Jesus' Humiliation and Exaltation: For Your Sake
I have three pictures I want to show you today. First, I want to ask you if you recognize them, i.e. if you can identify them. Then, I want to know if you can tell me what all three have in common.
The first picture is the cover art for Disney’s 1990 animated short The Prince and the Pauper starring Mickey Mouse in both roles. The second is a still shot from Disney’s 1992 animated classic Aladdin showing Princess Jasmine in a peasant’s outfit. The third is more cover art, this time for the 2010 reality TV show Undercover Boss.
What do all three pictures have in common? They all feature a very prominent public figure – a powerful, authority figure – disguising themselves to blend in with the general public.
What makes each of these stories compelling is not so much the disguise, but the reason behind it. Do you know why the prince wanted to trade places with the pauper – or, for that matter, why Princess Jasmine pretended to be a peasant? Ultimately, it’s curiosity. They just wanted to know what life would be like if they weren’t in the public eye.
What about the undercover boss? Do you know why they went undercover? Maybe to do some quality control, but also because they wanted unfiltered feedback to make their employees’ lives better.
Our focus for worship this morning is on what theologians call Jesus’ states of humiliation and exaltation. And if we’re not careful, we can easily lump Jesus in with Mickey Mouse, Princess Jasmine, and reality TV, because there is a similarity that Jesus shares with all three. Can you tell me what it is? Jesus is a prominent, powerful, authority figure who did disguise himself to blend in. But, the disguise is different and so is the reason behind it.
Paul talks about it this way in his letter to the Philippians: Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross![1]
Now, Paul says that Jesus was “found in appearance as a man,” but Jesus didn’t just swap a crown for a peasant’s cap. How was Jesus’ human appearance different, i.e. more, than a costume? Jesus wasn’t pretending. He really was human! That’s why Paul says that he took “the very nature of a servant” and that he was “made in human likeness.”
And when Jesus was “made human” that meant that he had to endure everything that came along with it, including all those things we confess in the Apostles’ Creed: conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, died, and was buried. Just about everything between Jesus’ conception and his burial comprise what theologians call Jesus’ “state of humiliation.”
What do you typically think of when hear the word “humiliation”? Embarrassment, right? If I split my pants in public or gave the wrong answer in school, I might be embarrassed, i.e. humiliated. That’s not quite what we’re talking about with Jesus, though. He wasn’t embarrassed by those things, but he was humbled in the sense that his status was lowered.
Think about Jesus’ conception as just one example. How would becoming a fetus in the uterus of the virgin Mary be a step down in status for Jesus? Remember who he is. Before he was born – from eternity – Jesus always has been the almighty Son of God. The Apostle John reminds us that Jesus was essential to the creative process of the universe (nothing was made that has been made without Jesus).
But when he was conceived, the Creator was confined to a very small space within his creation. He became dependent on his mother for life itself. After he was born, she changed his diapers. As he grew up, he obeyed her and Joseph’s orders. Every step along his earthly life, Jesus was taking successive steps down farther and farther away from the immortal glory that he rightfully deserved as the almighty Son of God.
That’s what we mean by Jesus’ “state of humiliation.” That’s his “disguise,” if you will. There are all kinds of “how” questions we could ask. I don’t think they would be particularly helpful. The one answer God does give us in Scripture is “why.”
Usually, we would do everything within our power to avoid this kind of humiliation. But Jesus not only endured it, he exposed himself to it willingly. And not because he was bored in heaven or curious about how the commonfolk carry on. He did it for you.
You are the reason that Jesus became human. You are the reason that Jesus suffered indignity and pain far below his position. You are the reason Jesus died. Because you are not like Jesus.
You are not, like Jesus, “in very nature God.” But when did that ever stop you from trying to claim an equality with God to be used to your own advantage? That’s a story that predates 1990s Disney or even 1890s Mark Twain. It’s a tale as old as time, and a temptation we read about from the very beginning.
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”[2]
How did the devil make eating the forbidden fruit sound appealing to Eve? He said it would make her like God. That is exactly the temptation that is at the root of so many sins we commit, from something as simple as common, everyday road rage to the much more serious sins of secret and outright idolatry.
You’re driving to church on an otherwise quiet Sunday morning when out of the blue someone cuts you off on the Henday. What do you say? (Don’t answer that!) “Hello! I’m right here! Earth to Toyota! Pay attention to the people around you (so that I can drive the way I want to).” As if that other driver should have no other concern in the world than to get out of your way.
