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The Mind of Christ – Humility

The Mind of Christ – Humility

The Mind of Christ – Humility

“Who is able to understand the mind of Lord Yahweh? Who is able to be His teacher? We, however, have the mind of Christ!” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

We have…” (Greek, “echomen”), which means ‘are having,’ ‘are keeping,’ or ‘are holding;’ to have and to keep on having, an action in progress; a process that is now taking place; the present state is a continuing state. So the literal translation is, “We, however, are having the mind of Christ.” Through the Holy Spirit, we now are new creatures who were given the capacity to learn how to think like Jesus.

“… the mind of Christ.” (Greek for mind is “nous,” which means the highest knowing faculty of the soul, the spirit and understanding behind all we think and do). Through the Holy Spirit, then…

We are being given the capacity to think the thoughts of the Anointed One;

We have the growing ability to reason, to be logical, and to think things through like Jesus;

We are being infused with the ability to understand God’s wisdom;

We are being equipped with the moral intelligence of the Lord;

We are being given access to the reasoning behind the actions of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit;

We are in the process of perceiving spiritual matters as Christ perceives them;

We have an increasing ability to understand life from God’s perspective;

We will be continually inspired to develop the divine common sense and street-smart shrewdness that Jesus was known for;

We are gaining insight into what truly matters according to the thinking of God;

We have a growing ability to reflect and ponder according to the will of Christ;

We enjoy an ongoing co-mingling of our mind with Christ’s mind, until the end, when the new will have completely replaced the old, and those two minds will be indistinguishable.

“Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5).

Since this passage uses a different Greek word for ‘mind’ (“phroneo”), perhaps a few different translations and paraphrases will help us understand what St. Paul is telling us in this famous passage:

“Let your attitude toward one another be directed by our being in union with Messiah Jesus;” “Develop this attitude of thinking about ourselves that was also in the Anointed One, Jesus;” “Make the mind of Christ Jesus your own;” “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of Himself;” “Let your mindset join in union with that of Christ Jesus;” “Participate in the thinking of Christ Jesus among ourselves;” “Exercise your mind among yourselves in union with the mind of Christ Jesus;” “Adopt this manner of thinking among yourselves which is also in Christ Jesus.”

Bottom Line. Our God is humble?! That’s probably not the first quality we think of in terms of Almighty God, but maybe it should be. Teasing that out a bit, this means that if God the Son is humble, then so is God the Father, and so is God the Holy Spirit! St. Paul underscores in this passage the fact that an identifying characteristic of the Lord Jesus is that He has the humble mind of a servant. By having the mind of Christ within us, we will surely develop humility as well and engage in the same way of thinking. That’s why the world cannot make sense of Jesus… the Almighty King becoming a slave? The Lord of the Universe loves our little planet to death? The Creator of the world joining into the realm of the created? The eternal Monarch voluntarily joining the household staff? The omnipotent God who is humble of heart? The perfect Spirit taking on imperfect flesh? The Most High freely choosing to become lowly? In human terms, this is simply nonsense. And yet, Jesus truly broke the mold, didn’t He?

The “Christ Song:”  “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…

‘who, although He existed in the form of God

did not regard equality with God something to be seized,

but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant,

and being made in the likeness of mankind,

and being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Therefore also, God highly exalted Him,

and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name,

that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow,

of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,

and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11).

The Song. The centerpiece of Paul’s open letter to the Philippians is this early church hymn that exalted Christ, that revealed the superiority as well as the humility of Jesus. This hymn was already in use in church worship, and Paul is probably singing it right along with quoting it as he writes this passage. The hymn has come down through biblical history as a powerful example of a “Christ Hymn.” Philippians is a profoundly Christ-centered epistle, and this hymn is likewise a beautiful Christ-centered song. It moves from Jesus’ preincarnation glory to obedient death on a cross, to His exaltation. Jesus goes from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and then back again to the highest of highs. The Incarnation was truly a humbling process for Jesus, volunteering to take on two stages of humility… the first stage of humbling Himself to become a human being, and the next stage of freely submitting to death. One could easily call this the “Servant Song” as well, with the focus on Christ’s humility, servanthood, and obedience. Paul introduces the hymn by advising us to live into the mind of Christ that has been given to us, to flesh it out and allow His mind to govern the way we think and act.

‘Kenosis.’ This Greek word means “pouring out,” self-emptying,” setting aside,” and so the main phrase that has been used in Biblical history for this passage is that Christ “emptied Himself.” This is a central idea for St. Paul here, and is so important that this portion of Philippians has often been called “the Kenosis Passage.” In becoming human, Jesus willingly gave up many of the rights and privileges that came with His equality with God. He surrendered His heavenly glory and much of his power to take on flesh. He was willing to assume the limitations of becoming a true human being. Jesus didn’t give up His deity, but instead emptied Himself of deity’s glory and almighty power. As has often been said, the Incarnation didn’t subtract deity, it added humanity. He gave up His eternal self-sufficiency for a season to become human and share our human nature. The fact is, there is nothing in nature that provides us with a clear picture of Jesus emptying Himself of His stature, as God joining humanity. Spiritual Jesus joined with fleshly Jesus, a different substance, a totally different being. 100% God and 100% man. The Triune Lord in heaven was full of other-worldly glory, attributes, and self-sufficiency, and was willing to empty Himself of much of that. Here are some facets of Kenosis to think about:

