The Humiliation of Jesus

The previous statement in the Creed stated who Jesus is and used four of his names in doing so. Having stated who he is, the Creed then goes on to say what happened to him or what will yet happen to him. It mentions several details and they can be divided into two groups. The first set of details is concerned with what took place in his earthly life and the second set is concerned with what commenced with his resurrection. So we could summarise the description of Jesus by saying that the first set deals with what theologians have called the state of humiliation and the second set is concerned with what they have called the state of exaltation. What is described about each of those states does not mention everything that could be said about them. Instead, each set highlights some important matters concerning his person and his work.

Conceived by the Holy Spirit

His conception was the moment when the Son of God became a human. Obviously, his conception was different from all others because he existed before it took place – he had always been the eternal God. It was also different because a male parent was not involved. His conception is therefore unique.

 

The fact that he existed before his conception does not mean that at his conception the Son of God became two different persons. Instead, he remained one person but now he has two natures, one divine and one human. Although he remains one person, his natures are not mixed together. His divine nature does not develop in any way because he constantly has all divine attributes in perfection. His human nature, while he was on earth, went through the processes connected to childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

 

One reason why a special creative activity of the Holy Spirit was necessary is the requirement that the human nature had to be sinless. The angel Gabriel, when informing Mary of the child in her womb, spoke in this way: ‘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’ (Luke 1:35). While it is not possible for anyone to explain in detail how the Holy Spirit performed the conception, we realise the necessity that the One conceived to be the Saviour would have to be sinless, otherwise he would be in need of a saviour himself.

 

When the Creed mentions in particular the role of the Holy Spirit in the conception of Jesus, it is not suggesting that the Father and the Son were not involved. The Father planned the conception; indeed, he is described as preparing the body that his Son would have (Heb. 10:5). The Son united himself with the human nature at the moment of conception, and not even a micro-second afterwards – the human nature of Jesus had no separate existence by itself.

 

Born of the virgin Mary

Most are familiar with the details of the birth of Jesus, although the common understanding is often romanticised by its connection with modern notions of Christmas. The Creed highlights that Jesus was born of a virgin, and this had been predicted by the prophet Isaiah long before Mary was born. His prediction had not only stressed the miraculous element of such a birth, but it had also revealed that the One born in such a manner would be a pre-existing divine person: ‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel’ (Isa. 7:14). Matthew, when quoting that verse, tells his readers of the significance of the name Immanuel – it means ‘God with us’ (Matt. 1:23).

 

The circumstances of his birth, at a human level, were caused by the decisions of powerful people at the top of the tree, although they did not realise their involvement. Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, had decided that all his subjects should be registered in their home locations, which meant that Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to be registered. Centuries before this, the prophet Micah had predicted where the Messiah would be born: ‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days’ (Micah 5:2). When necessary, the sovereign God can involve the decisions of the most powerful of humans to fit with his will. Although Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, the birth would occur in Bethlehem.

 

His birth was also accompanied by the contrasting responses of heaven and earth. Luke tells us that angels came from heaven to sing about the birth whereas most people, even those in Bethlehem at that time, did not see any significance in it. Indeed, there was an unwillingness even to provide suitable accommodation for Mary at the moment of her giving birth. Yet, the shepherds to whom the angels had brought their song did go to see him because they realised that the Lord had spoken to them about the birth. And after they had seen the newborn infant, they continued to speak about him (Luke 2:1-18). Those responses picture what has happened since then. Heaven rejoices at what the Saviour accomplished, earth carries on as if nothing much took place, and his people love to speak about it.

 

During the period of her pregnancy, the One in Mary’s womb would have developed in the normal manner. There is no indication that the process of the birth was any different for her than for other mothers. It is likely that there would be genetic features from Mary visible in her firstborn son. David McIntyre, in one of his books, mentions an early tradition that said Jesus had the same colour of eyes as his mother. Yet whatever he took from his mother did not affect him in a way that caused him to inherit anything sinful. He was the first and only sinless child to be born in the history of the human race. 

 

He suffered under Pontius Pilate

The Creed passes over the life of Jesus, including the three years of his public ministry. It does not mention important events such as his baptism or the signs he performed that revealed he was the Messiah. Instead, it proceeds from his birth to the sufferings of his death. Perhaps a reason for mentioning Pilate was to remind people that the death of Jesus would have been recorded as happening during a specific time when Pilate was the Roman governor in Jerusalem. Maybe there is also an allusion to Pilate’s attempt to remove himself from any guilt for the injustice connected to the death of Jesus, an attempt which failed.

 

When we think about the One who suffered, we will be led to ask what kind of life the Sufferer had lived. Usually, sufferers under Pilate would have done so because of crimes that they had committed against the authorities; indeed, two men suffered alongside Jesus for their crimes. Jesus, in contrast to all those sufferers, had never committed a crime. In fact, he had never committed a sin, inwardly or outwardly, against God or anyone else. Instead, he had lived a holy life in thought, in word or in action.

 

In addition to knowing that Jesus suffered when Pilate was governor, we also know that Jesus suffered during the annual Jewish Passover feast. That ritual highlighted the need of a perfect substitute in order for imperfect people to be forgiven by God. In the ritual, the substitute was a lamb without defects of any kind, no matter how small. The smallest mark on a lamb would have been a cause for not using it. In a very graphic manner, the lamb pictured what was happening with Jesus. Jesus was sinless, without even the mark of the smallest sin, and on the cross he became the substitute for sinners. In the ritual, the worshipper identified with the lamb. As far as identifying with Jesus is concerned, sinners put their trust in him, but they do so recognising the importance of the fact that he suffered in the place of sinners. This identification is an expression of their love for and gratitude to Jesus as the Saviour.

