The Obedience of Christ
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:8
In taking on the mind of Christ, we are to follow His example of obedience to the will of the Father. The night before Jesus was to be crucified, He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus did not want to face death on the cross. He knew it would be excruciatingly painful and that He would endure the taunts, scorn, and rejection of men. But worst of all, He knew His Father would have to turn His back on Him as He bore the sins of man. He asked the Father that if there were any other way, He would put it into place, but He also asked that ultimately God’s will would be done.
Paul tells us to have the mind of Christ, the mind that sees obedience to God as the thing of highest importance. Out of love, Jesus came to earth to be a servant and to obey the Father’s plan, even to the point of death and separation from God. When He sweat blood in the garden and prayed that the cup of death on the cross would pass from Him, He asked that the Father’s will be done. And He followed through in obedience, trusting that God’s plan was best.
The result of Christ’s obedience was that “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).
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