Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
Proofs
- Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, (Luke 2:7)
- made under the law, (Galatians 4:4)
- undergoing the miseries of this life, (Hebrews 12:2–3; Isaiah 53:2–3)
- the wrath of God, (Luke 22:44; Matthew 27:46)
- and the cursed death of the cross; (Philippians 2:8)
- in being buried, (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)
- and continuing under the power of death for a time. (Acts 2:24–27, 31; Matthew 12:40)
Additional Exposition
Section 1
Did Christ humble himself?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He made himself of no reputation, (Philippians 2:7)
And was it requisite that he should do so?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For thus it was written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, (Luke 24:46)
Did he humble himself in his birth?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He took upon him the form of a servant, (Philippians 2:7)
Was he born of a poor stock?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was a root out of a dry ground, (Isaiah 53:2)
And in a poor place?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Bethlehem was little among the thousands of Judah, (Micah 5:2)
Was he poorly provided for?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: She brought forth her first born, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, (Luke 2:7)
Was this widely different from his former estate?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For he was rich, though for our sakes he became poor, (2 Corinthians 8:9)
Section 2
Was Christ made under the law?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4)
Was he circumcised?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was circumcised the eighth day, (Luke 2:21)
Was he thereby obliged to keep the whole law?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law, (Galatians 5:3)
And did he actually keep it?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Which of you convinceth me of sin? (John 8:46)
Did he observe the ceremonial as well as the moral law?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Then went he up also unto the feast, (John 7:10)
And did he not only obey the precepts of the law, but bear the penalties of it?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was made a curse for us, (Galatians 3:13)
Section 3
Did Christ undergo the miseries of this life?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was a man of sorrows, (Isaiah 53:3)
Were his temptations a trouble to him?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He suffered, being tempted, (Hebrews 2:18)
And his little success?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was grieved for the hardness of their hearts, (Mark 3:5)
And the sorrows of his friends?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For when he saw Mary weeping, he groaned in spirit and was troubled, (John 11:33)
And the contradictions of his enemies?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He endured the contradictions of sinners against himself. (Hebrews 12:2)
Was his doctrine opposed?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They said he deceiveth the people, (John 7:12)
Were his miracles slandered?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He casteth out devils by Belzebub the prince of devils, (Matthew 12:24)
And were his best actions misrepresented?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Behold a gluttonous man a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, (Luke 7:34)
Section 4
Was Christ unknown to the world?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Whom none of the princes of the world knew, (1 Corinthians 2:8)
Was he despised?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was despised and rejected of men. (Isaiah 53:3)
Was he reproached?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was a reproach of men, (Psalm 22:6)
Was he persecuted?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: The Jews took up stones to stone him, (John 10:31)
Had he any fixed abode?
Answer: No.
Proof: The son of man hath not where to lay his head, (Luke 9:58)
Had he any certain maintenance?
Answer: No.
Proof: For he was hungry and had nothing to eat, (Mark 11:12)
Were his countrymen unkind?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He came to his own and his own received him not, (John 1:11)
Did many of his friends prove false?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him, (John 6:66)
And were those on whom he bestowed favours unthankful?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine, (Luke 17:17)
Section 5
Was Christ’s death another instance of his humiliation?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, (Philippians 2:8)
Was his death a painful one?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: It was the death of the cross, (Philippians 2:8)
Was it a shameful one?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For he endured the cross, despising the shame, (Hebrews 12:2)
Was it a cursed one?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree, (Galatians 3:14)
Did he suffer in his body?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, (Hebrews 10:10)
Did he suffer in his feeling?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They pierced his hands and his feet, (Psalm 22:16)
And in his taste?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They gave him vinegar mingled with gall, (Matthew 27:34)
And in his sight?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They wagged their heads at him, (Matthew 27:39)
And in his hearing?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They that passed by reviled him, (Matthew 27:39)
And in his smelling?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They brought him to Golgotha, that is to say, the place of a skull, (Matthew 27:33)
Did he also suffer in his soul?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Now is my soul troubled, (John 12:27)
And was this the sorest of all his sufferings?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was in an agony, (Luke 22:44)
Section 6
Did Christ suffer from the Father?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He was smitten of God, (Isaiah 53:4)
And from Satan?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Thou shalt bruise his heel, (Genesis 3:15)
And from men?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: This is your hour and the power of darkness, (Luke 22:53)
Was he betrayed by one disciple?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: The devil put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him, (John 13:2)
And forsaken by the rest?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: All his disciples forsook him and fled, (Matthew 26:56)
Was he falsely accused?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: They sought false witness against him, (Matthew 26:59)
And unjustly condemned?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For Pilate said, I find no fault in him, (Luke 23:4)
And inhumanly executed?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For he was scourged, crowned with thorns, and made to bear his own cross, (Matthew 27:26, 29)
Section 7
Did Christ die to display the justice and holiness of God?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: To declare his righteousness that he might be just, (Romans 3:26)
And to represent the great evil and malignity of sin?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For sin he condemned sin in the flesh, (Romans 8:3)
And to set us an example of patience and resignation to the divine will?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For as much as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, (1 Peter 4:1)
And to glorify that law which man hath broken?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: He hath magnified the law and made it honourable, (Isaiah 42:21)
And to destroy Satan?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, even the devil, (Hebrews 2:14)
And to break the power of sin?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, (Romans 6:6)
And to bring in a justifying righteousness?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities, (Isaiah 53:11)
And to procure us a title to heaven?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For the saints shall reign in life by one, Christ Jesus, (Romans 5:17)
Was it for the elect that Christ thus suffered and died?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: For he loved the church and gave himself for it, (Ephesians 5:25)
Section 8
Was Christ buried?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: And that he was buried, (1 Corinthians 15:4)
Was he buried at another’s expense?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: And when Joseph had taken the body he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own tomb, (Matthew 27:59–60)
Did he continue under the power of death for a time?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, (Matthew 12:40)
And was this a part of Christ’s humiliation?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: Thou hast brought me into the dust of death, (Psalm 22:15)
Practical response
Should the sufferings of Christ make sinners tremble?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? (Luke 23:31)
And the saints rejoice?
Answer: Yes.
Proof: God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Galatians 6:14)