Our second reading today may well have been an early Church hymn celebrating Jesus’ incarnation, humiliation, and exaltation. In other words, it is perfect for Palm Sunday. The verse immediately before this reading begins set the scene for us: “Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). This reading is a hymn about how we should put on the mind of Christ, his worldview. So how do we do that?
Jesus “was in the form of God” (v. 6). He was God himself. He deserved certain things, should rightly expect people to treat him a certain way. And yet he did not grasp at what was rightfully his. How many times do I grasp at things that I think are mine by rights? I often demand my rights! But Jesus did not do this. Instead he set aside his rights for our sake.
Jesus “emptied himself” (v. 7). Jesus did not set aside his divinity, but he restricted his use of certain divine abilities during his earthly life and accepted certain restrictions of being human. You could say that Jesus’ entire earthly life was Lent. Think of all that he gave up, not for forty days, but for his lifetime! Jesus embraced the full human experience. He was not some sort of demigod, somewhere between humanity and divinity. He was fully both. Sure, Jesus did perform miracles as a sign of his divinity, but even those he often made contingent upon human faith (see Matthew 13:58).
Jesus became “obedient to the point of death” (v. 8). Whereas Adam was disobedient to the point of introducing death to the world, whereas Adam grasped at being like God without God’s help, Jesus accepted limitation and was obedient to death. And not just any death. He accepted one of the worst forms of capital punishment that humanity has devised.
While Adam’s sin resulted in a curse for all of us, Jesus’ obedience resulted in his glorification! Jesus never set aside his humanity, and so when he was glorified, his human nature was glorified as well. A similar glory awaits you and me, if we can have this mind of Jesus, if we can take on his worldview. If we can let Jesus live in us, we too will be glorified.
Six years ago as I watched cancer take my mother’s earthly life, I was honored to see the dignity with which she approached it. She may disagree that she handled it well, but from my vantage point, I saw her accept her cross. I saw no complaining. And I remember thinking of this reading, noticing her frail body, and looking forward to the glorified bodies the Lord has in mind for each of us. If we can put on his mind and live in it.