How Christ Humbled Himself for Us

Q. 27: Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist?
Answer: 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. (WSC)

The eternal Son of God humbled himself for his people's salvation. As Philippians 2:1-11 says, though he was God, equal with the Father, yet he became a servant, in humility counting others more significant than himself. He looked not only to his interests, but also to the interests of others.

As the catechism has already explained and as Philippians 2 recounts, his estate of humiliation began when he took on human nature, being conceived in Mary’s womb and born of her. And not only did the one by whom all things were created become man, but he was born into a relatively poor family. He had a manger for his cradle. He was an exile in Egypt as an infant. He grew up in an obscure little town as the son of a carpenter (Luke 2, Matt. 2). In addition, he submitted to the regulations of the Mosaic law such as circumcision as one of his people (Gal. 4:4, Luke 2:21-27).

While Jesus never sinned, yet he experienced the misery of our fallen estate. He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3). He bore our sins and received our punishment, undergoing the wrath of God and the painful, shameful, and cursed death of the cross (Is. 53). We see his experience of God’s wrath particularly as he approached his death in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44) and on the cross itself (Matt. 27:46). Yet in both places he continued to call on his Father and submit to his will, entrusting his spirit and his vindication to his Father. Then, after Jesus died, his lifeless body was laid in the tomb and he continued in the state of the dead and under the dominion of death for a time (Rom. 6:9, Acts 2:24-27).

It is important to remember that Jesus undertook this work out of love for us and in willingly submission to his Father who sent him in love for us (Eph. 5:2, John 6:38). And while Jesus humbled himself during this time, yet this work was in fact a triumph. The cross - the epitome of shame and defeat - was actually the instrument by which our debt of sin was canceled and by which demonic powers were disarmed and put to shame (Col. 2:14-15). And it was because Jesus humbled himself in this way that he was consequently exalted in supreme glory as Lord and Savior (Phil. 2:9-11).

Jesus the King

Q. 26: How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
Answer: Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. (WSC)

While Jesus has an eternal dominion over all as God, he also has received a mediatorial dominion over all as our Redeemer, to the end that he might save, lead, and protect God’s elect and thereby restore God’s reign over a fallen world (Matt. 28:18).

By nature, the world is under the kingdom of Satan and the judgment of God. But by grace, people are brought into the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God and of His Christ (Col. 1:13-14). Jesus binds the strong man and plunders his house, drawing people into his kingdom (Matt. 12:25-29).

The kingdom of Israel under King David and his heirs was the manifestation of this kingdom in the Old Testament. God chose this people and provided them with a king to deliver them and give them peace and rest (2 Sam. 7:8-11, Ps. 78:70-72). He promised to raise up David’s offspring to succeed him and to establish his throne forever (2 Sam. 7:12-16, Ps. 72, 89:1-37).

Yet, as David’s descendants acted corruptly, the kingdom fell. The prophets explained to the people that this was temporary. God would remember his covenant with David and raise up his heir and restore his kingdom and make it greater than ever before (Is. 9:6-7, 11:1-10, Ezek. 34:23-24, Micah 5:2-4). The king would return to Israel and shepherd God’s people and extend his reign to the ends of the earth. This would be the Christ, God’s anointed, who would deliver his people and establish heaven’s reign on earth. As the fulfillment of this prophecy, Jesus came as the Son of David, the promised king (Luke 1:31-33).

Psalm 110 serves as a good summary of his kingship. Jesus was enthroned as king when he ascended to his Father’s right hand on the basis of his victorious work of redemption (Ps. 110:1). He now rules in the midst of his enemies, making his enemies his footstool (110:1-2). First, he does this by subduing the hearts of his people in conversion by his word and Spirit, so that they “offer themselves freely on the day of [his] power” (110:3). He rules his people internally by his grace and externally by his word, discipline, and officers. He rewards their obedience, corrects them for their sins, and orders all things for their good. Second, he does this by restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. He “will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses” (110:5-6). As Psalm 2 describes the choice, we must either submit to the king and take refuge in him or suffer his wrath and perish (Ps. 2:12). He wields this power even now as he extends his kingdom. For example, he overthrew Jerusalem for its persistent persecution of him and his disciples. But one day he will return in glory to judge the world, bringing all of this work to perfect completion.

