Obedient Even Unto Death

Philippians 2:5-8

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

We began this long discussion by talking about the lies told about Jesus. False teachers will either deny that Jesus was fully God, or they will deny that He was fully man. Hopefully, we have convinced you beyond a shadow of doubt through our study that Jesus is fully God. Now today we will look at the second lie, and I will try to convince you that Jesus is also fully man.

We read in verse 7 about Jesus, “and coming in the likeness of men.” This deals with the second lie or heresy we talked about – whether Jesus was fully man. “Likeness” is the Greek word homoioma, and it refers to something that is made to be like something else, not just in appearance, but in reality. Jesus’ forever essence is as God, but He was made into the essence of a man. Jesus became exactly like other men, minus the sin nature part, of course.

He wasn’t some freak of nature, half God and half man. He was 100% God and became 100% man. No one would have suspected that He was anything other than a man. If the angels hadn’t revealed His identity at His birth, the shepherds couldn’t have found Him. And if God hadn’t put the star in the sky, the wise men couldn’t have recognized Him. Had His miracles not attested to Him, He could have been overlooked because Jesus was 100% human.

Jesus began as a human in the normal fashion. His mother gave birth to Him, albeit as a virgin impregnated by the Holy Spirit. He had to be cared for as an infant, and be taught, Yes, even have His diapers changed. He became hungry and thirsty. He experienced pain, loneliness, sorrow.

As Hebrews 2:14-15 says,

14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Jesus was fully, totally, completely human. Except that when He was tempted to sin, just as we are, He refused that temptation.

But then, Paul seems to repeat that thought in Philippians 2:8. We read:

“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

In English this seems to be a repeat, but it is not in Greek. Verse 7 used the word, “homoioma,” or likeness. It refers to something made to be like something else, not just in appearance, but in reality. Jesus was “coming in the likeness of men.”

Then, in verse 8, Paul uses the Greek word “Schema,” a word that refers to simply the outward appearance. Jesus could have come as a superman, with superhuman strength and ability, or grown to be fifteen feet high. Then nobody would have ever confused Him for being just a man. His deity would have been apparent. But He didn’t, He looked like everyone else. That’s why, then and even today, He was faced with those who could never look upon Him as anything more than a mere man.

But what did he do as a man? Verse 8 says, “He humbled Himself.” This isn’t talking now about His essence or His form. This is talking about His attitude. This is defining the mind of Christ that we are called on to emulate in verse 5.

Obviously, Jesus had to have humbled Himself below his Father, to empty Himself of His divine prerogatives, in order to be born a man. But it didn’t end there. He made Himself even lower than other men. That goes beyond even being born in stable and laid in a manger or living in poverty with no home. He was mocked, falsely accused, spit upon, beaten and scourged, and crucified on a cruel cross

Philip Reese writes:

“Look at Him – this amazing Jesus! He is helping Joseph make a yoke in that little carpenter shop at Nazareth. This is the one who, apart from His self-emptying, could far more easily make a solar system or a galaxy or systems.
Look at Him again! Dressed like a slave, with towel and basin for his menial equipment, He is bathing the feet of some friends of His who, but for their quarrelsomeness, should have been washing His feet….‘He humbled Himself!’ “Don’t forget this,’ cries Paul to these dear friends of his at Philippi. ‘Don’t forget this when the slightest impulse arises to self-assertive and self-seeking, and so to break the bond of your fellowship with one another!’”

Do you see this? The mind of Christ? We’re to have that mind.

How far did Jesus humble Himself? Verse 8 says, “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death.” Wow, what a statement. J. Vernon McGee said: “We have to die, but we don’t want to; He didn’t have to die, but He wanted to.”

We’re all going to die. We don’t have any choice in that. It is a necessary part of our existence because of our sinful hearts and the curse. But Jesus had a choice, and He chose to die. He chose to die in obedience to the will of His Father. He could have called it off. He could have all the way up to that last breath. But out of love, He stayed on the path leading Him to His death. He did it in obedience to His Father’s will.

Look at the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of his betrayal. Three times he prayed for this cup to be taken from Him. He knew the horror that awaited Him in a few minutes as the palace guard came to arrest Him.

Look at His prayer in Matthew 26:39:

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

The Father didn’t force death upon Jesus. Jesus willing humbles himself to the point of death, because it was also His will.

Look at what he said in John 10:17-18:

17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

But His death wasn’t an ordinary death. “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” He didn’t die of a heart attack, or cancer or in a war, or from old age. He died on a cross. He died by being executed as the most vile of criminals. Rome perfected the execution of the cross.

Quoting John MacArthur, “Crucifixion is perhaps the most cruel, excruciatingly painful, and shameful form of execution ever conceived.” They would never use it on a Roman citizen, but they reserved it for slaves, the lowest of criminals, and enemies of the state.

But isn’t that what Jesus was? Not a criminal or an enemy of the state, but a slave? He willingly made Himself a bondservant, so He was the kind Rome would put on a cross. It was the most humbling of all possible forms of death, and Jesus took that upon himself. It would be like saying in our day, He humbled himself to the electric chair, or the gas chamber, or the hangman’s noose.

Frederick Farrar, in The Life of Christ, describes crucifixion this way:

“A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly – dizziness, cramps, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, shame, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of intended wounds – all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness . . . The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish.”

Add to that the fact that Jesus was a Jew, and Jews considered crucifixion to be hanging. They considered those who were hung to be cursed by God.

Paul quoted from Deuteronomy 21:23 in pointing that out in Galatians 3:13 -

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).

Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because He was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He was our final and perfect sacrifice - a sacrifice that was pictured in the Old Testament. The Old Testament sacrifice was a bloody thing. The priests were blood splattered butchers as they killed the sacrifices and drained their blood. Christ, likewise, as out High Priest shed blood, but it was His own blood He spilled for us to pay the penalty for our sin. And this is the essence of Jesus’ mission – He came as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He came from heaven to earth, from glory to shame, from master to servant, from life to death, even the death of the cross – WHAT GRACE!

If we are to have the mind of Christ, this is the mind that He exhibited. He was willing to give up everything to come and die for us. And this is the kind of attitude we are to have as well. That is our daunting task. As it says in: 1st John 3:16 – “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Are you willing to sacrifice for one another?

Many people are willing to serve others if it doesn’t cost them anything, but if there’s a price tag, people suddenly lose interest. But Jesus was obedient to death. As J.H. Jowett said, “Ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing.” It cost Jesus His life. What are you sacrificing for God? What are you sacrificing for one another?