A sermon on Philippians 2:5-11 for Palm Sunday, the Sixth Sunday in Lent. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.

There’s a number of incredibly common turns of phrase which actually originate from churchly contexts. For example, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” wasn’t originally a “when in Vegas” type expression, but came from St. Ambrose when he was asked a question about different customs and traditions regarding fasting. At that time, the Christians in Rome fasted on Saturdays, so even if you were visiting over the weekend from a place where that wasn’t the custom, he said you should fast on Saturday too, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” 

Another one is “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This phrase came from the Roman Catholic Englishman Lord Acton who fought against the adoption of papal infallibility as a dogma in the Roman Catholic Church. In 1887 he wrote, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.” Although he was originally writing about the pope, this critique of power has been adopted by many and applied to governments and institutions more broadly.
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” While this may be the case for popes, politicians, and probably us, we see in Christ a very different example and a very unique demonstration of power. Philippians 2 uses rich language to describe the power dynamics at play in Christ, both in His person and His work. When we apply this lens of the power dynamics of Christ to the events of Palm Sunday and the week following, we gain a richer appreciation of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. I. The Person

      As we draw near to Good Friday, St. Paul has us focus not so much on the work of Christ as on the person of Christ. Not so much on what He has done but, for now, on who He is. And this section has some very interesting but very complicated things to say to that point. These verses can be confusing and easily misunderstood, so let’s take a minute to iron everything out.

First off, Jesus is true God and true man. Two natures, one person. So when it says He “did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,” that doesn’t mean He didn’t have equality with God. No, He is God, it’s not robbery, something He has to take or claim for Himself, He is equal with God. But what does He do with that? He “made Himself of no reputation,” it’s not robbery, He already has it, but He’s not showing that off or using it for His own advantage.

So, too, when it says He came “in the likeness of men” and was “found in appearance as a man” that doesn’t mean that He’s only “like” a human or He only “appeared like” a man as if He wasn’t actually human. No, He has a human nature. He looked like a man and appeared like a man because He is a man. But He didn’t look like God, He humbled Himself, “made Himself of no reputation.”

He still has the divine nature, He still has divine power. He’s giving up the full and constant use of that power. In His human nature, from His conception to His death, He is not going to make full and constant use of that divine power. He has it, but He humbled Himself. He was “found in appearance as a man” because you couldn’t always tell that He was also God.

Now, I get that this is complicated stuff, this was probably the most confusing few weeks of seminary, but think of what this means just in terms of power. Jesus is God. Power doesn’t get any more absolute than that. But Jesus is man. How is that power going to affect Him? How is He going to handle it? Far from corrupting Him, He sets it aside, He humbles Himself, He voluntarily surrenders the full use of that power.

One thing that’s really interesting in the epistles—Paul does this all the time—is use super deep theology to undergird and support moral instruction. Gallons of ink have been spilled, thousands of trees have been felled to write about the person of Christ in these verses, but see what Paul is using this for. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Paul has us look at the power dynamics in the person of Christ to examine how we are to approach power.

Now you probably don’t consciously think in terms of power. Right, that’s something a supervillain does. But while you’re probably not chasing world domination, I think we do tend, consciously or not, to view our relationships with others in terms of power.

We can see that most clearly and explicitly in the workforce with the relationship between employers and employees, bosses and workers, but I think this especially and sneakily affects how we see the family. We can easily see how situations of spousal abuse or child abuse result from the corruption of power, and we need to be aware of such situations. But we also need to see how we are influenced by power or the lack thereof.

[Parents, how do you relate to your children? Where does power come into play? How do you react when they don’t listen? Is it easier to punish than to guide? Children, how do you view your parents? Are they tyrants unjustly wielding authority over you? Do you want to rebel to teach them a lesson for a change? How do these notions of power align with the attitude of Christ?]

Husbands, do you ever resent your wives for not submitting to your power and authority as a husband? Wives, do you ever resent your husbands for having that authority or wish that that power would be yours? How do these attitudes line up with the attitude of Christ?

If we’re honest, we’re not just corrupted by power that happens to be thrust upon us, we long for that corruption. We want power and influence, we want to be obeyed, we want to be served. The mind of Christ is foreign to us. How far we are from Him. II. The Work

As complicated as the power dynamics in the person of Christ might be theologically, we can see how this plays out pretty easily in the events of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday.

We saw in the Gospel some subtle hints that Jesus is God and has all the power of God. He knows that there’s a donkey in the next town and describes it in detail—He’s omniscient, all-knowing, like only God is. He tells His disciples what to do and it works. They just take the donkey while only saying “The Lord has need of them” for an explanation. What is that if not Jesus displaying His omnipotence, that as God He is all-powerful.

But, by far, the more dominant theme here is that of humility. Jesus does not enter Jerusalem seated on the sapphire throne, surrounded by heavenly creatures, with lighting flashing in hand. No, He enters in humility, seated on a donkey, surrounded by peasants. He has the power but doesn’t use it.

And that humility extends through the rest of this week. As Paul tells us, “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” The humility He displayed on the road to Jerusalem, He continued on the path to Golgotha.

It’s one thing for God to ride on a donkey, it’s another thing for God to die on a cross. And here we see why Christ’s humiliation was necessary. If Jesus displayed His full divine power in His manhood, the crucifixion never would have happened. If Jesus had not made Himself of no reputation, He would not have been able to die. So Jesus gave up His power to save you. He lowered Himself to rescue you. He humbled Himself to die for you.

God died to forgive our lust for power and our abuse of power. And by this, Jesus shows us what true power is. The true power of Christ is not His power as God but the power of His love. It was His love that motivated His humility. It was His love that held Him to the cross. It was His love that made it possible for God to die so that His death would redeem all mankind.

In Christ we see how to relate to power. It is not something to be used for our own advantage, but something that we are to surrender willingly to serve others. In Christ we also see the true path to exaltation.

“Therefore,”  because the plan was accomplished, the mission successful, “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”

Here, too, we see Jesus, both true God and true man, but now in the fullness of His glory, in all the power of His resurrection. “[T]hat at the name of Jesus,” the name of a human being, the name of a Man with flesh and blood, the name which hung above the cross of His humility, that name has been granted the honor of God. At His name every kneel shall bow down and worship, “every tongue … confess that Jesus Christ,” the Man, He “is Lord,” He is God.

Jesus humbled Himself to the death of the cross, and God the Father has exalted Him. Jesus did not obtain this exalted state by using His power to glorify Himself. No, He humbled Himself. It was the Father who exalted Him.

God does not bestow honor on those who exalt themselves, on those who pursue and abuse power. Rather, when we approach Him through the humility of faith, He will raise us up to participate in Christ’s exaltation in the joys of heaven.

On the Last Day, every being in heaven and on earth and in hell will worship Christ and acknowledge Him as Lord. But we ought not wait until then to do that. Now let us bend our knees in worship of Jesus, true God and true man. Now let us confess with our tongues how He humbly submitted Himself to death to save us from our sins and how He rose to new life to rescue us from death. Let us gather here to worship Him and offer all our lives to Him for the sacrifice He has made for us. Amen.