Jump Start # 2160

Philippians 2:7 “but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

Our verse today concludes a sentence about Christ coming to earth. The previous verse tells us that He was equal with God. Our verse states that He emptied Himself. The question that many have asked, and wondered is what was it that Jesus emptied Himself of?

Jesus manifested Himself as God on earth. He had the powers of God. He could read the heart and thoughts of others. He could rewrite the word impossible. Multiple food, calm storms, talk to the dead, cast out demons, cure lepers, there was nothing impossible for Jesus. He allowed others to worship Him. Only God is worshipped. He forgave sins. Those that witnessed that declared that only God can forgive sins. He even admitted that if you saw Him, you saw the Father. Jesus was God on earth. So, the empting wasn’t giving up His deity.

God is worshipped in Heaven. God is honored in Heaven. Jesus laid aside this glory and position to become one of us. He was God wrapped in humanity. You and I have done things that Jesus never did in Heaven. We woke up this morning. God doesn’t sleep. We dressed ourselves, got some food, some took medicine, and out the door we go. Sunny for some today. Rainy for others today. It doesn’t rain in Heaven. Traffic, bugs, stress, deadlines, people, frustrations, moments of joy, interruptions—this is our day. This is the day for the doctor, the mechanic, the person working in fast food, the preacher, and the school teacher. By the end of the day, we will be hungry, tired and ready for some quiet time. Jesus never needed that in Heaven.

For Jesus, it got even worse. No one in Heaven ever spit on Jesus. No one would argue with Him. No one would challenge Him. No one would deny Him. But here on planet earth, all of that happened. They said He was the carpenter’s son. His own family thought He was out of His mind. He didn’t have a place to call home. He didn’t travel as a hero, a king or nobility. Most times, He walked. I expect you and I live better than Jesus ever did here on earth. I have a place I call home. I am surrounded with things that I like. Jesus seemed to be on the move most times. To see Jesus on earth, one would not have known that He was God. There was no halo. There was no obvious clothing that made Him standout and look different. There was no golden footprints in the sand. The image of the Pope, with his rings, hat and cape, is not how the Lord would have looked. You wonder how many people passed Him in the streets and never knew. They never knew He was from Heaven. Jesus emptied Himself of the glory that God manifests.

At the transfiguration, when Jesus clothes and face were brilliantly shinning, like the sun, the three disciples with Him got a peak at what God really looks like. For a moment, Jesus pulled the curtain back and revealed His glory. When He returns, it will be in all His glory. People will not mistake who He is when He returns.

Now, the greater question is not what Jesus emptied Himself of, but why? Why couldn’t He have been on earth like a celebrity? Red carpet, ropes holding the crowds back, armed body guards, exclusive suites at hotels, front men who arrange all of the details, professional drivers– Jesus didn’t do any of that. He walked among the crowds. A woman with an issue of blood came up behind Him and touched Him. Try to do that to the President. You’ll be arrested so fast and escorted off to jail. No one touches the President. Rock stars, Hollywood legends, TV stars, they live bigger than life. They live in gated mansions. You’d never run into a superstar at Target. They don’t mingle with the likes of you and I. But for Jesus, it was just the opposite. No hotels. No guards. No superstar status. He dressed, He looked, He traveled, like everyone else.

I cannot connect with a Hollywood superstar. I can’t understand owning an island, having multiple mansions all over the world. I can’t understand not having to stand in line at the airport because I own my own jet. I can’t understand having others who mow the yard for me, cook food for me, and take care of bills, household chores and things like that. That’s not my world. I wonder what they do with all their time. Jesus wasn’t like that. He was like you. His hands showed the signs of hard work. He knew what it was like to be hungry. He knew what it was like to be tired. He knew what it was like to put in an honest days work. He didn’t take short cuts. He didn’t use His positon to get to the front of the line. He was like us.

Being like us, He understands us. He wanted to understand us, so we could understand Him. He suffered things that He never would in Heaven. He put up with things that He never should have. He did all of this to show us obedience. In Heaven, He was equal. On earth, He was the Son. The Son who spoke the words of the Father. The Son who did what the Father wanted. The Son who obeyed. He showed us submission. He illustrated obedience. He worshipped, as we must. He was humble as we are to be. He lived His message. He was tempted, as we are. He was faced with choices as we are. He had to deal with self as we do. He became like us, so we could become like Him.

All of this lead to the cross. This is why He came. He didn’t come and immediately go to the cross. He lived decades on earth. He lived so He could understand. Dirt between your toes. Stains on your clothes. Food stuck between your teeth. He knows. He’s been there. But He also saw sin. He saw hatred. He saw prejudice. He saw malice. He saw disobedience. He saw greed. He saw lust. He saw perversions of God’s truth. He saw men dying without knowing God. He saw men dying in their sins. He saw men choosing sin over God. He died to change all of that. He died to redeem us. He died so we could be with Him.

He allowed Himself to die. He allowed Himself to be buried in a tomb and His soul to go to Hades. It’s where we’ll be someday. He’s already been there. He allowed Himself to be resurrected. The same will happen to us someday. He was the first. He blazed the trail for us. He became poor so that we can become rich. He carried our sins so we could stand pure.

