Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Phil. 2. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:
- Most of us are quite concerned about being exalted and honored versus being disgraced, demeaned, despised, and humiliated. It is natural; we are always sensitive to self-image, and our interactions with others can have a big impact on how we view ourselves.
- However, for Christians, this has always been an issue that has to be overcome. For as Jesus said: “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But because you do not belong to the world but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. They will do all these things to you on account of My Name, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” [John 15:19-21]
- This has been the reality for God’s spokesmen, the prophets, and His dear people of faith from the very beginning. Virtually every prophet, every servant of God’s Word, including also Jesus and His apostles, has faced massive opposition. But this matter of siding with God and His Word has never been like a “popular election.” You remember what Jesus said about this: “”Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. [Matt. 7:13,14]
- So we consider today the ambivalence of people – who welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday and then cried out for His crucifixion some five days later. And we also learn that it is not man’s approval that we are to seek, but rather we seek the favor of God Almighty – Who will ultimately provide exaltation to His people, and everlasting shame and contempt to those who reject Him in unbelief.
- Finally, we consider timing – that there is a time for humiliation, and a time for exaltation, and that even Jesus submitted to this. So:
I. Let Us Consider What Jesus Did For Us In His Humility
A. He Humbled Himself In His Incarnation, Becoming One Of Us, And His Modesty
Text: “Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped onto, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
B. He Also Humbled Himself In His Crucifixion – Dying Our Death For Our Sins, Providing Us With Salvation
Text: “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.”
Is. 53:5-6 “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Statement: No one has gone through greater humiliation, greater suffering, or greater rejection than Jesus. He had done nothing to deserve what He experienced, and certainly He did not deserve the disapprobation and despising that He endured. And He did it all for us – willing to suffer such lack of respect so that our sins might be paid for and taken away from us, so that God once again embraces us with His love and salvation.
Application: This process is not all that uncommon, that we have to suffer indignities before being recognized. On a much smaller scale, rookies have to take guff from the veterans – prior to being given respect. We often have to fail in order ultimately to succeed. In this matter, however, the respect will never be given by those who reject God. It is as Jesus said: “Because you do not belong to the world but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.”
Transition: So our time in this world may be dismal – as part of the small minority of people who know and believe God’s love for us, and who thus love Him and revere Him. But we do not lose hope and forsake our dear Savior. Rather we rejoice to know that:
II. Now God Has Highly Exalted Him
Text: “Therefore God has highly exalted Him.”
A. He Has The Greatest Name Now
Text: “God has bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name.”
B. He Now Has The Greatest Power
Text: “So that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”
C. And Now He Is Worthy Of The Greatest Praise
Text: “That every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Statement: It is really too bad that the whole world has not gone after Jesus as the Pharisees feared when they began plotting His death. [John 12:19] And it has been the greatest human tragedy that so few have rejoiced to live in God’s love and salvation. For this much is certain – in the end God and His people will be exalted, and what the unbelievers think of us will not matter! They will have their own troubles to contemplate!
Application: So let us take heart that our dear Lord and Savior is now exalted above all things, and that He sits at the right hand of the Father ruling over all things! For this means that we too will be exalted in time, even as we suffer the disapproval and perhaps even persecution of those who hate God today. And it also means that we are not merely at the mercy of the unbelieving – Christ controls all things, working them together for our great blessedness.
Conclusion: This is how God wills to cure us of feelings of defeat and depression when we seem to be in such a minority as those who believe and honor God’s Word. We may suffer and struggle now, but God’s Word assures us that Christ will transform our lowly bodies to be like His own glorious body!
And if our life as Christians does seem full of trials, remember that this has been the case for God’s people throughout human history. We join them, and we join Jesus. The apostle Peter encourages us: “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.” God grant it to each of us, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.