| But made himself of no reputation ... | ||
| Philippians 2:7 | ||
| This phrase in Greek is ‘kenosis’, or, literally, ‘he emptied himself’. Jesus emptied Himself. Of what? Of His divinity? No. When Jesus came as a Man, He was still God. Then of what did He empty Himself? He emptied Himself of His Divine powers. The implications of the doctrine of kenosis are huge because it means that everything Jesus did — the miracles He ministered, the prayers He prayed, the teachings He gave — were not done in His own power. Jesus healed and prayed and taught through the power of the Holy Spirit as He followed the Father’s directives. Because I didn’t know this for probably 20+ years, when I read that Jesus walked on water, I thought, ‘Big deal. He’s Jesus’; when I read that He overcame temptation, I thought, ‘Big deal. He’s Jesus’; when I read that He spent the night in prayer, I thought, ‘Big deal. He’s Jesus.’ Thus, the miracles and stories of the Gospels were irrelevant to me as far as they related to being an example or model for me. I didn’t understand kenosis. I didn’t grasp Philippians 2. I didn’t comprehend that when Jesus came to earth, He emptied Himself of His Divine abilities — which means everything Jesus did, He did as a man just like me. Before He did anything, Jesus had to be obedient to the Father, to pray, to put Himself on the line, to be empowered by the Spirit — or nothing would happen. That’s why He said, ‘Of my own self, I can do nothing,’ (John 5:30) — and neither can you. When a man who is serious about loving and serving God understands the kenosis of Philippians 2, he’ll never look at Jesus the same way. He’ll see that Jesus’ life is truly a model for anyone willing to be directed by the Father and empowered by the Spirit. | ||
