The Humility of Christ – Philippians 2:8

This passage is one of the most profound in the entire Bible. Paul wrote this to encourage the Philippians to practice real Christian unity during a time of hardships, citing Jesus’ example of self-denying obedience.

The first point to notice about this verse is that it is not just about how humble Jesus was but about the manner of his humility.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death!

He could have had every right to come to the earth and rule as a mighty King, but instead He chose to become a humble and pure sacrificial lamb to be killed on behalf of sinful humanity.

What an amazing act of humility! It takes a lot of courage to give up your power in order to serve others and do something for them.

But Jesus did it willingly and voluntarily, so that He was able to die for us and be buried with His Father, thereby paying the price of our sins. He did it for the sake of our salvation and because He loved us!

So in Philippians 2:5-8 we see the divine paradox that the way up is down, that a cross precedes a crown and that the road to exaltation is paved with humble service to others for the glory of God. It is not easy to practice this attitude in the church, but it is necessary if believers are going to be able to maintain one heart with each other.