  1. Jesus was better than perfect, choosing to take on the frailties of human nature. He was an immaculately pure Being embracing the tarnished image of Himself. He was everything and become nothing, a willing volunteer of love.
  2. He was bigger than the universe, His presence was uncontainable. Yet He became as small as a fetus. His immensity stretched outside of natural space, yet He chose to occupy finite space. “His center is everywhere, His circumference nowhere.”  (Lockyer).
  3. Jesus was older than time itself, He was outside time, everlasting and eternal. Yet He submitted to chronology, to the reality of measured time. There never was a time when He wasn’t, but still He chose to live within the past, the present, and the future.
  4. He was the Co-Creator, yet he chose to become something created. He was the Maker becoming the made. He is the artist creating a painting, then volunteering to jump into the painting, a portrait painter becoming the portrait.
  5. Jesus was the source of all energy in the universe, more powerful than energy. Yet He submitted to a human energy level, with its fatigue, weariness and need for sleep and rest.
  6. He moved from utter independence to dependence on other people. He didn’t need anyone for companionship, for the Triune Lord was a Community of Love. He didn’t need personal relationships in heaven, because they had each other in the Godhead. He enjoyed everlasting fellowship within the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It’s a miracle of love that Jesus became needy for human help and human companionship.
  7. He was higher than the angels, but He chose to become lower than a servant. He voluntarily became underprivileged, marginalized, relatively insignificant in human terms. He was highest and chose lowest. He was the Author of Life who was obedient unto death. Jesus is Eternal Life that chose death.
  8. Jesus was more brilliant than a genius. He was all-knowing. He knew everything there was to know, and then infinitely more. His knowledge surpassed knowledge itself. He gave up this attribute, to submit to learning knowledge on earth, to growing in wisdom. Jesus went from being the ultimate Master to a humble apprentice.
  9. He exuded heavenly majesty, was beyond beautiful. Jesus invented beauty. Anything that appears to have a graceful, colorful, sublime beauty is just a meager hint, is just the merest spark of the holy fire of beauty emanating from the Godhead. He surrendered this unfathomable beauty to become One who is described in Isaiah 53:2, “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him… One look at Him and people turned away. We looked down on Him, thought He was scum.”

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble (“tapeinos”) in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30).

Humility, “tapeinos,” which means of low degree, meek, lowly in spirit, low-lying with an inner lowliness and humility. The word humility is rooted in the Latin word, “humus,” which means dirt, dust, soil, close to the ground. The irony is that Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High, is also a child from the earth, grounded, made of dust in human form. So Jesus is of the earth while at the same time being of heaven.

The humility of Jesus is front and center in this passage of divine invitation. He even describes Himself as being humble. He stands there in a crowd and opens His arms wide. “Come to Me,” He says. Come to Me if you are finding life burdensome. Maybe your heavy burdens are all these extra regulations from the Pharisees that are laying heavy on you, and all their laws that seem meaningless and too demanding. Maybe your heavy burdens are due to all the responsibilities you carry that are difficult to manage. Maybe the heavy burdens you carry are simply the guilt you have from your sinfulness. Maybe you feel heavy burdened because life just isn’t turning out be the way you wanted and you don’t know what to do about that. Whatever your burdens, come to Me for a real rest and refreshment. If you share My yoke with Me, you can watch Me work, watch how I do things. You can learn My way while at My side. And we can be partners in carrying your load of burdens. Share your burdens with Me, and they will seem lighter to bear. For I am not a hard-driving taskmaster full of pride and ambition. I am easy to please. For I am meek, with My strength under God’s control. I am lowly and have learned to depend on God. I am humble, and will not intimidate you or upstage you. With Me, your burdens will be more meaningful, satisfying and lighter on your spirit.

Evidence of His Humility. It shouldn’t be so shocking to think that the Son of God was of a humble nature. Consider the following:

  1. While preborn, He was carried in the womb of an unknown teenage girl; the King of the Universe was actually born in a barn, and His birth was attended by farm animals; He then was raised in a backwater village known for its unsophisticated accent. (Luke 2)
  2. While a twelve-year-old budding spiritual genius, He intentionally interacted with an impressive group of scholars in a very humble way… He respectfully sat at their feet; He carefully listened to their opinions; He thoughtfully asked them questions; He intelligently responded to the topics being discussed. (Luke 2)
  3. While in ministry, He didn’t tend to hob-nob with the wealthy or powerful as much as with those in His midst who were needy… the poor, the lowly, the outcasts, the rejected, the untouchables, the women, those who were forgotten and on the margins.
  4. He freely took on some tasks that were beneath other people, but not Him. Nothing was beneath Him, and a shining example is His foot-washing of His Disciples at the Last Supper. (John 13).
  5. His Grand Entrance into Jerusalem to begin His Passion was anything of the sort… Jesus rode into town in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, “… humble, riding on a donkey.
  6. His Passion of suffering was His ultimate act of humility, submitting to being stripped naked, beaten, nailed to a cross without clothes in complete humiliation, to be considered a fool by the Greeks, repulsive by the Romans, and cursed by the Law.
  7. His victory tour after the triumph of the resurrection was not to parade His risen body around Jerusalem, jeering at His accusers, or strutting around the world to flaunt His triumph, but instead to quietly appear to His faithful disciples, starting with His dear friend Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9).

Is there anything that compares to the Kenosis of Jesus emptying Himself, pouring Himself out, setting aside the pure glory of His Being for a self-sacrificial season of human existence? No, Jesus was one of a kind, the One and Only, and there is nothing that compares with that level of humility, except for those followers of His that are in the process of acquiring that same humility through the very mind of Christ Himself. No wonder the angels sing around the throne that He is “worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” (Rev. 5:12).