Sermon

March 24, 2002
Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion
Philippians 2:5-11
Pastor Robert Raasch

THE DOUBLE VIEW OF OUR SERVANT-KING

1. He Displays the Attitude of a Servant
2. He Deserves the Acclamation of a King

I think that you know that, for centuries, the Christian Church has attached special significance to certain days of the church year. For example, days like Christmas, and Easter. Days when we place special emphasis on something like the birth of Jesus Christ, or his resurrection. Well, you might say that today is one of the days. In fact, you might say that today is two of those days. For you see, down through the centuries, this day in the church year has had a bit of a split personality. At times, this day is referred to as Palm Sunday, and it becomes a day for us to focus on how the people of Jerusalem gave Jesus a welcome fit for a king. They sang, "Hail, hosanna to the Son of David" and threw down palm branches in his path. On Palm Sunday we focus on the glory and honor that is due our king.

And yet, this day is also sometimes referred to as the Sunday of the Lord's Passion. And then this day takes on a little different focus. Instead, we look ahead to Jesus' bitter suffering and death at the hands of his enemies. When we refer to this day as the Sunday of the Lord's passion, we focus not on Jesus' glory, but rather, on his humiliation.

Now, if you think about it, that kind of two fold focus for this day of the church year can present us with a bit of a challenge. I mean, do we focus on Jesus as God's suffering servant or do we focus on him as our glorious king? Well, I believe that the text we have before us gives us the opportunity to do both, to see Jesus both as a servant and as a king. In fact, you might say that it offers us a double view of our Savior God. It kind of reminds me of the old 3-D Viewmaster. Remember those little toys, where there would be a slightly different picture coming into each of your eyeballs, but when your eyes focused on them together, you saw a full, three dimensional scene. Well, that's what our service today, and especially our text before us, offers. Here, in his inspired words to the Christians in Philippi, St. Paul offers us what we might call,

THE DOUBLE VIEW OF OUR SERVANT-KING

As we look to these words, we see that

1. He Displays the Attitude of a Servant
2. He Deserves the Acclamation of a King

First, Jesus displays the attitude of a servant. I think it's interesting to note that even though this section of Scripture offers one of the deepest, doctrinal statements regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ, still it is introduced by the simple exhortation: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." In other words, whatever attitude Jesus displayed during his time here on earth, that still should be our attitude today. And exactly what was Jesus' attitude? Well, Paul tells us: "Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped." Do you know what that means? It means two things: First, it means that Jesus was and is and always will be God. Jesus is equal to the Father in all power and glory forever. And yet, Paul goes on to say, "Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped." The Greek word there means more than merely "something to be grasped," but rather, something to be grasped and displayed. It's the word that would be used for a pirate's plunder or a soldier's booty. It's something you grab and then hold up and say, "Aha! Look what I've got! This is mine, all mine! And I want everyone to know that I've got it!"

Friends, that's exactly the attitude which Jesus Christ did not display. While here on earth, Jesus did not feel like he had to constantly show off who he really was, namely, God of the universe. He did not sit on his throne and say, "Aha! I am God. I am perfect. And you sinners better pay me homage." No, quite the opposite. How does Paul put it? "Jesus made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." With those words, St. Paul is making two points. First, he is underscoring the fact that Jesus became a human being. He took on a human nature. That of course occurred at the time of his conception in the Virgin Mary. Our young confirmands could tell you that that event is called Jesus' incarnation. That's the when Jesus' divine nature was united with a human nature.

And yet, Paul's words here tell us more than that Jesus became a human. They also point out what kind of human he became. Scripture says, "He took on the very nature of a servant." Boy, talk about a role reversal! Here is Jesus, the all-glorious Son of God, Master of the universe. And yet, he became a servant, yes, he became a slave. You might say that Jesus who was something, made himself nothing, so that we who were nothing, might become something, something special, something valuable in the eyes of God. How does the Apostle put it in 2 Corinthians 8:9? "Though (Jesus) was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."