Jesus emptied Himself. This is one of the greatest acts of love. He put you and I before Himself. From this, we ought to believe. We ought to be obedient. We ought to carry His life in our lives.

It is no longer I who live, the apostle said, but Christ lives in me.

Roger

Jump Start # 1320

Philippians 2:7 “but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men”

  Our verse today is about the Lord, our Jesus. Paul describes the nature of Jesus. He is using Jesus as the ultimate example. The Philippians were told to have the same attitude or mind as Jesus did. The driving thought is humility and serving others. Have a heart like Jesus. This would united them in the same mind, giving them the same love and purpose as outlined in verse two.

Paul tells us that Jesus was equal with God. That thought is hard for many to understand. They see Jesus as Junior to the Father. They see the Father as the one in control and Jesus works for Him. The expression, “Son of God,” feeds such thoughts. That is all taken away here. Jesus was equal with God. Equal in power, position, deity, wisdom, insight and love. As John began his gospel, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.” Jesus is God. He has always been God. There has never been a time when Jesus was not God. He has always been.

Our verse is not about Jesus up there, but Jesus down here. In coming to earth, He humbled Himself. He became obedient. Hebrews says, “He learned obedience.” He clothed Himself like man. He was made like a man. He ate, felt, looked, walked, talked like a man. He was so man, that many couldn’t see God. Many still have that problem. The miracles and His words showed that He was more than a man, He was God.

The expression I want to look at is “emptied Himself.” That has been an interesting thought for hundreds of years. Disciples in the third and fourth century debated that. Gnostics misunderstood it. Even in our times, some have struggled with the implications of an “empty Jesus.”

It is thought by some that He emptied Himself of God. In other words, Jesus left His deity in Heaven and was merely a man and only a man. The trouble with that is that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. He allowed others to worship Him. If He was only a man and nothing else, that wouldn’t have been right. The demons knew who He was. They acknowledge his deity. So Jesus didn’t empty Himself of God. He has always been God.

He emptied Himself of the glory of God. Jesus didn’t walk about with a halo above His head, like the images of Him in the great artwork of the masters. He didn’t leave golden footprints. He seemed more human than God. Years ago, I got to see the President of the U.S. given a speech. He was running for re-election. I took my youngest two out of school to be with me. It was a big deal. The President doesn’t come to town very often. He seemed very Presidential. There was a helicopter  hovering nearby. There were men in dark suits and sunglasses on tops of near by buildings. There were a lot of police presence. Guards, security and distance are the common things among the famous. Sports stars, rock stars and politicians all have them. They keep everyone at bay from them. You can only get so close.

Jesus wasn’t like this. He didn’t travel in caravans. He didn’t have body guards. He didn’t have people roping off the crowds from Him. He didn’t have someone announce His name and then He rushed on to a stage and then hurried off, not to be seen. He didn’t seem very Heavenly in His presentation. His clothes weren’t unique. He didn’t speak a language that few understood. He seem regular. He seemed like the son of Mary and Joseph. He didn’t travel rich. He didn’t seem uppity. He didn’t act like we’d expect someone from Heaven to be.

Recently, Prince Charles came to Louisville. He gave a speech, toured Churchill Downs, waved a lot, got on a plane and left. The press was enamored with him. Crowds flocked to see him. Royalty came to Louisville. He played the part very well. He behaved just as we expected royalty to be. Now, had he gone to Enterpise, rented a car, stood in line at the grocery store as the rest of us do, dressed like the rest of us do, mingled with the rest of us, there would be many who never guessed who he was. Royalty doesn’t do that. Jesus did. He emptied Himself. He became like a man. He was obedient like a man. He was humble like a man. He served others as a man does.

Jesus did just the opposite of what we do. We try to be the big shot. We try to impress others. We try to be bigger than what we are. You listen to a couple of guys talking about playing high school sports decades ago. The games are bigger, their parts were larger and their heads swell more than they ever have. We brag, Jesus didn’t. We try to impress, Jesus didn’t have to.

Jesus came to earth to be the sacrifice for our sins. His coming demonstrated that God cares. His coming proved that God understands. God has been there. God knows. God has experienced. Jesus was not kept from the dark side of life. He saw the gutters of the human heart. He was the ugliness of disease. The crippled was brought to Him. The sinful was cast at His feet. The crowds questioned Him. They challenged Him. The doubted Him. They accused Him. They laughed at Him. There was no distance between Jesus and the people. He touched. They touched. He saw. He felt for them. He wasn’t the CEO that walked through the plant with a bunch of clipboard followers and was finished with his tour in forty minutes. Jesus stayed over thirty years. He wasn’t in a palace, but in homes, their homes.

Jesus emptied Himself. He was even spit upon and eventually executed.

So when we sing the hymn, “Does Jesus care?” We know the answer. Yes, He does. He understands. He has been there. He knows. He left an example for us to follow.

My Jesus. Our Jesus. He emptied Himself, so we could be filled, not with ourselves, but with faith and love for Him. He became poor, that we might be rich. He did this for you.

Roger