God's Posture of Humiliation

Bruce L. Shelley begins his book Church History in Plain Language (Updated 2^nd Edition) with this observation:

                “Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its God.” (1995, page 3)

                What an insightful statement to begin a work on church history! It was the “event of humiliation” that actually changed the course of history, and became the foundation of the Christian religion. This central event shaped and formed the Christian movement as it made its way from the cradle of Palestine and became a Diaspora into the known Greco-Roman world.

                You may remember the story that Luke records in the book Acts. The treasurer from Ethiopia, employed by the queen, was reading from an Isaiah scroll. This is the passage of Scripture the he was reading:

   “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

   and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

   so he did not open his mouth.

³³ In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

   Who can speak of his descendants?

   For his life was taken from the earth.” (Isaiah 53:7,8)

                Philipp joined this treasurer in his chariot, and from this very passage told him the good news about Jesus. As the church began to spread into different parts of the Hellenistic world, the message of Jesus was central to that movement. But what caused problems was that having a Messiah who was “humiliated” was humiliating to the Jews, and the Greeks wanted nothing to do with a weak and powerless God.

                This may be why today the Christian message is still hard to take. That is why the fundamental Christian message is deceptively replaced with messages about health, wealth, fun, self-fulfillment, etc. with a veneer of Christian decorum. It is easier to sell that way!

                But Jesus is fundamentally presented time and again in the New Testament as a humble servant. Again, in the Carmen Christi “Christ Hymn” of Philippians 2:5-11, we find that Jesus’ humiliation was the cross event. This cursed way of dying forever destroyed the Messianic expectation of military might and prowess. The resurrection vindicated his humiliation. As Jesus emptied himself, God took the posture of humiliation.

                It is only out of the stance of brokenness and humiliation that we, too, can participate in the radical work of God. So much of Jesus’ life exemplified that posture of humiliation. Our life must be no less!   

                                                                   In Christian love, Curtis