Yes, Jesus in effect, has made you and me rich, yes, made us kings. How did he do it? He did it by becoming a servant. He became a servant to his Father's will. And he became a servant to our eternal needs. And how far did Jesus' act of service go? It went all the way to the cross. There on the hill called Calvary, Jesus rendered the greatest service to all mankind by surrendering his body to one of the most agonizing forms of death know to man-death by crucifixion. How did Jesus put it? "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Friends, there is the attitude of a true servant. An attitude that says, "I will set aside my power, set aside my authority, I will set aside what is rightfully mine, and I will do what it takes to get the job done. I know that people will mock me and spit on me, and eventually crucify me. But I will do it in obedience to God and in love for my fellowman."

You realize that that's exactly the attitude that God would have us display as Christians. St. Paul says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ." And yet, how often isn't our attitude exactly the opposite of Jesus Christ? Instead of thinking how I can serve my wife, or my children, or my parents or my church, I'm thinking how can they serve me? What have they done for me lately?" I'm thinking, "I'm doing more than my share of the work around here. I think I deserve more respect, more authority, more freedom to do what I want to do. Do you realize how many marriages, yes, how many lives are messed up because people are more concerned about being served than serving others?

If we're honest with ourselves, haven't we all been guilty of that same kind of self-absorbed, self-serving attitude? Is it any wonder that a just and holy God takes one look at our attitude and says, "To hell with all of you?" and that's where we would all en up if it wasn't for somebody who went to hell in our place.

Jesus Christ, as the ultimate servant, gave up his place in heaven to take our place in hell, and by his death and resurrection, he has freed us from the stranglehold of Satan and in so doing has given us the power to say "no" to our natural selfishness and at the same time, has given us the reason and ability to willingly serve one another in love. How appropriate that as a practical application for our lives in 2002, St. Paul says, "Let your attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus."

My friends, there is one clear view that our text gives of Jesus, the view of Jesus as the selfless servant of God and man. And yet, that's not the only picture that St. Paul offers of our Savior. After focusing our attention on the humility Jesus displayed as Servant, St. Paul goes on to describe II. The Acclamation Jesus Deserves as Our King.

I think it's important to note that the first word that follows Paul's description of Jesus' death on the cross is the word, "therefore." "Therefore God exalted (Jesus) to the highest place." That word denotes a cause and effect relationship between Christ's death and what comes after his death. Or to put it another way, "Because Jesus humbled himself to the very lowest point, namely, death by crucifixion, therefore God the Father restored Jesus to the very highest position, namely the right hand of God. This process of exaltation, as it's called, was displayed by means of a number of events in Jesus' life. It included Jesus' descent into hell to proclaim his victory over Satan. It included Jesus' resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday morning and his ascent into heaven 40 days later. All these events are the Father's way of assuring us that he has accepted Christ's payment for our sins. Christ's exaltation is the Father's way of saying, "Jesus, what you did on Calvary was a success. You were victorious over sin and Satan. On Easter Sunday, you conquered death forever. You are no longer the suffering servant. You are no longer the object of ridicule and scorn. Now you are sitting at my right hand ruling all things in heaven and earth."

How does St. Paul put it in his letter to the Ephesians? "God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church." (Eph. 1:20-22) My friends, that's the position of power and glory that Jesus holds right now. And why has the Father once again exalted Jesus to that high position? St. Paul tells us, "So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven (that is, the angels), on earth (that is, the human race) and under the earth (yes, even the demons)." And as St. Paul goes on to say, "Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Christians, you can be sure that some day, every knee will be bent in submission to Jesus Christ as Lord. Some knees will be bent by sheer force. Those knees will be forced down by an angry God who judges those who have rejected Jesus as Savior. But there will be other knees which will be bent, not by force, but bent by sheer love. Knees that willingly bend in response to the love God has shown to us in Christ. For us, Judgment Day will not be a day of horror, but a day of joy.

But you know something? You and I don't need to wait until Judgment Day to bend our knees in homage to God. Everyday we have the opportunity to figuratively bend the knee our knees in devotion our Savior-whether it be through our public worship service and our boisterous hymns of praise this morning, or through our quiet service to our family, our church, our community throughout the week. All of these things are but a reflection of our love and devotion to him who is both God's suffering Servant and our glorious King. To him be our praise forever and ever. Amen.

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