Healing Rays of Righteousness

Jesus – Made Himself Nothing

“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!” (Philippians 2:6-8, NIV).

This “Who” that Paul is speaking of, is Jesus. And I believe this to be one of the greatest and most moving passage the apostle Paul ever wrote about Jesus. The amazing truth in these words is so majestic that I hesitate to comment on them, lest I say too little and diminish their power and majesty or say too much and detract from their glorious truth.

This “Who” is the same entity as “the Word” in John’s introduction of Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:1, 14).

This “Who” … did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; … made himself nothing.”  Or, as the New Living Translation reads, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges.” 

This “Who, … made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Yes, “Jesus” laid aside majestic glory and power to become human, just like you and me, and to become a servant to all.

Yes “Jesus,” who had everything, gave it up to become human, to walk where we walk, to fully experiencing what we experience. He who was God, gave up royal rank, privilege, and rights to become a human being with all the limitations, temptations, agonies, disappointments, and griefs that are part of the human situation.

And being human, this “Who, … humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”  What humiliation. You cannot get any lower in status than death on a cross. Here is God coming into our suffering world and suffering with us. Here is God coming into our world of death and experiencing death with us, and, most importantly, for us.

The story and its truth are so gloriously incredible, so astounding, that we may never fully comprehend it. But that is okay. To be in awe, even puzzled awe, when contemplating God’s coming to us in Christ Jesus, is an appropriate Christian response.

I hope and pray that as you ponder the crucified and resurrected Jesus you will begin to understand in greater measure what was happening and why, and then become so overwhelmed by His love, that you will bow at his feet in confession and adoration, singing, “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an of-f’ring far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all.”        (“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” – Isaac Watts, 1707) 

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – Ray M. Geigley – 4/24/24

Lift Your Glad Voices

Christianity is separated from all other religions by belief that its leader, Jesus Christ, was bodily resurrected from the dead, and that his spirit is now a living presence among his followers. Thus, to counter and destroy Christianity, one must disprove Jesus’ resurrection and aliveness.

Satan knows this and since day one continues to deceive many church leaders and religious scholars into disregarding or distorting the historical facts with various conspiracy theories, such as the one recorded in Matthew 28:11-15. However, none have succeeded because they cannot find Jesus’ dead body as evidence to support their theories.

When I read the story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, I discover the following “proof-positive” snapshots from the story that provide convincing evidence of Jesus’ bodily resurrection and aliveness.

1. When the two women, both named ‘Mary” came to the tomb early Sunday morning to prepare Jesus’ dead body for decomposition, they came with a broken heart, crushed hope, and resigned to his death. The ugly terror of Friday was over, and the hopeless grief of Saturday was still with them. They came with zero faith that anything could or would change in their relationship with Jesus. He was now and forever dead and gone from their lives.

And so, you can imagine their surprise when they found the tomb entrance open and going inside to find no body. Imagine their stunned bewilderment and fright when asked by two men in dazzling robes, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24:1-5).If you had been there with them, how would you have responded at that moment?

2. We can correctly assume that the Jewish leaders, being faced with evidence of a great spiritual awakening led by Jesus that threatened their proud Judaism, would have anxiously desired to find and expose the dead body of Jesus, and give the lie to this resurrection rumor. But they could not.

3. Under Roman law, the soldiers guarding the tomb would be held accountable for the disappearance of the dead body they were guarding. And the penalty for such negligence and disappearance was imprisonment or death. We can be assured that they would be extremely eager to produce the dead body. But they could not.

4. It is inconceivable to think that the disciples might have stolen the body, as the soldiers were commanded and paid to report. Why? Because at that moment, following the crucifixion, the disciples were a demoralized, defeated, confused, and powerless minority group, hiding in fear of the Roman and Jewish authorities coming to arrest them for being disciples of Jesus.

5. The gospel writer, Luke, who was a knowledgeable physician, wrote a detailed record of Jesus’ life and ministry, telling us in Acts 1:3 that during the forty days after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the risen Christ “presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. … and spoke about the kingdom of God.” 

6. The reliable physician, Luke, also tells us that when Jesus appeared to his disciples during those forty days before ascending into heaven, it was with the same body that hung from a cross and was put into the tomb. The marks of his physical torture and suffering were still visible on his body, and Jesus invited the disciples to touch his flesh and bones. (Luke 24:36-43).

7. And lastly, Just before his final departure and ascension into heaven, Jesus reminds the disciples that the Scriptures confirm that the crucified and resurrected Messiah was not an adjustment in God’s plan. This was God’s design all along, and everything written about the Messiah in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44-53).

These several snapshots provide overwhelming evidence that something supernatural occurred in Jesus’ resurrection. And it is amazing to see how God took special care in establishing the truth that Jesus’ resurrected body was a real body and not some illusion, or phantom spirit. So be it, and so it is!

“Lift your glad voices in triumph on high, for Jesus has risen and we shall not die. Vain were the terrors that gathered around him, and short the dominion of death and the grave.” (Henry Ware Jr., 1817)

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – Ray M. Geigley – 4/03/24