Camp Senior High Monday Morning - humiliation of Christ
Summer Camp 2023 Apostle's Creed • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
Mary was truly pregnant - Jesus came into this Earth as one of us. He did not descend upon us in his glory (though he could have). Rather, he would be born of a woman so that he could call us his brothers in the flesh.
There was one point of difference though - Jesus doesn’t have an earthly father, at least not biologically.
This is important because Jesus was kept free from original sin
This has implications for our salvation as well. If Jesus could have been found guilty of original sin - Adam’s sin - then he would not have qualified as our redeemer.
and born of the virgin Mary.
and born of the virgin Mary.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Echoing part of what I said last point, Jesus was really and truly born. Just as I was born and you were born, Jesus was born - only not in a hospital and not under normal circumstances
The humble circumstances of Christ’s birth
in a stable
to a young woman
to a virgin (apparently a disgrace to those paying attention)
God made flesh, and as a baby no less
Here we have to recognize that we are confessing something that people will make fun of you for.
virgins don’t give birth - im not getting into why that is, but im assuming you know why that is. To profess to believe that a young virgin gave birth is not intuitive or normal, it is by nature supernatural and mystical.
If that wasn’t enough, the humiliation only ramps up from here...
It’s worthy of note that the creed says nothing of the 33 years between the birth of Jesus and his suffering
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
Christ’s adult life and ministry was even more humble than his birth.
Christ was made to suffer at the hands of men
the creator suffering at the hands of his creation
worse - Christ was made to suffer at the hands of the Romans (and the Jews)
the zealots expected the messiah to overthrow these oppressors, and here he is suffering at their hands!
the historical figure Pilate oversaw the suffering of Christ
Its important here to note that Pilate’s name is important here, and it gives our confession increased credibility even from a secular perspective. Pilate is a well-documented figure,
the fifth governor of the Roman province Jadaea
He was a governor under the emperor Tiberius
we have coins that he minted himself
the first-century historian Josephus has writings about Pilate that have survived to today.
That Pilate was a true, historical figure is not debated by anyone that we should take seriously, and neither is the fact that he really was the man that oversaw the trial of Jesus of Nazereth.
was crucified, died, and was buried;
was crucified, died, and was buried;
As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
Was crucified - a humiliating death
treated as a common criminal, as one who had no use left for society except to be used as an example
the agonizing death of a crucifixion
could take hours before the guards finally decided to just end it
Died
Jesus really died. Didn’t just seem to, or pretend to, but got a spear through the side as the blood and water gushed.
Was buried
the seal of death - being laid in a tomb
By the way, this is a historical fact acknowledged even by the secular world as well.
Outside of the gospels, which are reliably dated to the first century, we have:
Josephus
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he ... wrought surprising feats.... He was the Christ. When Pilate ...condemned him to be crucified, those who had . . . come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared ... restored to life.... And the tribe of Christians ... has ... not disappeared.
Tacitus - A.D. 64
Nero fastened the guilt ... on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of ... Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome
Lucian - 2nd century Greek satirist
The Christians ... worship a man to this day – the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account.... [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.
Pliny the younger - A.D. 112
They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food – but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.
he descended to hell.
he descended to hell.
Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
a complicated topic with a variety of views - but the main argument remains consistent. We won’t get lost in the weeds.
The fullness of Christ’s humiliation, and the fullness of it’s significance.
Christ experienced complete death
Christ bore the penalty for sin, which was complete death including God’s judgement
Lets stop for a moment and recount the humiliation of Christ
Why did he do any of this?
he didnt have to!
He did it to glorfy his Father in heaven
he did it also for you, the people that he loves.