It’s the same thing with the way people walk in the aisles at Costco, or the demands your boss makes of you at work, or the unreliability of your dayhome provider, or the bickering and backbiting of your family. When we walk through life with main character energy, when we put ourselves at the centre of our own solar systems, we are elevating ourselves to equality with (or maybe even superiority over) God himself.
Whenever we complain about anything – whether that be out loud to others or just internally as we silently stew on stuff – we’re betraying a sense of entitlement that is wholly unlike Jesus. He had every reason to claim equality with God as the most valid excuse not to do any of the things that we confess in the Apostles’ Creed. But why did he do them? For you.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.[3]
Why did Jesus become poor? For your sake. So you might become rich.
Jesus did it for you, because he loves you. And because he loves you, even all those incredible sacrifices he made for you to be humiliated for you were worth it to him, if that meant that you could be exalted with him; if it meant that your sins – even your sins of elevating yourself to equality with God – could be forgiven and washed away and redeemed and rectified; if it meant that you could be saved.
It was worth it to Jesus to be made poor so that you could be made rich. It was worth it to Jesus to give up his right to be served by you so that he could serve you with the sacrifice of his body and blood. It was worth it to Jesus to become obedient to death on a cross so that you could live in the peace of his love now and always.
And because Jesus was willing to humble himself to this degree, his Father saw fit to exalt him eternally: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[4]
That’s what we do today – we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is our Lord and is worthy of all our thanks and praise, and that his Father is worthy of all the glory possible for giving us his Son to forgive us our sin.
I could preach a whole sermon on each upward step of Jesus’ exaltation and tell you all about how each one restored a glory that Jesus had set aside, for a while, while he was on earth. And that would be entirely worth our time. We could spend every minute of every day meditating on the power, majesty, wisdom, and honour he deserves and not exhaust our opportunities for praise. But what I find so amazing about Jesus’ exaltation is how – just like his humiliation – it wasn’t (just) for him. It means something for you too.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.[5]
Why does Paul refer to Jesus as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep? What does Jesus’ resurrection mean for you? It means that you will rise from the dead too, and so will all who fall asleep in him – your mother, your father, your grandparents, your friends and fellow church members. Everyone who falls asleep in him, will be raised with him.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.[6]
Jesus’ descent into hell wasn’t a continuation of his suffering. It was the occasion of declaring his victory over death and the devil. What do you suppose that declaration means for you? It means that his victory is your victory and death has no sting. He’s taken away its teeth and robbed it of its power by forgiving your sin and giving you life as your victor’s crown.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”[7]
Jesus prepared his disciples for his eventual ascension into heaven. What does he want you to know about why he went there? He is preparing a place for you. There’s a space in heaven with your name on it. He will come back to take you to be with him so that you can always be where he is.
God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.[8]
What is Jesus doing now that he is restored to his rightful position at the right hand of his Father in heaven? He is ruling over everything for your good. Nothing is outside of his control. He works all things for your eternal good.
You know, sometimes when we get into these catechetical concepts they can seem abstract, theoretical, theological, or – in plain English – kind of dry and boring. But this week in my life was a perfect example of why these things matter.
My dad is dying. And harder than seeing his body grow progressively weaker and his life ebb away, is the guilt and remorse and regret that you can read in his eyes. Who of us, faced with the very real prospect of our very near mortality, wouldn’t look back on life haunted by the things we wished we had done differently.
But that’s exactly why Jesus humbled himself (was conceived, crucified, died, and was buried) – to take away your guilt and silence your shame, to smother them in his mercy and grace so that you can let go of them and live (and die) in his peace, knowing that your sins are forgiven by his sacrifice on the cross.
More than that, that’s also exactly why Jesus was exalted (rose from the dead, ascended, and is seated at the right hand in heaven) – to give you confidence that you too will rise and so will all who call on his name; to comfort you with the knowledge that even when cancer claims lives and loved ones languish in hospitals, he sits in power overseeing it all for you. You do not suffer alone and you will not suffer forever, because the Son is with the Father and he is doing everything within his power to ensure that someday you will be there too.
Jesus isn’t Mickey Mouse, Princess Jasmine, or your Undercover Boss. He is your Saviour who became your brother to live and die and rise again for your sake, so that through his poverty you might be exalted with him to the riches of his Father’s house in heaven forever.
This is most certainly true. Amen.
[1] Philippians 2:5-8
[2] Genesis 3:4,5
[3] 2 Corinthians 8:9
[4] Philippians 2:9-11
[5] 1 Corinthians 15:20
[6] 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
[7] John 14:1-3
[8] Ephesians 1:22