| Volume XXIX |
JULY
2009
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Number
12
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Jesus Christ: Humility & Exaltation by Brian R. Kenyon
The Attitude of Christ Central to Christ’s humiliation and subsequent exaltation was His attitude. Thus, the passage is introduced, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). “Mind” is actually part of the verb (from phroneo, φρονέω) translated “Let [this] mind be.” Here “mind [attitude, NAS]” refers to the frame of mind that allowed Christ to humble Himself the way Paul is about to describe. This same attitude is what the Philippians needed in order to “be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Phil. 2:2). This same attitude would also assure that the Philippians would do nothing “through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind...esteem other better than themselves,” and to “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Phil. 2:3-4). Note that Christ perfectly exemplified these things Paul encouraged the Philippians to do and not to do. Jesus’ relationship was always “likeminded” with His Father, “having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind,” which serves as the example of the unity the faithful are to share with one another (cf. Jn. 17:20-21). Jesus never did anything “through strife or vainglory.” He always served with “lowliness of mind.” He was never so caught up in Himself as to lose interest in others, but was always concerned about other peoples’ needs. How central is the “mind of Christ” in our lives? Does our attitude allow us to “be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” with other brethren of like precious faith? Or does our attitude lead us to “bite and devour one another” (Gal. 5:15)? It absolutely takes the attitude of Christ to “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (Jas. 4:10)! The Humiliation of Christ The “mind of Christ” showed itself in humble subjection to God and genuine concern for others. Paul writes of Him,
Let us consider each step individually. First, Christ started the process of humiliation “being in the form of God.” “Being [existing, ASV]” (from huparcho, υπάρχω) carries the sense of “be from the beginning,” which, with reference to God, would mean “being from all eternity” (Zerwick 595). “Form” (from morphe, μορφή) means nature; thus, as God the Father was, so also was Christ (cf. Jn. 1:1-2; 8:58). It is important to note here that Christ never ceased being God when He came in the flesh, but He did leave the glory (Jn. 17:5). Second, Christ did not think His being “equal with God” was something to be hoarded to Himself. The term “robbery [a thing to be grasped, NAS],” occurring only here in the Greek New Testament, means robbery; booty; something to grasp after; something to hold onto. How many, like Adam and Eve (cf. Gen. 3:5-6, 22-24), grasp at equality with God? Yet, Jesus, who really was God, did not hoard it to Himself! Third, Christ came to this world completely voluntarily. “Made [himself] of no reputation” (Phil. 2:7a) is from the verb form (kenoo, κενόω) of a word that means “vain,” or “empty.” Thus, Christ “emptied Himself” (NAS), or “made himself nothing” (ESV). Again, Jesus stripped Himself of glory, not deity, when He came in the flesh (cf. Heb. 2:14). Paul also says that Christ “took upon him the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7b). He who was “in the form of God” now became the nature of a lowly “servant [bondservant, NKJ],” a polite way of saying “slave” (from doulos, δουλος). Christ also “was made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7c), which denies nothing of His former nature, but simply states that in every respect He became the nature of man (cf. Rom. 8:3). Fourth, Christ humbled Himself in obedience to the point of dying on the cross (Phil. 2:8). “Being found in fashion as a man” again points to His humanity. The word “humbled” is from a word (tapeinoo, ταπεινόω) that means to make ashamed, humiliate (translated “abased” in Phil. 4:12). The level of Christ’s humility, when considering His sinlessness, is magnified in that He “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” The word “even” in this phrase introduces a more emphatic detail of Christ’s humiliation. The Son of God not only submitted Himself to death, but “a death of suffering, shameful and accursed, the most ignominious [disgraceful] of deaths...the despicable death by crucifixion, a form of punishment reserved for slaves, rebels and the lowest criminals” (Rogers and Rogers 