 

Was crucified, dead and buried

The suffering under Pilate is further described by three things that happened to Jesus. Each of them required authority from Pilate before they could occur. Only Pilate, as the Roman governor, had the authority to pass the death sentence on a person; Pilate would not let another person take a victim down from a cross without being informed that the victim had died; and Pilate would have the authority to say that a crucified person could be buried away from the usual method of disposing of the bodies of crucified criminals. 

 

Crucified

In saying that Jesus was crucified, the Creed is saying that Jesus died a very painful death. It is well-known that crucified persons endured great agony, sometimes for several days. Moreover, the Creed is acknowledging that Jesus died a shameful death. To be crucified was to be regarded as particularly contemptable and dishonourable. Yet when believers mention that Jesus was crucified, they are saying more than that he suffered a painful and shameful death. They also affirm that, when he was crucified, he suffered under the wrath of God.

 

Paul explains this reality when he links the death of Jesus to an Old Testament pronouncement that a person hanged on a tree was cursed by God: ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”’ (Gal. 3:13). To undergo God’s curse was to experience his wrath. Yet, as Paul makes clear, Jesus was not punished for his own sins because he had not committed any. Rather he suffered in the place of those who deserved to be punished because of their sins against God. 

 

Moreover, his suffering is described by Paul as redemption, as the payment of a price that frees those in debt to God for their disobedience from the penalty they deserved. At the same time, redemption points to them being purchased by the Sufferer to be his own property. The crucified Jesus became the owner of his people when he suffered on the cross. They can be described as the blood-bought, who are no longer their own (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23). When they say that they believe that Jesus was crucified, they are confessing that they belong to him.

 

Dead

Jesus died on the cross. At first glance, it may seem odd to have to say that Jesus was both crucified and died, given that a crucified person would die. Yet we can see two important points in this reference. The first is that while the actions of crucifying and burying Jesus were carried out by others (we can see that aspect stressed in the way the actions are phrased), his death was his own voluntary act. Jesus had stated in his teaching that no-one took his life from him, that he would lay it down by himself. This is a reminder that while he was treated unjustly, he was never not in control. He was a king on the cross, able to state the eternal destiny of the penitent thief, and able to decide when he himself would enter the realm of death. Unlike the penitent thief, Jesus dismissed his spirit when he committed himself into the hands of his Father.

 

The second detail is that this reference to the fact that Jesus died is that the Creed is refuting a suggestion that Jesus did not really die on the cross. What are the evidences that Jesus died? There are at least two areas of proof: the actions of officialdom and the actions of his followers. If their actions could be disproved, then it would have been easy to deny the death of Jesus.

 

Officially, Pilate first gave Jesus, after he had been scourged, into the hands of competent executioners who knew what they were doing with regard to crucifixion and they confirmed, when asked, that Jesus had died. Second, Pilate only gave permission to Joseph of Arimathea to take down the body of Jesus after confirmation had been obtained (a soldier plunged a spear into Jesus in order to ensure that he had died). Third, Pilate gave orders that the tomb of Joseph should be guarded in case the disciples of Jesus tried to steal his dead body. It would have been easy for someone to discover if Pilate had not given these orders. But no attempt was made because even those who were opposed to Jesus knew that officialdom had done its work thoroughly and knew that Jesus had died. 

 

The second set of proofs is the responses of the followers of Jesus, mainly of the women who had remained at the cross and of two Jewish rulers who came there after Jesus had died. The women witnessed what had happened and their response was to prepare burial ointments for his dead body. Their action was moved by deep affection for him, yet it is obvious that they knew he had died. The other followers who witnessed his death had more credibility outside the church than the women would have had. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were both politicians whose word would be accepted and both of them also knew that Jesus had died, which was why they placed his body in Joseph’s tomb.  

 

Buried

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 summarises the message he had preached in Corinth and elsewhere and one of the details that he mentions is that his gospel included references to the burial of Jesus. In what ways did the inclusion of this detail help the gospel message? A first answer is that the burial had been predicted in Isaiah 53:9: ‘And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death.’  No doubt, many people would have been puzzled by what that prediction meant, and it would not have been clear until Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, went and buried in his tomb the body of Jesus. So the burial of Jesus proves the accuracy of Old Testament prophecy. 

 

Jesus himself also stated that he would be buried: ‘But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”’ (Matt. 12:39-41). Jesus in that interchange with the Jewish leaders made it clear to them that his burial would be a sign to the people of that generation that he was the Messiah. He did point out that part of the significance of the sign was that he would only be buried for three days and nights. So the burial authenticated the prediction of Jesus about himself. Of course, it was an extraordinary prediction because what kind of person could make such an announcement? The answer is that he had to be divine. 

 

His burial also shows to us the heart of Jesus. In what ways does it do so? Jesus has sanctified the grave and made it honourable. Death happens because we are sinners. It is a reminder that we humans have lost our greatness. Yet when Jesus was buried, it was not a reminder that he had lost his greatness. Instead it is a reminder that he wanted to share his greatness with us. Although it seemed as if all was lost, in fact his burial was one step away from glory, and because we are united to him by faith, in his burial we were only one step away from glory as well. The grave is a sad place for Christians when their loved ones die in the Lord, but it is not a place of devastation. In reality they are only one step away from glory, and that is what Jesus wants it to be. 

 

Moreover, Jesus has sweetened the grave for his people. Imagine Joseph of Arimathea as he looked at his future tomb every time he went for a walk in his garden. He would say to himself, ‘Jesus has been in there before me and for me.’ That thought would have made it easier for Joseph to face his own demise. And what Jesus did literally for Joseph, he has also done in reality for each of his people. He has left an aroma in the grave that will sweeten the experience for all who depend upon him.