Grace, mercy and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text:
(Philippians 2:5-11)
And being found in
human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross.
Prayer: Let the
words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
One of the greatest
gifts that we share together each Sunday as we come to church is the gift of
the music and singing.
It is often said by
biblical scholars that our reading today is actually a song—some people think
that St Paul might actually be quoting a song that Christians already used to
sing in the early times of the church. He may of course wrote it himself—all
sorts of people in the New Testament were inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak
and write poetry, like Mary when she met Elizabeth, and the baby John the Baptist
leapt for joy in Elizabeth’s womb, sang “My soul magnifies the Lord, my Spirit
rejoices in God my Saviour”. And when Zechariah’s mouth was opened at the birth
of John, he also sang a song: “Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, for he
has come and redeemed his people…” Or what about the angels who came and
sang Glory to God in the highest with the shepherds in the
field, or what about the Song of Simeon—“Now Lord let your servant
depart in peace”—which we sing some version of after the Lord’s Supper every
Sunday?
We can take it for
granted that there is so much singing in the bible—what happened when the
Israelites crossed the Red Sea? They sang a song. What did King David do when
he was saved from his enemies? He sang. What did King Hezekiah do when he became
well again after he was sick? He sang.
No wonder St Paul
says in Ephesians: Be filled with the Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs. No wonder St Paul says that we rejoice in our
sufferings. Even Jesus Christ, after he has set before his disciples the
first Lord’s Supper, and just before he headed out to the Mount Olives, what
does it say that Jesus and his disciples did together? They sang! After they
had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
In Acts chapter 16,
we read about Paul and Silas locked up in prison in Philippi. We read: About
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the
prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so
that the foundations of the prison were shaken.
I have often
thought that maybe Paul and Silas were singing this song from our reading today
from the book of Philippians, being such a powerful text, a hymn of such
conviction and strength. And so here is this text that we read today:
Have this mind
among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made
himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of
men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted
him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
These are indeed
such beautiful words! But their structure and the rhythm and the sound of the
words is not what makes them beautiful. What gives this hymn, this song its
spiritual strength is its truth. Psalm 118 says: I shall not die, but I
shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. What gives this passage its
power is not that it sounds nice, but that it recounts the deeds of the Lord.
To recount the
deeds of the Lord means that we are singing God’s history back to him. We are
praising him for the great things that he has done in history, in time, among
us, in front of our eyes.
As we gather here
today on Palm Sunday, we remember Jesus entering into Jerusalem on a donkey,
and we read about his suffering and death on the cross. We read about the
history in our gospel readings today, and St Paul sings about it in our epistle
reading. That Jesus Christ took upon himself the sins of the world and died for
it, is one of the greatest events of history, together with his resurrection—so
we really should sing about it.
And so St Paul says
to us today:
Have this mind
among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
St Paul is not
telling you to think a certain way, but he is telling you that your mind should
work in a certain way before it even emanates any thoughts. And this mind
belongs to you through your baptism. He is telling you how you should lead your
life as a Christian, and give to you the example of Jesus Christ—he is the
basis for our life. And we don’t simply follow his example from outside, but he
comes and lives his life within us and through us. It is no longer I who
live, says St Paul, but Christ who lives in me.
So have this mind
among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made
himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of
men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on a cross.
St Paul says: Jesus
was in the form of God.
Jesus was truly
God, as Thomas confesses after the resurrection: My Lord and my God! But
when we talk about the form of God, think of Jesus at his transfiguration—there
is such brilliant, beautiful, radiant light shining from his body. This
loveliness, this brightness, this beauty is the form of God. John
says in chapter 1: We have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son from
the Father, full of grace and truth. This is what it means when St Paul
says the form of God.
Though he was in
the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
St Paul says that
Jesus is equal to God. He is the Son of God—and he is equal to God. In the
Nicene Creed, we say that he is one substance with the Father. They
share the same divine nature—they share the same spiritual being. But the fact
that Jesus was equal to God, doesn’t mean that he just grabs any chance to show
off and use his power. If we had some wonderful privilege, or honour, or
benefit given to us, we might be the first to use it to our own advantage. Not
Jesus, though. He has the greatest advantage anyone could have—he is true God,
he is in the form of God, and is equal to God. But he doesn’t use this for his
own benefit. Instead, he does everything for our benefit. Think about Jesus on
his hands and feet, washing his disciples feet on the night of Maundy Thursday,
on the night of the Lord’s Supper. He is equal to God, and yet he serves his
disciples in the most humble way. Jesus says: The Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve.
