Friday is coming

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8)”  Friday is coming, and we must begin to prepare ourselves for the most significant event on the Christian calendar. I wonder whether I am ready to prepare myself by reflecting on the humility of Christ. I wonder whether you are.

Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross. What does Christ’s example tell us about humility?

Humility is an intentional setting aside of one’s own rights for the sake of meeting another person’s need.  Jesus, through whom all things were created, who had the full rights and nature of deity, set aside His rights, becoming the slave of all (v6&7). The universe was Jesus’ handiwork, yet He surrendered His hands to a splintered cross. He did it because you desperately needed a sinless man to take your punishment. If Jesus had insisted on His rights, where would you be today?

Humility is a setting aside of your own importance, considering others to be more important than yourself. The commentators argue that verse 3 is better translated “in humility consider others as more important than yourselves”. This makes more sense to me than the NIV’s “in humility consider others better than yourselves”. How do you do it? The answer is in the next verse, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others”. By insisting on your own rights, you often deny another person’s need. If Jesus had considered equality with God something to be grasped (v6), where would you be today?

Humility is obedient dependence on God. It was God’s plan for Jesus to die a horrible death, and Jesus did “became obedient to death – even death on a cross”. But Jesus’ obedience was even more difficult than it first appears, for it put Him in a place where He had to be ENTIRELY dependent on God. With His dying breath, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”. At that point, He was totally depending on God to raise Him from the dead. Jesus had relinquished all control to His Dad.

Are you prepared to obey God in this way? If so, it will be humbling, for He will lead you to a place where you have to depend entirely on Him. And it is humbling to depend on another person - anyone with a disability can bear testimony to this fact. Yet we were created for humility, for Christ was the archetypal human, and He was created for obedient dependence. If Jesus had not said, “your will not mine be done”, where would you be today?

Before we come to the end of this reflection, let us place it in context lest we become too self-absorbed. I have asked three times the question, “if it were not for Christ, where would you be today?” But perhaps we should be asking the question, “if I am not like Christ, where does that put others – my family, my church, my friends and my colleagues?” Paul has lifted up Christ as an example for us to follow because he wants us to “conduct [ourselves] in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (1:27). Such conduct was necessary for the Philippians in order to counter two threats – one from without and one from within. The external threat came from persecution. The internal threat came from a lack of unity. Nothing has changed with the passing of the years!

Therefore, let us seek to build unity in the body of Christ through humility. Treat others as though they are more important than yourself. Set aside your own “rights” for the sake of meeting the needs of others. And put yourself in the humbling position of obedient dependence on God.

Cheers for now - Ian