Humility

Servant-hood

⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not necessary to be equal with God: ⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; ¹¹ And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2: 6-11)

This is one of the classic verses in the Bible that many of us regard on being the ultimate definition of humility. Paul is exhorting us to have the same mind that Christ had, where he emptied himself of all his power and glory and took on the form of man. It is hard to understand this transition from divine to human, but we do so by faith and trust in God. 

We have all met our fair share of “Yes Men” in the world. Beware of the ones that come to us in all humility, and use our gifts and talents for the furtherance of their power and glory. Today they are there to support us in our ventures, but tomorrow they have a binding hold on our lives like a Python. They squeeze us of everything we consider of any value. 

The biblical definition of false humility and betrayal is the Judas kiss in the Bible. Here we see Judas embracing and kissing Jesus with love, but his intentions are to betray him or twist his hands to take the reigns of power in his hands. Jesus' question to Judas, Judas are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? Jesus, calling himself the son of man was showing how humble he was (Spurgeon). He did not call himself the wonderful, counselor, messiah, or son of God. Even at the hour he was betrayed he remained humble. Judas was maybe trying to exalt Jesus, by forcing him to take the powers of the world into his hands, but Jesus humbled himself and went willing as a lamb to be slaughtered (Luke 18:14).

The Taking of Christ  - Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio - National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.

Paul says Christ made himself to be one of no reputation and took on the form of a servant. What does it mean to have no reputation? In the eyes of the world our identity is when we command wealth, power and respect of men. Christ gave up all his wealth and power when he took on the form of man. His respect in the Roman world was of no value and his respect with the religious Jewish leaders was also not there. But then again, He had the love and respect of his followers and the multitudes of people who were transformed by him.

Why was Paul speaking about Christ in this light? We see in the earlier verses he was speaking to the church of Philippi encouraging them to not just be interested in their own needs but also to be there to help others in their times of need (Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others Phil 2:4). He was emboldening them to look to Christ who is the ultimate example of humility and servant hood. Jesus message to all was that to be great in Gods kingdom we have to be servant of all (Mathew 20:28).

Christ Reasoning with Peter, by Giotto di Bondone (Cappella Scrovegni a Padova).

Lent is a time when we look into our lives to see how we can be of service to another. It is a time when we look to see if we have become Control Fanatics? It is a time when we learn to let go and let God be in control. It is a time when we trust and obey to let his will be done. It is a time when we stop thinking of the things we need and look to see what are the things our neighbor needs.