Holy Humiliation

A Reflection on the Second Reading for April 5th, 2020:
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

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Philippians 2.6-11

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.

Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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Pause. Pray. 

And then read more...

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What is your most embarrassing moment?

I have a few stories, but one of my most embarrassing moments was being in a line up at “Pizza Corner” at the end of a night out and thinking it was my friend standing beside me, I took a bite out of a total stranger’s slice of pizza. Embarrassing!

But what if I had done this on a dare instead of by accident? Then humiliation turns into hilarity.

Reading this scripture passage from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians made me think about God’s act of humility in becoming human. Saint Paul says, “He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave”. No one forced God to do this. It wasn’t God’s most embarrassing moment to come down to Earth and die a humiliating death. He chose this.

In Genesis, in the story of creation, it says we were created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). In the Incarnation we see God becoming flesh to dwell among us (John 1:14). This is the greatest act of humility, and God chose it.

So far, the year of 2020 has been challenging. We see things happening on our planet that we have not experienced in our time. It’s a time when humanity is being challenged to sacrifice what we know as normal for the greater good of all humans. It’s a time when we are being asked to set aside what we may think is right and trust our government officials. It is a time when great humility is of great importance.

Saint Paul also tells us that Jesus’ act of humility was done, “to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). God knows the big picture. He saw what great good was to come out of the humiliation of dying on a cross. He also sees what good can come from our own acts of humility—even if we can’t.

Lord Jesus, You humbled Yourself for the greater good. Help us to join in Your humility for our sake and the sake of the whole world. Amen.




Maxine Brown

Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash

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