This is the second of seven core characteristics of Jesus we’ve been called to imitate and thus disciple our kids toward using the ACT Bible Study Method. Learn more about this family discipleship method here.
TLDR: We see the humility of Jesus most clearly not in the details of his birth, but that he was born at all. This mind-boggling humility of Jesus is what we want our kids to imitate.
Nearly every detail of Jesus’ birth whispers humility. Some shout it. The King of kings wasn’t born in a palace surrounded by a royal court of subjects, but rather in a stable surrounded by animals. Even had there been room in Bethlehem’s “inn” (Luke 2:7), it wouldn’t have been the ancient equivalent of the Hyatt. Or even a Motel 6. It would have been more of a public shelter with several families sharing a space. But even that environment wouldn’t have rightly conveyed the jarring disconnect of the Creator taking on a creature’s flesh. Instead, the Son of God was born in a stable, not necessarily because of the poverty of Mary and Joseph, but merely to show the depth to which God would go to redeem humanity. The Savior of the world was then not even laid in a crib, but a manger (or feeding trough), further accenting his humble origin. We’d be right to recoil at seeing any child laid on an animal’s dinner plate. But to see the Son of God lying there is beyond comprehension. Or at least it should be.
Jesus’ first guests, then, wouldn’t be from royalty or even the upper class (they would come later, and surprisingly be Gentiles). Rather the first people to welcome Jesus into the world were shepherds (Luke 2:8–20). Some see the shepherds as representing the outcasts and sinners of society. The thinking is shepherds were lowly regarded in that day. But the evidence to support this isn’t terribly strong. It might be safer to understand these shepherds as representing most of us—ordinary people without positions of power and privilege. These shepherds mirrored the child they came to see—the Son of God who laid aside his privileges in heaven and his position of authority to be born in such an ordinary, lowly state.
Jesus’ Stepping into Creation
These details of Jesus’ birth are shocking, but, again, they weren’t needed to convey his humility. That Jesus was born at all is the ultimate evidence. The Son of God could have been born in the most luxurious of conditions and it still would have been the supreme example of selflessness and humility. This is what Paul wants to show us in Philippians:
5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
6 who though he existed in the form of God
Philippians 2:5–8 (NET)
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!
Humility Is Empty-Handedness
Let’s briefly walk through this rich passage that many scholars believe was a hymn or poem used in worship by the early church. First, notice that Christ “did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped” (v. 6).1 What this doesn’t mean is that Jesus had trouble understanding his equality with the Father and the Spirit. Here, “grasped” isn’t a synonym for “understood.” Instead, it means to “grab” or “hold onto” as the New Living Translation (“as something to cling to”) and International Children’s Bible (“something to be held on to”) make plain. God the Son could have “held on to” his position of authority in heaven with the God the Father and God the Spirit, but he did not. He let that go and came to earth. This is what the next phrase talks about: Jesus “emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature” (v. 7).
Humility Is Lowliness
“Emptying” is another challenging concept in this hymn. Once again, it’s helpful to begin with what we know it’s not saying—that Jesus stopped being God. Jesus is the Son of God. He has always been the Son of God and always will be the Son of God. As such, he is fully God and can be no less. The problem is that when we think of emptying, we think of loss. And for good reason—that’s its normal use. If your gas tank needle is on “empty” it means you have run out of gas. You had gas, but now you don’t. If your coffee mug is empty, it means you have run out of coffee. Deep, distressing loss there. But that isn’t the idea of “emptying” in Philippians 2. How do we know? Because of the little word “by” that follows it. “By” points us to cause—how something happened. “I became rich by not spending any money.” “I drove to Nashville by I-24.” So here, we see that Jesus emptied himself not by losing something, but by adding something—human flesh. In this case, addition leads to loss, not gain. And again, what is it that Jesus lost? His position of authority and glory in heaven next to the Father. Jesus left sitting on a glorious throne to lie in a filthy manger.
Humility Is Sacrifice
As if all of this isn’t enough, the hymn moves from one end of his life to the other, jumping from Jesus’ birth to his death, to provide perhaps an even more profound demonstration of his humility. Jesus “humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (v. 8). This is humility heaped upon humility. For the Son of God to take on the flesh and become human is one thing. For him then to live as a servant is another. To have him give his life as a sacrifice is still another. But to have him give his life as a sacrifice on a cross—the lowliest and most painful of deaths reserved for slaves and insurrectionists—was nothing but scandalous. From start to finish, Jesus’ time on earth was marked by profound humility.
As we talk with our kids about humility, we need to set a high bar for what it means. To imitate Christ’s humility is not to downplay ourselves; it’s to die to ourselves. We need to banish any and every barrier that would limit living as servants. No job is too menial, no environment too vile, and no person too unimportant. Our very lives are not our own. Each day we live, we are to live with Christlike humility as we imitate the weakness and strength of the cross.
NEXT: The Compassion of Jesus
- This idea of “to be grasped” is a challenging phrase to translate from the original Greek it was written in. The Christian Standard Bible (CSB) prefers “to be exploited.” It’s predecessor, the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), translated this phrase as “to be used for his own advantage,” which the New International Version (NIV) also reads. Holman Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009); The Holy Bible, New International Version (Colorado Springs, CO: Biblica, Inc., 2011). ↩︎
brian dembowczyk 