Palm Sunday 09– “The Greatest Humiliation.”  Philippians 2:1-11

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.  The text for our sermon meditation is taken from the epistle of St Paul to the Philippians, the 2^nd Chapter:

 

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 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.”

 

So far the reading.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

      Today we enter Holy Week, the week which is the culmination of Jesus life and work on earth.  We begin this week with the Palm Sunday crowd who vibrantly rejoice with the Son of David who comes in the name of the Lord to Jerusalem.  It seems as if every tongue is confessing Jesus as Lord.  In a few short days, we will hear those jubilant voices change in tone and tenor as they rail against the One they so recently welcomed and praised. 

 

      It is almost schizophrenic.  The crowd cannot decide who Jesus is, and how they should respond to this Son of David who rides into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey.  A victorious king usually rides upon a horse symbolizing his overthrow of the enemy.  The horse is a stately animal and an animal used in battle.  The donkey is a beast of burden and is seen as being of less noble character than a horse.

 

      However, St Paul teaches us that Jesus knows who he is, and what he is.  There is no question as to the work and person of this Son of David who rides in to Jerusalem on this donkey, this humble animal.  St. Paul takes us on a journey with Jesus as we consider The Greatest Humiliation.

 

      Essentially, what we are reading here in St Paul’s letter to the Philippians is the second article of the Creed.  St Paul is summarizing that 2^nd Article and teaching us of things that are unseen by the human eye and mind unless they are revealed by the Spirit of God.

 

      What did the people see when they looked at Jesus?  We know that some called Jesus a prophet, perhaps Elijah or Jeremiah or one the others who had returned to earth from days long past.  King Herod thought Jesus might be a reincarnated John the Baptizer, whom he had so recently beheaded at the request of his step-daughter.  Still others saw Jesus as a bread-king, a man who could miraculously multiply loaves and fishes to meet the creaturely needs of their bodies. 

 

      The chief priests and Sanhedrin saw Jesus as a threat to their very existence.  Jesus would cause an uprising among the people, and Rome would swoop in to crush the rebellion and remove the priests from their place of power.  Still, others thought of Jesus as a wise teacher and a good man who had the favor of God.

 

      How do you view Jesus?  Do you understand and truly believe what you confess in the 2^nd Article of the Creed?  This Holy Week Journey is a word picture for you to truly see what you confess when you profess you faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary.  Let us journey with St Paul as he opens these truths to us in His letter to the Philippian Christians.

 

      St Paul teaches that Jesus is in the form of God and equal to God.  How many of us have photo albums?  It is enjoyable to sit and page through the pictures which record the events in our lives.  We reminisce about the birthday parties the Christmas celebrations, the family reunions or the baby pictures of each member in the family.  Looking at those baby pictures, we remark how the nose, eyes, lips hands or feet resemble those of one parent or the other.  The baby is unique, but has features similar to his or her parents.

 

      Paul says Jesus is in the form of God.  This does not mean that Jesus only looked like God.  This does not mean that Jesus nose looked like God’s nose, or that Jesus hands or feet looked like God’s hands or feet, or that Jesus mouth or eyes looked like God’s mouth or eyes.  What Paul says is that Jesus is very God. 

 

      More than that, Jesus was and is very God.  Jesus was very God before he was conceived in the womb of his mother Mary.  He is the Second Person of the Trinity in all his power, authority and glory.  Jesus is not second fiddle, or a lesser God.  Jesus is true God. 

 

      This position did not go to Jesus head.  He did not become stuck on himself nor seek to promote himself above His father in heaven.  No for a period of time, 33 years or so, Jesus hid his divinity from the eyes of men.  He did not parade himself around as a king who displays the spoils of victory over his enemies.  He did not steal glory and honor from the Godhead, but in all humility chose not to fully and always use his divine power and glory.

 

      We are not able to resist such a temptation.  That is why Paul exhorts us to have this mind among us.  “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”  We often have trouble keeping our egos in check.  Students sometimes will cheat to get a better grade.  Co-workers will curry favoritism to get ahead.  Politicians will slam their opponents or make hollow promises to be elected to office.