Jesus the Priest

Q. 25: How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
Answer: Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us. (WSC)

As the catechism has already said, Jesus became our redeemer to deliver us from our estate of sin and misery. The position of redeemer (the larger catechism uses the term “mediator” to refer to the same position) has three aspects. As our redeemer he executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king.

The book of Hebrews explains a great deal about the priesthood of Jesus. It describes how he is a merciful high priest, able to sympathize with our weakness, having been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 2:17, 4:15). It teaches that he is a priest of the order of Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem who received a tithe from Abraham and was a type of Christ (Heb. 7, Ps. 110:4). In contrast to the Levitical priests, who were “many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, [Jesus] holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever” (Heb. 7:23-24). He continues even now to make intercession for those who draw near to God through him (Heb. 7:25). Hebrews also explains how Jesus secured an eternal redemption by his once-for-all offering of himself as a sacrifice without blemish to God (Heb. 9:12, 14). “But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26).

By his death, Jesus satisfied divine justice and reconciled us to God. His sacrifice of himself was a “propitiation” for our sins (Rom. 3:25, Heb. 2:17, 1 John 2:2, 4:10), which is to say that it appeased the just wrath of God and incurred God's favor by atoning for our sins. It is the grounds for our forgiveness, the debt of sin having been paid by Christ. It is the basis for Christ's intercession for us before the Father, so that our persons and service is accepted by him. This is not to say that Jesus and the Father were at cross-purposes. The Father had sent the Son because of his love for us for this very purpose, that God and sinners be reconciled. As John Murray has said, “The doctrine of the propitiation is precisely this: that God loved the objects of His wrath so much that He gave His own Son to the end that He by His blood should make provision for the removal of this wrath.”

Jesus the Prophet

Q. 24: How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
Answer: Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. (WSC)

I think it is safe to say that Moses was the greatest prophet in the Old Testament. The concluding postscript of Deuteronomy says that “there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt…” (Deut. 34:10-11). Yet, Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15-16 that the Lord would raise up a prophet like Moses for his people, to mediate between them and the Lord.

When people began to observe Jesus’ teaching and miracles, they realized that he was this great prophet, the Prophet. The Gospel of John makes this clear by noting that John the Baptist denied that he was the Prophet (John 1:21-27), while the people correctly realized that Jesus was the Prophet (John 6:14, 7:40). Peter himself quoted the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18 in Acts 3:22 as referring to Jesus.

Both John and the writer of Hebrews pointed out that Jesus surpassed the other prophets by being God himself, the eternal Word, the only-begotten Son of the Father (John 1:1-3, 14-18, Hebrew 1:1-3, 3:1-6). Jesus makes his Father known perfectly and completely because he is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3). And as the Redeemer who accomplished redemption, Jesus proclaimed the final and permanent administration of the covenant of grace. Therefore Jesus is the final word. “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Heb. 1:1-2a). This is why Scripture was completed and revelation ceased once his word given through the apostles was written down (Heb. 2:3-4).

Jesus exercised this prophetic ministry during his time on earth as he preached the gospel, taught his disciples, told parables, pronounced blessings and woes, foretold future events, taught through symbolic actions, and did miracles, signs, and wonders. Yet, his earthly ministry was not the only time he executed the office of a prophet. He also revealed God’s will by his Spirit through the prophets and through his apostles whom he commissioned (1 Peter 1:11, John 14:25-26, 15:26-27). The prophets and apostles are the foundation and he is the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). In addition, Jesus continues to exercise this office as he disciples us through Scripture and enlightens our minds by his Spirit to understand it (1 Cor. 2:12-16).