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 emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. – Philippians 2:5-7 (ESV)

We will be memorizing one of the best Christological passages in all of Scripture for the next four weeks: Philippians 2:5-13. We should savor every verse of God’s word that we memorize, but Paul has given us an especially precious diamond here that reflects the glories of Jesus over and over as we gaze at it. Ultimately, as we will see shortly, Paul’s desire isn’t just to present King Jesus to us, though that would have been more than enough. He desires to present King Jesus in us. This week, we will memorize Philippians 2:5-7.

It’s helpful to look at verses 1-4 to get the context, but briefly, Paul desires the Philippian church to be unified under one principle: consider others as more significant than yourselves. This task is high and hard. How do they ever hope even to think this way, much less carry it out?  Paul tells them in verse 5 that it is a mindset they should choose because they already possess it! “Have this mind…which is yours in Christ Jesus.” The mind of Christ is another gift and treasure of grace we own due to the shed blood of Jesus in our place. He took the penalty of our selfish nature; he gives us freely his selfless nature.

Jesus doesn’t just call us to this new way to be human. He displayed it himself. He was in the form of God. As John 1 reminds us, he was with God, and he was God. He is the rightful ruler of the universe whom the seraphim of Isaiah 6 cried out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory!” The equality, worship, and adoration with Yahweh God as King of the universe was rightfully his.  Yet, Paul says, he didn’t grasp it.  In other words, he didn’t hold on to what belonged to him. He willingly opened his hands and set it all aside.

He does the unthinkable, the incomprehensible.  He empties himself.  The one whom the heavens cannot contain made himself small.  He was born in the likeness of men on this tiny cosmic speck known as earth. Israel expected some form of this happening, but they looked for a king who would wield a sword on a mighty throne. Indeed, Jesus deserves such a place of honor on earth if any ever did. But he emptied himself even more.  He took on the form of a servant.  As he said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.”  The night of his arrest, he took the lowest servant position and washed his disciples’ feet.  We find this King serving the least of these.

We are only a few verses into this passage, and already, we have enough to say that no one ever gave up as much as Jesus did. It should lead us to response:

  1. Our first response to this passage should be repentance of our selfishness. If this is the Jesus I follow and he emptied himself, then I can only see how selfish I am in comparison.
  2. The second response should be awe. Jesus, the King of kings, actually served people with compassion. He saw selfish people like me, yet he took their dirty feet in his hands and made them clean. O King Jesus, do this for my selfish heart!
  3. The third response should be joy. Remember Paul’s words: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. Paul isn’t writing of some lofty ideal that is out of reach for the follower of Jesus. We have it! We really can count others as more significant than ourselves because Jesus has given us his own gentle and lowly servant’s heart.

This selfless mind of Christ is indeed a great treasure of Christ’s church.