Meeting Christ in Humility

Palm Sunday| Philippians 2:5-11| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| April 13, 2025

St. Paul teaches us to think like Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is true God, yet He humbled Himself and took on the form of a slave, suffering and dying on the cross. Therefore, God highly exalted Him above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Yet, there are some essential things we need to clear up here.

When Jesus humbled Himself, He did not stop being God. Jesus is just as much true God as He hangs on the cross as He is true God sitting at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. St. Paul says that he emptied Himself of the form of God, but He did not stop being God. He did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, because He is equal to God the Father and the Holy Spirit, sharing in the one and same divine essence. But Jesus never for a moment stopped being God. That is impossible. Likewise, when the Father highly exalted Christ, so that He sits at the right hand of the Father receiving honor and service from all beings in heaven, earth, and hell, He remains just as much a man as He was when He was crucified. Christ is true God and true man at all times and everywhere.

Many people think that Christ humbled Himself by becoming a man. However, Christ is a man today, yet He is by no means humiliated anymore. Others mistakenly think that Christ stopped being a man when He ascended into heaven. Yet, St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (vs. 5) If Christ ceased to be a man, then He would cease to be our crucified Savior. Then He would not be able to intercede for us with His scars. Then He would not be able to give us His body and blood to eat and to drink. Yet, if Christ ceased to be God when He humbled Himself and suffered and died for our sins, then His death would be an insufficient price for the sins of the world, as Psalm 49 states, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. (vss. 7-9) Yet, the same Psalm states, “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me. (vs. 15) And Jesus says of Himself, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) and St. John writes in 1 John 2, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (vs. 2) Christ’s death was able to take away all sins, because He is not only a man, but God as well.

So, Christ is true God on the cross even as He is true man. Yet, He humbles Himself. But if Christ is true God and true man both before and after He suffers and dies, why does He humble Himself? Why does He empty Himself of the form of God? He does this for our sake. He humbles Himself, so that He could condescend to us and join Himself to our misery, yes, even to our sin and death, so that He may bear condemnation for us. This is called Christ’s humiliation. The humiliation of Christ is when Jesus hides His divine glory. He doesn’t shed His divine nature. He covers it up in humility, weakness, hunger, sweat, blood, and death.

Christ knew no sin, yet He became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). This does not mean that He Himself was a sinner, but He took on all our sins and suffered for them in our place. He became a curse, so that we might be blessed. As Jesus enters Jerusalem lowly and riding on a donkey, He enters as the perfect Passover Lamb ready to cause death to pass over all of us on account of His sacred blood.

Therefore, God has highly exalted Jesus. Jesus was already God. How then was He exalted? He no longer bears the form of a slave or sinner. He has nailed the sins of the whole world to His cross. The exaltation of Christ is when He always displays His divine glory. He did this in His resurrection and ascension. And we will see His divine glory when He returns to judge the living and the dead. Even those who hate Him, will look on Him whom they have pierced and confess Him as Lord and God to their great shame with Satan and his angels. Yet, we who trust in Christ will confess His glorious name with great joy as He lifts us up to be with Him forever.

And it is this Christ whom Paul tells us to imitate. That is, we should humble ourselves out of love for one another as Christ humbled Himself out of love for us. Yet, shamefully, we find this too difficult. Paul tells us in humility to consider others more significant than ourselves. Yet, how often do you consider yourself the most important person? Christ meanwhile, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, because He is God. Nevertheless, He humbled Himself for the sake of others, serving them in His death. We are sinners and cannot claim to be better than others, yet our sinful pride drives us to exalt ourselves above others, as if we were gods and they were our subordinates. Christ is our God, yet He humbled Himself and covered Himself with our filthy sins and guilt, so that He could suffer in our stead. How far we are from Christ’s example.

