4.5.20 Philippians 2:5-8
Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.
What kind of a car do you drive? I have a 2015 Kia Soul, a small little stick shift. It was on sale and it has decent gas mileage and good reviews. My wife has a 2003 Yukon. It is built for size and can haul lots of groceries or our entire family. I remember a pastor in Kansas had a BMW. I thought it was a bit flashy for a pastor to be driving, but to each his own. I’ve been to Silver Lake where people put thousands of dollars into their toys that can go over the sand hills at breakneck speed. Some pick a ride for power, others for prestige, and others for practicality.
WWJR? What Would Jesus Ride?
In the Old Testament God would ride into camp on a cloud. He landed on Mt. Sinai in a pillar of fire and lightning. That’s what you’d expect: a powerful God riding in on power. Here comes the King!
What about Jesus? In the upper room after the resurrection He just appeared out of nowhere. You can do that when you’re God. Usually He walked, and sometimes He walked in style, like on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a storm. But in today’s text, He picked a donkey. An amazing thing when you think about who Jesus is: in very nature God: equal with God: God in the flesh. But it’s a picture of humility. A donkey was a burden bearer. They can only carry so much. Jesus came to bear much more. He came to bear the sins of the world.
It’s kind of interesting how Jesus did this. The only way He could BEAR our sins was if He EMPTIED Himself. Usually you think of the POWER you need when you are asked to carry something heavy. Jesus had to do the opposite in order to carry our sins. Paul told the Philippians that Jesus, “emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant.” It wasn’t that He didn’t have any power. He just chose not to USE it by becoming a SERVANT.
The word for servant in the Greek is doulos. It also can be translated as “slave.” The first meaning in the dictionary is “pertaining to a state of being completely controlled by someone or something.” So Jesus “became obedient.” Think about what that means. Jesus didn’t have to be obedient to anyone or anything as God. He had complete control over everyone and everything. He showed it over the wind and the waves and the demons. But He decided NOT to show that power in many other ways. He decided to become obedient. He decided to become a slave.
Nobody chooses such a vocation. “What do you want to be when you grow up Johnny?” “I want to be a slave!” The disciples were constantly arguing about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God: who would sit at the right and who would be at the left. They were looking forward to the power they would have in the coming kingdom. They didn’t think in terms of service. We don’t either. By nature we hate that word “obey.” We only use it for dogs who go to “obedience” school.
I was recently on the Amtrak to Wisconsin. I had the seat in front of me open, so I put my feet up and stretched out. A lady who worked there lit into me about having my feet up there and told me to get them down. I wasn’t too thrilled with her bossing me around in such an angry fashion, but I apologized and got them down. (Although afterwards she nicely told me I could take my shoes off and put my feet up there.) I don’t know any of us who likes being put in a role where people can boss us around and tell us what to do. It’s against our nature.
Yet God’s Word talks a lot about submission and authority.
Romans 13:1 “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God.”
Colossians 3:18-20 says, “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”
Hebrews 13 says of pastors, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
There has to be order in this world. It is the nature of being weak and sinful humans in a weak and sinful world with many powerful and dangerous enemies that want to attack us. We need people to look over us, so everyone has to submit to someone in life. If you don’t willingly submit, you only make life more difficult for yourself. So God tells us to willingly do it ourselves. And that’s why some speak against Christianity, because they say it is all about “control.” People want to have control over you. White men want to have control over you. Fight the power! “Who are YOU to tell me what to do?”
That’s what makes Jesus CHOICE to live here all the more amazing! Think about the nature of God. The nature of God is to be powerful. He makes the commandments. He does the ordering around. He has the power. What would be most unnatural for God, would be to put Himself in the shoes of the servant, and be the one who gets bossed around! That’s what Jesus did by becoming human and being born under the law, to live under the laws that HE gave to humanity. He chose to live under those laws.
But what is more, He even ended up enslaving Himself to humanity in many ways too! His mother wants Him to turn water into wine. At first He refuses, but then He does it. From then on in, look at His life, and you find people constantly asking Him to come here or go there and do one thing or another because of some sort of need. Jesus, in many ways, enslaved Himself to what they needed, and never complained once.
