Paragon of Humility
5Take the attitude Christ Jesus took.
6Although he was in the form of deity,
he didn’t consider being on a par with God
something to hang onto.
7He emptied himself,
and took the place of a servant.
In the form of a man,
8he humbled himself to the point of dying—
dying on a cross.
9So God lifted him up above all others
10so every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth
would kneel to him;
11and every tongue would acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord—
to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-10)
In his “humility” he accepted limitation. Instead of saying, “Let there be,” he would need to use means to produce results—like a loaf of bread: plow the ground, plant the seed, water the soil, weed the field, harvest, the crop, thresh out the grain, prepare the lump, cook it in an oven, and after three months take a bite.
He would no longer exercise sovereignty; he would submit to parents (Luke 2:51), and as oldest son work as “a builder” responsible for a family of eight (Mark 6:3). He would accept discomfort like having to walk all the way to Sychar—getting tired, thirsty, and hungry (John 4:1-58). He would feel the cold of the night (John 18:18), the heat of the day, the gnaw of grief (John 11:35; Luke 19:41), and six hours of agony in the end (Mark 15:25; Matthew 27:45-50).
He would put up with opposition without using his authority to shut people up in their disrespect, rejection, mockery, and persecution; and without appealing to an army of angels to protect him from death’s defeat (Matthew 26:53).
What humility means is clear from his example of it in self-limitation, clearer from his extreme example like submitting to a cross, but clearest from the Judas alternative by contrast—who betrayed a friend with kiss to get hold of thirty coins (Matthew 26:14).
If we take the “attitude” Jesus took as pictured in these emblems, we will participate in a pattern of “exaltation after humility” (Philippians 2:8-9) instead of self-destruction by our own doing (cp. Matthew 27:5). In this exercise we act out what was embodied in the Lord we honor.