St Paul says: but
Jesus made himself nothing, literally, he emptied himself, taking
the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
St Paul says in
Colossians that the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus bodily. You want to find
God, look to Jesus. He’s the only place you can find God. St John says: He
was full of grace and truth. And Jesus carries on as if he is
empty. You see when the soldiers come to arrest Jesus, and they say, “We want
Jesus of Nazareth”, when Jesus says “I am”, they fall over onto the ground. The
power of Jesus words knocks them over like flies. Nevertheless, when they come
to arrest Jesus, he empties himself—he gives them his arms and the bind them up
with chains, and he willingly goes with them on the way to the cross. When
Peter wanted to defend Jesus with violence and cuts off the servant’s ear,
Jesus says: Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at
once send me more that twelve legions of angels? Jesus commands the angels
to remain still—it is time for him to empty himself, to give up his privileges
and his rights, and to die for you.
St Paul says, taking
the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. On one hand, he
empties himself, on the other hand, he takes. He takes the form of a servant.
Being in the form a servant is part of what it means that Jesus is truly human.
But not only was he a true man, but he was a particular type of man: he took
the form a servant, not a master. He was not only born of a woman, but he was
born into a poor family. His mother was not a princess, but through her
pregnancy, this poor woman became the most blessed among women, more blessed
than the greatest queens that ever lived.
And so, Jesus
took the form a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Before
we think about Jesus suffering and death, we have to know who he is: true God
and true man. Begotten of the Father from eternity, and also born of the Virgin
Mary.
And then St Paul
says:
And being found in
human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross.
And being found in
human form. Jesus shared all the characteristics of
being human—anything that you endure, he knows what it’s like. Hebrews says: We
do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with us in our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without
sin.
And so as we think
about all these things, who Jesus is, St Paul comes and preaches to us in his
song:
He humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Remember Jesus here
in the Garden of Gethsemane, crying out to the Father: If it be possible,
take this cup away from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
See Jesus’ obedience here. See him humbling himself under the weight of all the
world’s sin—under your sin. See him preparing himself to drink the cup and to
drink it to the dregs, all for you, and because he loves you.
And every step of
the way, from Gethsemane, to the high priest’s house, to Pontius Pilate
judgment seat, to the weary road with Simon of Cyrene, to Golgotha, the place
of the Skull, he humbles himself, and is obedient to the point of death—and not
just any sort of death, says St Paul: even death on a cross. The most cruel and
painful death that the world could dish out. A death with is equal to the
severity of our sin, but most importantly, a death which fulfils God’s
righteousness in every way, and wins for us the forgiveness of sins, life and
salvation. Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
At this time of
Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Good Friday, and finally Easter, we should give
thanks to Jesus Christ for the great perfect sacrifice that he made for us on
the cross. In baptism, he still washes people in his blood and makes them pure
and clean from all sin. He still brings his gracious and forgiving words right
into our ears through the preaching of his word in the church. And the same
body and blood which was given for us and was shed for us for the forgiveness
of our sins is still today given to us and applied to us in the Lord’s Supper.
We are all here—everything
is made possible—through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Everything we
stand for, everything we are and do as Christians has been made possible,
simply because Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross.
And so St Paul
says: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Can you see how the
whole reading overflows here at the end with praise? Everything always ends
with praise, because words just cannot contain just how wonderful a thing it is
that Jesus does for us on the cross. We need angels to join in with us to help
us praise Jesus. We praise him for what he has done, and we also praise him for
who he is. This is not simply any man who dies for you, but this is your God.
How can we even begin to praise him enough! Jesus has the name that is above
every other name!
What a wonderful
Saviour we have! What a wonderful loving Jesus we have!
Amen.
Jesus Christ my
Lord and my God, we confess that you are our Lord, and we thank you that you
suffered for us under Pontius Pilate, were crucified, dead and buried. Keep
your suffering and death always before our eyes, and give to us grateful and
thankful hearts, and open our lips to sing your praises both here on earth and
together with all the saints and angels in eternity. Amen.
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