Philippians 2:5-11
5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. 9Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, 10so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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It’s estimated that are between 200 billion and 2 trillion galaxies in the universe, and that there are roughly 200 billion trillion stars in those galaxies—numbers beyond our comprehension. We know all these were created through Jesus when we read Colossians 1:16 which says “…. all things were created through him and for him.”
So when today’s scripture says that Jesus, the channel of all creation, took the form of a human and humbled himself to the point of death, we also cannot comprehend the enormity of this example of humility. And because he humbled himself, God exalted him with a name that is above every other name. Jesus was the epitome of humility, which is probably why he preached humility—both Matthew and Luke talk about those who exalt themselves being humbled, and those who humble themselves being exalted.
Why all this emphasis on humility? Better minds than mine have addressed this (how’s that for humility), but I suspect we operate on a spectrum with humility on one end and pride on the other end—and here I’m not talking about pride used rightly, but a pride that is overly focused on ourselves. When we get too close to the pride end, we get too full of ourselves, and it becomes impossible for us to go beyond ourselves and express love for one another and service towards another. Humility is therefore not weakness, but rather our channel to fully comprehend and express God in our lives.
Prayer: Father, let us always have the mind of Christ, and always be humble in our dealings with one another, that we may fully comprehend and fulfill the purpose you have for each of us in this life and the next. Amen.
—Tom Tisthammer