Philippians 2:5-11
The expression NO CROSS, NO CROWN has been widely used and among the
early users was William Penn, founder of the Quaker colony which
became Pennsylvania in his tract NO CROSS, NO CROWN published in
London in 1669. How well it encapsulates the meaning of the Palm
Sunday procession when Jesus comes the first time riding on a lowly
donkey as prophesied (cf Zechariah 9:9) in contrast to his return in
power and great glory riding on a majestic white horse (Revelation
19:11ff). First must come “Christ’s sufferings . . . and then the glory
to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1). Groans must go before glory.
This pattern is seen everywhere in Scripture as in the life of Joseph
in the Old Testament where we see that the way up is down. Joseph
went down into Egypt, down into prison and then although his brothers
did not recognize him was gloriously exalted. “Blessed are the poor
in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Jesus insisted
(Matthew 5:3). Three times he preached the sermon “whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”
(Matthew 23:22, Luke 14:11, 18:14). The principle is both
embodied and exemplified in our Lord Jesus as set forth in our text.
Paul addresses a situation of some local tension and conflict by
citing the mind of Christ in one of the great teaching passages on
Christ and his work. Doctrine is relevant! Embedded in his careful
argument is an ancient Christian hymn exulting in Christ. Let us dig
into it.
I .The Self-Emptying of Jesus (2:5-8)
The foundational fact is tht Jesus has always existed in very
nature God, i.e. he is in the form and image of his Father
(Colossians 1:15). The eternally-begotten Son of God has been that of
God which has been seen (John 1:18). Although thus eternally in the
Father’s bosom, Christ did not think his equality with God to be
something he should grasp at or forcibly retain. He was not reluctant
to empty himself and made himself nothing (7). He did not empty
himself of his deity when he became the God-man (Wesley is wrong in
“emptied himself of all but love”) but of all all the insignia and
emblems of his glory. “He took the very nature of a servant, being
made in human likeness” (7). But his unimaginable
condescension was but the first step down. “Being found in appearance
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even
death on a cross! (8). He suffered indescribable brutalization (as Mel
Gibson’s The Passion so vividly reminded us) and experienced the most
ignominious death which can be experienced (which was almost
anti-climactic in Gibson). He “tasted death for everyone” (Hebrews
2:9), was “made sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21), “dying for sins
once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God
(1 Peter 3:18). The Apostle Paul describes his own
self-emptying in the next chapter where he testifies to his counting
all things as nothing, indeed as rubbish “that I may gain Christ and
be found in him” (Philippians 3:8ff). All matters of pride and
boasting, from his ancestry, his orthodoxy, his frenetic activity, his
morality – he counted as “loss for the sake of Christ. Can we say
with George Mattheson: “I lay in dust life’s glory dead/and from the
ground there blossoms red LIFE THAT SHALL ENDLESS BE!” ?
II. The
Divine Exaltation of Jesus Christ (2:9-11)
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name
that is above every name (9). The Biblical pattern is always “not now
but afterwards” (Hebrews 12:11).
It is imperative that we always take into account
the fact that we are not in heaven yet. Still believers in Christ are
“the people before the time” i.e., we have already bowed and
confessed that he is Lord! We are already tasting “the powers of the
age to come” in a very real and significant sense (Hebrews 6:5). The
reality remains: we must suffer for him first and then “reign with him”
(2 Timothy 2:12). There will be no gain without pain.
The name which he has been given and his exaltation as the object of
universal submission (not universal salvation) raises the question:
is this name the name of Jesus or his appellation as Lord? My old NT
professor at Fuller, Dr. Everett Falconer Harrison used to insist
that it is in fact the combination of both – the despised name of
Jesus (his incarnation) coupled with the high title of LORD (in
resurrection and session)! And we worship the living and exalted
Christ!
And thus it was for Christ, NO CROSS, NO CROWN. And so it is for us who
would follow him. The personal and pressing meaning of this for me
and for you is painful. Dr. Samuel Logan Brengle was a brilliant
university student and then outstanding American pulpit orator. But
his heart was not satisfied. He did not feel he was really touching
people and so joined the Salvation Army and offered his services to
General William Booth. To test his calibre, he was assigned to the
training garrison and given the task of cleaning the muddy boots of the
cadets. A battle royal raged in his heart. The devil pressed his
advantage – “was it for this he had renounced his fashionable church
and come to London?” Then the Holy Spirit brought a
poignant Scripture verse to his mind: “He took a towel and girded
himself.” In a moment he detected the subtlety of his adversary and
from his heart he creied: “Lord, if you coluld take a towel and wash
the dirty feet of the disciples, surely I can take a brush and clean
the cadets’s dirty boots.” So began a ministry which multiplied
itself a thousand times in a worldwide ministry (Eternity, 1958).
And so our Savior says to us: “Follow me.”
_________________
Sermon brief provided by: David L.
Larsen, Professor Emeritus of Preaching, Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School