A SERVANT PRINCE
Opening Prayer
Light of the World, today I celebrate your birth and thank you for your presence in my life. Grant that your light would shine through me to bless those around me.
Read PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Footnotes
- Philippians 2:6 Or in the form of
- Philippians 2:7 Or the form
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
On Christmas Day, families enjoy their customary celebrations, often with few surprises. When did God last take you by surprise?Every Christmas Day we see pictures of the British royal family arriving at the church near Sandringham House in Norfolk. Imagine the surprise if one year a royal prince, dressed as the chauffeur, drove the car, jumped out to open the door for passengers, then drove away. ‘What made him do that?’ we might ask. ‘This isn’t what princes do! Is it a joke?’
There was nothing to joke about when Prince Jesus took on the role of a servant, ‘being made in human likeness.’ But it was a surprise! Reflect on what Philippians says about what Jesus gave up in coming to this earth (vs 6-8). Jesus didn’t talk about being humble. He just was: the foot-washer, the sin-bearer! Paul intends to shake his readers into marveling at Jesus’ humility. He is challenging us about how we serve others.
Paul wants to do far more than that. The resurrection, ascension, and exaltation are the completion of Jesus’ calling. He is greater than every other human person, including Caesar, who was called Lord. Jesus is ‘the Lord’, acknowledging he has always been God (v 11). All nations will ultimately recognize him.
Nativity retellings emphasize the earthly dimension of Jesus’ birth. Today, join with Paul in thinking about the parallel event of Jesus’ exaltation (vs 9-11).
Apply
‘Though an infant now we view him, he will fill his Father’s throne, gather all the nations to him, every knee shall then bow down.’*
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, as I remember your lowly infant birth today, I thank you that I can look forward to your return as conquering King.
*’Angels from the Realms of Glory’, James Montgomery, 1816
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