Holy Week is the epitome of this service. He purposely rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, as our beast of burden, to carry the heaviest load of sin and death on His shoulders, and take the blame for the guilt of the world. What more humility could you ask for! He would allow false teachers and sold out religious leaders to mock Him, spit on Him, and crucify Him. He would allow God to damn Him for all of our sins. He knew what was coming and He rode in anyway!
It in some ways reminds me of the hospital workers who have to ride into work and try to treat patients who have covid-19. I saw an interview with a nurse in Chicago who quit due to the stress and the danger involved. In tears she said, “I didn’t sign up for this.” ER doctors who are used to dealing with gunshot wounds and overdoses are also overwhelmed, knowing that they could bring the contagion back home: fearing for their own lives and the lives of their families. Out of a sense of duty most of them are sticking by their posts, even when they are not being provided with proper gear to cover themselves up. It is very honorable, and they of course aren’t the only ones. Think of the truck drivers and the postal workers and police officers: so many more people serving honorably. They deserve our applause for what they are doing. They are providing us with much needed service in order to keep us fed and well.
But then you think of Jesus, who willingly came into this world in order to purposely let us contaminate Him and cover Him our anger and hatred. He didn’t have any protective gear. He took it off! He purposely withheld from protecting Himself in order to get to the cross pay for our sins. This is what He put on flesh for - in order to be exposed to our sin and death and hell.
Paul especially mentions the method of Jesus’ death. he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. This was the most humiliating death: it was associated with murderers and thieves. It was for criminals and scum. He was whipped to a pulp. He was mocked. He was taunted. There was nothing honorable about hanging on a cross naked and being mocked by those who were crucifying you. The pain was excruciating as well.
On Palm Sunday we cheer Him on and honor Him as a King. Ride on, ride on, in majesty. In lowly pomp ride on to die. What is more honorable, is that He chose to do it for us even though we didn’t want it: even though so many of the world wouldn’t praise Him one bit for it. He did it anyway, because it was the gracious and merciful thing to do. Think of what Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 5,
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
People talk about death with “dignity” nowadays. Many are terrified of dying of certain diseases that would incapacitate them. They’d rather die while they have all of their functions. So they choose to kill themselves before their time and call it “dignified.” In reality, there is no dignity in death. It’s not what God created us to do. It’s a curse of living in a sinful world with a sinful body. But Jesus came to have His body be put to death under the curse of sin and the wrath of God. That’s an amazing thing worth praising Jesus for!
Think of the people that come out from the hospital. They take their surgical gowns off. They wash off. They do all they can to try and keep from infecting their loved ones. But they’re not sure if they are still contaminated or not. They worry. We don’t have to wonder that about Jesus. He left our sins in the grave. He left God’s wrath in the grave. We don’t have to worry about being touched by Jesus or washed in Jesus or to consume His body and blood, because the only thing He gives us is forgiveness, life and salvation. This is what Jesus rode into Jerusalem to do, knowing what would happen NEXT SUNDAY.
WWJR? Jesus, our King, rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday, and we love it!
How are you going to drive through life? At the beginning of this beautiful text, Paul says, Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. “Attitude” means to use your mind with thoughtful planning. What are you here for? You are here to serve too. Let this attitude be in you. Choose to be a servant! Ride on, ride on, in majesty. In lowly pomp ride on to die. We don’t have to die on a cross for our sins. We don’t have to crucify ourselves for our sins. Jesus took care of that. But as we ride through the valley of death, we don’t have to be afraid either. We don’t have to power through in a tank. We don’t have to try and speed through in a race car. Nor should we zone out on a train, or try to joke through life on a clown car. Instead, taking a slow and methodical look at life, looking for people to serve with Jesus’ love, in hopes that they too will see Him for what a wonderful and gracious God He is, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey to die for the sins of the world. Ride on ride on, in majesty, on your lowly donkey Jesus. Ride on to die for us: the slave of humanity: the slave of death: the slave of hell: yet the God of hope and salvation. Amen.
