Question 27: Christ's Humiliation

Question 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.

There is no better introduction to this topic than Paul's instruction in Philippians 2:5-8. "Have this mind among yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

The catechism follows Paul's lead by recognizing that the moment Christ became human, he willingly humiliated himself. Paul uses the word "emptied" not to indicate that Christ lost any of his deity, but to show that by becoming human Christ gave up the glory he deserved from men in exchange for their scorn. Christ's entire life on earth until his death was a continual process of humiliation, from his humble birth to the rejection of his ministry to the plot that put him on the cross. But on the cross, this humiliation went further than humiliation from man. Christ willingly suffered the wrath and curse of God on behalf of his people, paying for their sins, so that he might redeem them. His death was complete, as is proved by his burial, and so the sacrifice for sin was fully effective.