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. (Phil. 2:5-8, ESV) 

Water is scarce in the Sudan, and the African people have to dig deep wells in order to find it. These are not your typical wells, however, with stone walls, a pulley, and a bucket on a rope. They are narrow shafts 100 feet deep, and tribesmen have to climb all the way down with a water skin to obtain the scarce and precious water.

Once, a man carrying water fell to the bottom of the well, where he lay with a broken leg, and no one had the strength to carry him up. When the tribe’s chief discovered the situation, he removed his massive headdress and ceremonial robe, climbed down into the well, took on himself the weight of the injured man, and carried him up to safety. The strong chief became a servant and did what no other man could do.[1]

This illustrates what Jesus did for us. Although He is God, He laid aside His honor and glory, assumed the role of a servant, and climbed down into the pit of human misery, where He took the weight of human sin on Himself. Paul says that “being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” What amazing humility and sacrifice! Just trace the steps Jesus took.

God as Man

First, He who was “very God of very God” became a man. He “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” but “was born in the likeness of men.” Although He took on human nature, He never ceased being God. Like the chief who laid aside his headdress and robe, so Jesus laid aside His deity’s insignia—the full display of His glory and the full exercise of His power.

As Paul says elsewhere, “Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). Or, as the apostle John wrote, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This is what we call the incarnation.

God as Servant

Then He took another step. “He took the form of a servant.” He didn’t come as a mighty king with soldiers and servants at His call. He came as a poor Jewish peasant, a carpenter. He didn’t wait on people to serve Him; rather, He voluntarily did the most menial task of the household slave by girding Himself with a towel and washing His disciples’ feet. This would be somewhat like the President of the United States coming to your house to clean your toilet.

God as Sin

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He also “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.” And not just any death, but the violent and shameful death of a criminal: “even death on a cross.”

Why did He do this? What was going on? The Scriptures answer: “For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

To put it simply, Jesus was taking our place. In being crucified, Jesus became sin for us. He didn’t become sinful, but He was treated as if He were. God dealt with Jesus as if He had lived the life of a sinner, so that He could then deal with sinners as if they had lived like Jesus. Jesus was bearing the weight of our fall on His shoulders.

No greater humility has ever been displayed than this. Jesus is the Greatest Servant.

God as Lord

But that is not the end of the story. God promises to exalt those who humble themselves (James 4:10; Mat. 23:12), and so He did with Christ: “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” (Phil. 2:9-11).

 

Endnotes

 

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[1] Adapted from Bryan Chapell, Using Illustrations to Preach with Power (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001) 11-12.