Jesus emptied himself …

Ever thought about self-emptying? It’s a colossal thought when applied to how we understand God. Now, we believe that Jesus is God. As Paul says in this hymn from his letter to the Philippians 2:5-11 (our first reading for today), “His state was divine” or “He existed in the form of God”. But Jesus did not cling to his existence as God? Take a deep breath because this is getting to be some heavy stuff. The tough part is to believe that, in some enormously mysterious way, God “flipped herself or himself” you might say. As John says, in his gospel, “the Word became flesh”. The One who extends beyond all that exists chose to become a speck of the universe, a fetus in a mother’s womb, one who is totally dependent on a woman for existence, growth and emergence into the world. Paul calls this “the condition of a slave”. A bit strong perhaps. But still, this is God emptying God-self. You think this is the ultimate expression of God’s love. Sounds like it. Mind you, if it weren’t for this young woman from an obscure village in the isolated province of Galilee, by the name of Miriam or Mary, I am not sure where God would go then. Anyway, this child emerges and grows and eventually makes his way to become the ultimate sacrifice. It was the centurion who looked at this dismal broken figure on the cross and said, “Truly this is a son of God”. The total emptying of this human person leads us back to God. This is tough going. But it’s worth the effort, even to the point where you find yourself stumbling to your knees in adoration and you come to utter that confession or acclamation, in whatever language you speak, that this man is the One sent by God, the One who is the self-emptying of God, whose sacrifice makes a difference for every woman and man who was ever called into existence because, as a result of this sacrifice, we all give expression to the boundless glory of God. I’ll leave it at that. Take your time and find your own way to express this unbelievable mystery we could call the self-emptying of God.