He first dwelled
And few of us have ever tasted the shame of where He descended.
The point is that He took His humility to the max
He endured in it
And what is it that Jesus told His disciples in the upper room?
John 13:12-16 “So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.”
So now do you want the stinging reality?
If Jesus could sacrifice glory and comfort and riches and honor for the sake of others, who are you and I to think we have the right to keep ours?
• When we selfishly cling to our rights…
• When we selfishly put ourselves above others…
• When we expect someone else to sacrifice…
• When we expect others to give me my way…
Who do we think we are?
Do we suppose ourselves so important that the world around us is supposed to just stop and give in to our every desire?
Absolutely not.
Instead, we are to be like Jesus, who even though He came from a much higher state willingly left it for the sake of others.
That is Paul’s point.
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus”
And although we don’t have time to study in depth tonight,
We must give the practical application here.
Look back at the first 4 verses of this chapter:
Philippians 2:1-4 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
That is the whole point of what Paul is driving at.
That is what the humility of Jesus would look like in your life.
• No, you aren’t in the form of God, so no, you can’t leave it.
• No, you aren’t king of the universe, so becoming a servant isn’t a stretch
SO WHAT WOULD THE HUMILITY OF JESUS LOOK LIKE IN YOUR LIFE?
Well, it would see things like “love” & “fellowship” & “affection” & “compassion” as MORE IMPORTANT than self-fulfillment.
It would seek to “joy” & “unity”
And it would never, under any circumstances do anything “from selfishness or empty conceit”
JESUS NEVER PUT HIMSELF ABOVE OTHERS
• Even when He was tired and the crowd was hungry
• Even when He was thirsty and the woman was a Samaritan
• Even when He was God and the sinners were unworthy
He never did anything out of selfishness or empty conceit
But here is what the humility of Christ actually looked like
“but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
And that is what the humility of Jesus looks like in your life and in my life.
It does not regard self above others.
It isn’t just a martyr.
A martyr knows they don’t deserve what they are getting.
But a truly humble person doesn’t even regard it as injustice.
A truly humble person truly believes that others are more important.
That is what Jesus did.
Now, I don’t want to leave you here
Without the glorious reality of this truth as well.
There is one more very important point.
#5 HIS DESERVED EXALTATION
Philippians 2:9-11
Do not miss those first three words:
“For this reason…”
• The exaltation of Christ was not an example of favoritism…
• The exaltation of Christ was not an example of luck…
• The exaltation of Christ was not an example of chance…
The exaltation of Christ was an example of divine reward.
He humbled Himself like no one ever humbled themselves
And so He was exalted like no one has ever been exalted.
In fact “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Is there another name like Jesus? No
Is there another name that brings such fear and reverence and gratitude and awe? No
That’s because God attached more glory to His name than any other name
God exalted Him higher than any other.
WHY?
Because He humbled Himself more than any other.
DO YOU SEE THE PRINCIPLE?
The height of your exaltation
Is directly proportional to the depth of your humility.
And if you’ll listen to Jesus that is what He said.
After telling the disciples to follow His example in the upper room, He then said this:
John 13:17 “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
It is true.
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
1 Peter 5:6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,”
Or how about the teaching of Jesus?
Matthew 23:12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”
Luke 14:7-11 “And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. “But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
You get the point.
• When Paul tells you to humble yourself for your brother…
• When Jesus tells you to humble yourself for you brother…
They are not giving you advice that will harm you.
They are giving you advice that will ultimately exalt you.
Jesus humbled Himself more than any other person ever.
And as a result Hs is exalted more than any other person ever.
And that is a principle you and I need to understand.
Scorn follows selfishness, but glory follows humility
So:
“…if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,”
