“The Word Became Flesh” (7)

[John 1:1–4, 9–14]

The third purpose for which the Son of God, who is the “Word,” became “flesh” (human) was to die (to become the atoning sacrifice).

In God’s plan for our salvation, someone had to die on our behalf. Neither we humans nor the angels could die in our place. Christ, who is God, became a man and died to save us from eternal destruction.

The Son of God became a man and served us until His death. Matthew 20:28 says:

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Here, “The Son of Man came” refers to the Word becoming flesh (John 1:14). There are two purposes: (1) the first is to serve, and (2) the second is to give His life as a ransom.

Today, we will meditate on the first purpose, “serving,” and next Wednesday’s prayer meeting we will meditate on the second purpose, “giving His life as a ransom.” Our human nature is to want to be served. In other words, we like to receive service. But Jesus Christ came not to be served, but rather to serve. To serve, we must humble ourselves and elevate others. Philippians 2:3 says:

“… Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

Jesus humbled Himself. The fact that Jesus, who is God, became a man is itself an act of humbling (and we can never fully grasp how much He humbled Himself). The Son of God humbled Himself so much as to become human — a humility far beyond anything we can compare to, even compared to becoming like dogs or pigs. Philippians 2:6-8 describes how much Jesus humbled Himself:

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

The Word, who is God and equal with God, became a man, became a servant, and obeyed even to death. Jesus humbled Himself to the point of dying on the cross. At that time, crucifixion was a harsh punishment reserved only for the lowest social classes. The fact that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified shows His social status then: although He was the Son of God, He belonged to the lowest social class of society (according to internet sources). Thus, Jesus Christ, who is God, humbled Himself and served.

John 13:3-14 shows how much the Son humbled Himself by washing the feet of the 12 disciples. Especially note verses 13-14:

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”

Just as the Lord Jesus humbled Himself enough to wash His disciples’ feet, we too must humble ourselves and serve one another by washing each other’s feet in humility.

In the church at Philippi, female leaders did not humbly serve one another as Jesus did. First, some background: the Philippian church began when a woman named Lydia, who frequently engaged in business, had her heart opened by the Lord to hear Paul’s message and believe in Jesus when Paul was evangelizing in Philippi (Acts 16:14). The church meetings began in her home. So, the Philippian church had female leaders like Lydia, and two of them are named in Philippians 4:2:

“I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”

Paul uses the word “urge” twice, emphasizing that these two women needed to be united in the Lord. Apparently, they were not of one mind and had conflicts. They did not “do nothing out of rivalry or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). They failed to keep the unity the Spirit gives by the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). Therefore, the Philippian church was not united. Paul strongly urged these two women to be of the same mind in the Lord.

Could it be that our families and churches are also not united? To keep unity in our families and churches, we must humble ourselves and serve like Jesus. We must serve rather than expect to be served. We must humble ourselves and lift others up. If we serve as Jesus did, even unto death (Philippians 2:8), we can maintain unity in our families and churches. But if we do not serve unto death, we cannot truly say we have served.

Because Jesus humbled Himself and served unto death, God exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (verses 9-11). Jesus was highly exalted because He humbled Himself to death serving. We too must follow Jesus’ example and humble ourselves to the point of serving.