The Humility of Christ on the Cross
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:8
It is truly amazing what Christ did on our behalf. Philippians 2:5-8 explain to us how much of a servant mindset Jesus had. In this context, Paul exhorts the Philippians to put one another first, to show each other love and preference. It is easy for even Christians to act selfishly towards one another. Paul tells them that instead of elevating themselves over others, they should instead be humble like Jesus.
The first act of humility that Jesus shows is to come to earth as a man. Think back to the beginning of the Gospels and realize that God in the flesh was a baby. He was unable to walk on his own or feed himself. It was Joseph and Mary who were his protectors. The angel did not come to tell baby Jesus to flee from Herod’s wrath, but his parents. This is the creator of the universe, the I AM. And yet he did not cling to His status as God. He came down to earth as a man.
This aspect of Jesus was true throughout his entire life. While we see Him able to perform miracles, and He was indeed God, He still was in the form of man. He allowed himself to be contained by time and space. He needed sleep and grew tired. He faced all the difficulties we do. As God, nothing forced him to do so. He did it as an act of service.
In his most humble act, Jesus was willing to take it a step further and die. And it was not just any death, but death so painful they created a new word to describe it (in Greek, excruciating means “out of the crucifixion”). He knew what was about to happen. The anticipation of what would occur was so intimidating that his sweat was as blood. He could have stopped it at any time (Matthew 26:53).
Why did Jesus humble himself so? Why did he allow himself as God to be wrapped up in the flesh? Why did he permit ungodly souls to put him to death? He did it because of his great love for us. He wanted us to be with him for all eternity so desperately that he was willing to do whatever it took to bring us back. If Jesus gave up all these things to save us, what are we unwilling to give up so that we might accept His gift?
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:8