There’s a trope in fantasy and superhero mythologies of the villain who grows in power by sucking the life and power out of others; vampires, David Banner (Red Hulk), and Highlander come to mind. An old bumper sticker jokes: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” The Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn is a typical example of royal excess, of amassing ever more money, lands, servants, women, and pomp and circumstance. Jesus challenges our propensity for associating greatness with being the most famous, the most celebrated, the most served. Kenosis refers to Jesus humbling himself by relinquishing the power, majesty, and comfort of being God to participate with us in the finitude, suffering, and terrible death that is common to man. for our sake.
He Emptied Himself
5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
Philippians 2:5-11
6 who, though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
8 He humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death
— even death on a cross!
9 As a result God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow
— in heaven and on earth and under the earth —
11 and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
An Astonishing Claim
This hymn [the passage above] makes the astonishing claim that the one we call God and Lord is most fully revealed in the crucified one. The one who humbled himself and took the form of a slave shows us who God is and how God acts. God’s essential character is shown to be one of self-emptying love rather than self-aggrandizement or grasping for power and glory. God’s high exaltation of Jesus confirms the divine nature of his mission and ensures that one day he will be acknowledged by all for who he truly is. Jesus, the one who saves, is God’s anointed one (the Messiah or Christ), and Lord of all.
Elisabeth Johnson
Is God Humble?
Another astonishing thought.
But what would happen if we considered humility as a feature of God’s own character? Immediately after the passage in which he describes how the church should exercise humility, Paul encourages us to “[h]ave this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” (Phil 2:5-7) This famous passage implies that the kenosis was an act of humility. What makes this important to the present argument is that Jesus acts humbly not as human being, but insofar as He is God. It is Jesus qua God who humbles Himself; indeed, He humbles Himself in order to become incarnate as a human bond-servant (or slave).
Joshua Blander, “God Emptied Himself” at Biola’s CCT
Reflection
- Does the idea of God being humble surprise you? Trouble you? Why?
- How should Jesus’ radical act of lowering himself to our level effect our attitude?
It’s not what the song’s creator’s intended, but many have found Eric Bazilian’s and Joan Osborne’s One of Us a worthy accompaniment to reflecting on God’s humility in incarnation.