Yet, we must humble ourselves, or God will humble us eternally. Jesus says repeatedly, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12), which is the consistent teaching of Scripture. Psalm 147 states, “The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked to the ground.” St. James exhorts us, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (James 4:10) When we are prideful, we lie to ourselves and we insult God. Yet, when we are humble, we tell ourselves the truth and we honor God who exalts the humble. Those who exalt themselves follow the path of Satan, whom God cast down to eternal humiliation in hell. Yet, when we humble ourselves, we follow the path of Christ, who is exalted forever as the King of heaven.

The only way to truly humble yourself is through faith in Christ. You do not earn your salvation by humbling yourself. Christ has already earned your salvation through His humiliation. Rather, you humble yourself when you acknowledge your sin to God and that you are a beggar before Him, as King David said is Psalm 32, “I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” The one who has faith in Christ, does not trust in himself, but in Christ. And so, the one who has faith in Christ has no need to exalt himself, because he receives everything as a gift from God.

Yet, those who are self-righteous, that is, those who trust in themselves that they are righteous, exalt themselves. And because they are insecure in their own righteousness, they tear other people down, so that they may exalt over them. This is why the Pharisee belittled the tax collector. He trusted in himself that he was righteous, and to protect that delusion, he treated others with contempt. Pride is always a lie. It is lying to God and lying to yourself. And to protect itself, pride tears others down by pointing out their faults and the specks in their eyes.

Yet, if you have faith in Christ, you have humbled yourself before God and repented of your sins. You have pleaded guilty of your sins and you beg God to exalt you for Christ’s sake, who has paid the debt of your sin. The faithful are not insecure; therefore, they have no need to exalt themselves over others as those who do not have faith do. Why was Christ not afraid to humble Himself? Why was He so confident to lay down His life, to give up His spirit as He did? Because He knew He was God. He knew He was righteous. He knew that though He descend into the filth of our sin and die for them, God would raise Him up to sit at His right hand.

And you, through faith in Christ, should have that same confidence. If your sins have been placed on Jesus and Christ died for them all, what have you to be afraid of? If Christ is ascended to the Father’s right hand, and you are joined to Him as a bride to her bridegroom, what have you to prove? Pride comes from unbelief. Pride comes from insecurity. But you don’t need to tear others down to build yourself up. Christ permitted Himself to be torn down, so that He could take you up again with Him!

And so, through faith in Christ we learn to humble ourselves not only before God, but before one another. We learn to love others by putting their needs before our own, even considering them more important than ourselves. We can’t lose anything by it. Rather, by living selflessly toward others, we show true love toward them, helping them when they have need. We learn to forgive and not hold grudges, to be patient instead of condemning. And so, we demonstrate the love of Christ to one another. When you live in such a way to your neighbor, your neighbor will hold you in high esteem. But much more, you will be following Christ’s example. By humbling yourself, you tear down your pride, which will only drag you to hell.

How is it that we can refuse to humble ourselves before God when our sins are so great, yet Christ being equal to God humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross? How is it that we can refuse to humble ourselves before each other, when we truly are not better than each other, yet Christ who is better than all humbled Himself before the chief priests and Pilate, indeed before every sinner by taking their sins away? So, you see that you cannot humble yourself and have the mind of Christ without faith in Christ. Before you can follow Christ as your example, you must first recognize that He humbled Himself for your salvation and that His exaltation paves the path for your exaltation. Christ’s humiliation is not just an example to live by, it is the Gospel message that gives us hope for salvation. Do not be afraid to humble yourself to God, yes, to plead guilty to God of your worst sins. You have no sin which Christ did not descend to take away. And so, in our humiliation we find Christ, who exalts us. Let us pray.

Lord Jesus,

If my sins give me alarm

And my conscience grieve me,

Let your cross my fear disarm;

Peace of conscience give me.

Help me see forgiveness won

By your holy passion.

If for me He slays His Son,

God must have compassion!

Graciously my faith renew;

Help me bear my crosses,

Learning humbleness from You,

Peace mid pain and losses.

May I give you love for love!

Hear me, O my Savior,

That I may in heav’n above

Sing Your praise forever. Amen. (LSB 440:5-6)