452). Though our lives here below will never be as perfect as the Lord’s, we must have His kind of humility, a humility that even though the storms all around us rage, we look beyond ourselves to influence others for eternal life. We think it is bad when our brethren turn against us for simply obeying God—imagine the burden Christ bore! The next time we feel like giving up, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”! The Exaltation of Christ Whereas the humiliation of Christ was given in stages, the exaltation of Christ is depicted in one major step. Also note that whereas Christ was the subject of the verbs in 2:6-8, the Father now becomes the subject of the verbs and Christ the object. Paul writes,
“Wherefore” (dio, διό), a “strong inferential conjunction,” coupled with the conjunction “also” (kai, καί), shows that Christ’s exaltation “was not so much a reward for his self-abnegation [self-denial]...or a gracious gift...as it was the natural or logical outcome of his humility” (Hawthorne 90). In other words, the humility-to-exaltation seen in Christ is the working of an unbreakable spiritual law of God—when anyone is truly humble to the point of complete obedience, he or she will always be exalted by God (cf. Mt. 18:4; 23:12; Jas. 4:6-10)! Likewise, one who never humbles himself or herself to the point of complete obedience will never be exalted by God (cf. Lk. 14:11; 18:14)! This ultimate exaltation or abasement may not occur in this life, but rest assured, as an unbreakable law of God, it will happen (cf. Mt. 24:35). The term “highly exalted” (from hyperupsoo, υπερυψόω), literally “hyper-exalt,” means to raise to the highest position; exalt to the highest height (cf. Ps. 97:9). The height of this exaltation is made more emphatic by the fact that Jesus was given “the name” (το ονομα), which is superior to every name. “The name” is none other than “Lord” (Phil. 2:9), the New Testament equivalent of Jehovah. By giving Christ this name, God the Father has given Christ “the character of Lord,” so that “not only does Christ possess the title ‘Lord,’ but he is Lord, the sovereign over the entire universe” (cf. Mt. 28:18; Acts 2:33; Eph. 1:20-22; Heb. 2:8; 1 Pet. 3:22; Rev. 11:15-17; 17:14) (Hawthorne 91). The giving of this name to Jesus Christ declares that He “is installed in the place which properly belongs to God himself as Lord of all creation” (Martin 109)! Proof that Jesus is sovereign is further proven by the fact “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” and “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11). The “name of Jesus” in this context is not “Jesus,” for that was His name from birth (Mt. 1:21). Rather, the “name of Jesus” is the name belonging to Jesus, which in this context is sovereign “Lord.” Paul here applies to Jesus what Isaiah wrote exclusively concerning Jehovah. “The Lord” spoke through the Messianic prophet,
By attributing this ultimate honor to Christ, the inspired Paul emphatically places Jesus on the same sovereignty as Jehovah in the Old Testament! Jesus is God, and all will answer to Him (cf. Jn. 5:25-29)! One day, every accountable being—wether human, angel, or demon—will acknowledge that “Jesus Christ is Lord,” though for many it will be too late (cf. Mt. 7:21-23)! Conclusion God’s spiritual law of humility-to-exaltation is certain. Just as sure as it applied to the humiliation and exaltation of Christ, the principle of “he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” applies to all who truly humble themselves in complete obedience to the will of God. When we follow the pattern of the world, it is easy to do things “through strife or vainglory,” not even realizing the damage we are causing to ourselves and others. It takes the “mind of Christ,” however, to “be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Phil. 2:2). May each of us cultivate and live the attitude of Christ that allowed Him to be “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Works Cited
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In a section of Philippians where he exhorts the church at Philippi to maintain unity and humility in order to be more Christlike toward those who are within (Phil. 2:1-11), Paul gives one of the most eloquent, deepest, awe-inspiring descriptions of Christ in Holy Scripture (Phil. 2:6-11). As we consider this beautiful passage, let us remember the teaching of Jesus, “he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Mt. 23:12). This, as we shall see, was epitomized by Jesus, and will be fulfilled in us if we also have the same humility.
