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| JESUS CARRYING THE CROSS. Image from "The Passion of the Christ" via google.com |
The following passage from Philippians 2: 6-11 is called the Carmen Christi or the Hymn of Christ,
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those 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.
Jesus Christ is God
In John 1: 1-2, it is stated,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."
In another place, John quotes the Lord,
"I tell you, before Abraham was born, I AM" [John 8:58].
"I AM" is God's identification of Himself. When Moses asked God during their meeting in the presence of the burning bush as to who is it who sent him if the Israelites asks him, the Lord God told him, "Tell them 'I AM' sent you" [see Exodus 3: 13-14]. The reaction of the Jews in attempting to stone Jesus our Lord is due to their full understanding that when Jesus uttered the words "I AM" He claimed to be God Himself.
Did not regard equality with God, something to be grasped
That is, Jesus our Lord did not come to be worshiped as a God when He came into the world. Though the Jews commented that He made Himself equal with God [see 10: 30, 33], the Lord did not directly claimed to be God [see John 10:24], nor did He required people to worship Him as God.
While earthly rulers would take every opportunity to grab power and influence, Jesus on the other hand showed that He came in order "to serve, not to be served and to offer His life as ransom for many" [see Mark 10: 45; Matthew 20:28; also John 13: 4-15].
Rather, he emptied Himself, coming in human likeness;
and found in human appearance
The Apostle Paul wrote,
"In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law" [Galatians 4:4].
While John stated,
"And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" [John 1:14].
This happened because "... God so loved the world" [John 3:16].
That is why the Jews could not accept the Lord Jesus Christ, "You are a mere man" they told Him, "and yet you are making yourself a God" [John 10:33b]. For them He was just a human being. Indeed, the Lord came in the form of a human being "in order to free those under the law; so that we may receive adoption as God's children" [Galatians 4:5] for if Christ did come in the form of God, He would not have fulfilled the Father's plan to save man from the bondage to sin for as St Anselm taught, man can only be saved by man but since it was God who has been violated, the fulfillment of the saving act must be done by someone greater than man hence only a God-man can truly accomplish this mission. So it was truly necessary that the Son of God should become man to lead man out of the slavery to sin as Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, the land of slavery.
He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross
The purpose of the Lord's incarnation can be summarized in the words,
"Here I am, I came to do your [the Father's] will." [Hebrews 10:9]
Somewhere else it is written,
"He learnt obedience, Son though He was, through His sufferings" [Hebrews 5:8].
The Lord Jesus Christ truly humbled Himself. By becoming a human being, He left the dignity of a God, becoming one like us in everything except sin [see Hebrews 2:17; 4:15]. For though He had the power to reject His mission, He did not; instead He subjected Himself to that of the Father's will,
"No one takes [my life] from me; I lay it down of my own free will, and as I have power to lay it down, I also have power to take it up again; and this is the command I received from my Father" [see John 10:18].
His agony in the garden of Gethsemane attests to His freedom of choice and His decision to surrender to the Father's will instead of following His own,
"Father if you are willing, take this cup away from me. But let not mine but your will be done," [Luke 22:42].
Such was His commitment to the Father's will that even if Pilate offered to release Him claiming he has the authority to do so, He only referred once again to the Father's authority by telling Pilate,
"You don't have authority over me except that which comes from above" [John 19:11].
And so He carried His own cross [see John 19:17] and upon the cross it is where He uttered the words which closed the chapter of His earthly mission,
"It is finished" [John 19:30].
and aptly punctuated by His total surrender to the Father,
"Father, Into your hands, I comment my spirit." [Luke 23:46].
Then He gave up His spirit. And the whole creation mourned His death. It was mid-afternoon but the sky suddenly darkened; the sun was covered; and an earthquake rocked the area even damaging the Temple with the veil of the Sanctuary, which before separated the Jew from the Gentile, being torn in two which according to Archbishop Fulton J Sheen, meant that now Jews and Gentiles could worship God together through the Lord Jesus Christ. The centurion nearby saw what happened at Calvary and acknowledged
"Surely, this man is the Son of God" [Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39; see also Luke 23:47].
The Lord was exalted by the Father
The rest of the passage reads,
"Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those 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."
The Lord Himself said,
"The Father loves me because I lay down my life in order to take it up again" [John 10:17].
During the stoning of St Stephen the Deacon, he told the Jews that,
"Look, I see heaven thrown open and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God" [Acts 7:56].
Because Jesus Christ our Lord has glorified the Father through His obedience, God has highly exalted making Him the ruler of the universe, putting all things under Him [see 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2: 9-10; Matthew 28:18]. The heavenly court acknowledge Him as worthy to break open the seals [see Revelation 5:9] and to His honor they chant,
"Worthy is the lamb that was sacrificed to receive power, strength, honor, glory and blessing" [Revelation 5: 12, see also 13].
Jesus Christ emptied Himself that we may attain the Fullness of Life
The Lord Jesus Christ said,
"I have come that [the sheep] may have life and have it to the full ... I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from my hand" [John 10:10b; 28].
adding,
"I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for his sheep" [John 10:11].
The Lord truly emptied Himself; He gave Himself up for us [see Ephesians 5:2], just as a shepherd lays down his life for his flock, so that we may have the fullness of life. By the fullness of life means being with the Father for eternity [see John 17:3]; of being His sons and daughters of whom the Lord Jesus won't be ashamed of because by His sacrifice He has made us God's children [see Hebrews 2: 5-18; 1 John 3:2; Romans 8:16; John 1:12]. This is what the Father's love has made to accomplish. During creation, God made man into His own image and likeness so that man may enjoy the love of God in freedom which in the first place has led God to create man [see 1 John 4:19b]. When man rejected God's love by sinning, God made the initiative to lead man to Him through His Son [see Romans 8:32]. By His only begotten Son's sacrifice, man achieved salvation from sin [see Romans 4:25; 5:8]. He even made us temples of His Holy Spirit [see 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6;19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; see also James 4:5; John 2:21].
Since we have been purchased by the Lord by a large sum, we ought to make sure that we never forfeit this gift of salvation [see 1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23; 1 Peter 1:18] "for we carry this treasure in vessels of clay" [2 Corinthians 4:7a] and it can be lost unless we commit ourselves to always live in holiness and avoid sin. If we can sustain a Christian life, then the Lord's sacrifice will surely bear fruit in us and at the end we shall be among those who will worship God and see Him face to face with His name written on our foreheads [see Revelation 22: 3-4].
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