 

      We are not exempt from such thinking.  Think about life as you were growing up.  What did you do as a child?  While not trying to get in trouble, what happened when trouble came your way?  You made yourself look better than those around you.  Remember the Family Circus comics?  What were the names of the little ghosts floating around in the comic frame? “I don’t know”, “Not Me”, “Somebody else”.  We avoided trouble but when the glory came around for something good, we were jealous of those who got the awards.  You see the mind of man as compared to the mind of Christ?  There is no humility.  There is no desire to endure humiliation.  There is no desire to receive punishment.  There is only the desire to receive the glory and be seen as better than others.

 

      Not so with Jesus.  He desired to suffer humiliation, to live humbly, to endure shame and punishment for deeds and desires not his own.  To this end, Jesus became a servant.  He was made in human likeness, the servant form in which God created our first parents, Adam and Eve.  As St Paul writes:

 

      “[Jesus] made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

 

      As it is with Jesus divinity, so it is also with his humanity.  Jesus is more than a picture of a man. He is fully human, born of the Virgin Mary.  Jesus took on human flesh and blood.  Jesus ate, drank, slept, wept, felt pain, endured anguish and suffering, felt in his heart the sympathy one feels for those who are suffering, grieving or struggling under the heavy load of life.

 

      When we are suffering or struggling in some way, we want others to understand what is happening to us.  Yet, when someone tries to comfort us, we may reject their attempts because they can never know what we have to endure.  A husband does not know the wife’s pain of child birth.  Sorrow over the death of a parent or a child cannot be imagined unless the parent or child is yours.  We may be able to approximate these feelings, but we can never say , “I feel your pain.”

 

      Yet with Jesus, He can say he feels our pain.  Jesus came to feel our pain.  The pain of our physical and emotional suffering is not lost on Jesus, for he felt our troubles and helplessness in the depths of his soul.  Often when Jesus looked out over the crowds that surrounded him as Scripture teaches, Jesus “had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless.”  Compassion meaning that whatever the crowds were feeling he felt in the seat of his emotions.  It is like that tingling you get when you have butterflies in your stomach, but greater.

 

      The greatest humiliation which Jesus endured was yet to come.  We often think we will not recover from embarrassment or shame.  Neighbors and people you once called friends shun you.  In one place I lived, the people called it getting the “Blessing.”  I was never able figure out how being shunned and not forgiven is a blessing. 

 

      However, Jesus endured and recovered from his shame and torment.  His servant-hood and humility is reaching the apex of time here on earth.  Now Jesus enters the final test of his person and work.    Welcomed by the crowds on that Palm Sunday, proclaimed the Son of David and heralded the one who comes in the name of the Lord, Jesus knows that he will soon loose the support of this same crowd.  Jesus will endure the greatest humiliation of all.

 

      Five days from this day, Jesus will be kneeling in Gethsemane asking his father to remove the cup he is about to drink, if it be his father’s will.  Still the humble servant, Jesus prays not my will but thy will be done.  Jesus became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

 

      The people that spread out their cloaks in welcome turned Jesus over to those who stripped him of his clothes and dressed him in a crown of thorns.  In all shame and humiliation, the Son of David and the Son of God was displayed before the world on the rude altar of the cross.  No one felt his pain save two persons.  His Father in heaven and His Mother Mary felt in the core of their being the pain of losing a child to death.

 

      The pain of this death was no ordinary pain.  For, this Jesus is crucified, put to death, in accord with the will of God to save sinners.  It is not that Jesus could not save himself from crucifixion.  No, rather it was that Jesus would not save himself from crucifixion.  He would endure this greatest humiliation in the manner foretold by God through the Prophet Isaiah.

 

      The punishment that brought us peace was upon him …

      By his wounds, we are healed …

      The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all …

      It was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer …

      The Lord makes his life a guilt offering …

      He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

      St Paul sums these words of Isaiah with these words:

 

      “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us.”

     

In all truth, this great humiliation is our great redemption.  For, Jesus humbled himself, and became like us to save us from our sin and from God’s eternal judgment.  During these final days of Lent, may the Lord open your eyes to see this blessed and holy suffering as a precious and eternal gift of grace.  May the Lord move you to see the healing for your sin, grant you strength of faith to be like minded with Jesus Christ and live in humble obedience unto the day of Jesus Christ.  Amen