Philippians 2:5–11 — “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The stained glass window that we are considering this evening is the one with the cross inside the crown. Again, there is a diagram on the cover of your worship folder.

I cannot imagine a greater contrast than that which we have in the two symbols in this window. The crown and the cross. A crown is for kings. A cross is for criminals. A crown suggests power and riches. A cross suggests poverty and rejection. A crown points to exaltation. A cross points to humiliation.

Yet, despite this contrast, both these symbols appear together on the same window, one inside the other. And what is even more remarkable is that both the symbol of the cross and the symbol of the crown are intended to point us to the same person. Both are intended to represent our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross represents His humiliation and the crown His exaltation. So tonight, as we think about this window, we want to consider this text which speaks of our Lord’s humiliation and exaltation, His cross and His crown.

First, let us think of the humiliation of Christ. To understand the humiliation of Christ, we must first understand who Jesus is and where He began. Our text says of Jesus that He “is in very nature God.” Jesus is true God. He is of the same nature as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He possesses all of the attributes of God. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving. He is perfect and holy. Like God, Jesus is eternal. There is never a time when Jesus has not existed. As God, Jesus had been in heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout eternity. In the beginning of our time, Jesus was active with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the creation of the entire universe and everything in it. In short, Jesus is true God, the second person of the Holy Trinity who comes from heaven.

Our text has all of that in mind when it says that Jesus “is in very nature God.” Then, it goes on to make a remarkable statement about Jesus. That statement begins, “He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” That means that Jesus did not consider this equality with God as something that had to be held on to at all costs. On the contrary, our text goes on to say, “He made Himself nothing.” In other words, He emptied Himself of all of His privileges as God. This means that when Jesus became a man and lived in our world, He never used His divine power to serve Himself, but only to serve others and fulfill His office as Messiah. So, for instance, when Jesus was hungry and needed food, He did not use His divine power to turn stones into bread. When the mob came to arrest Him, He could have called twelve legions of angels to rescue Him. As God, He had the power to do this. But He didn’t; He “made Himself nothing.” And our text goes on to say: He took “the very nature of a servant.” God the creator emptied Himself in this way in order to serve His creatures who had rebelled against Him and fallen into sin. Our text says: Jesus, who is of the same substance as the Father was “found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross.”

All of this is what we refer to as our Lord’s humiliation. And it is all represented in the cross on our window. It can be neatly summarized by thinking about the first part of the second article of the Apostle’s Creed. Jesus Christ, who is the true, eternal God was, “Conceived, born, He suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried.” All of that is depicted in the cross on our stained glass window.

Now, before we move on to talk about the crown, let us pause for just a moment and remember why Jesus emptied Himself of His divine power and humbled Himself in this way. Let us remember why that cross is on the window. In fact, this very question is asked in our Catechism, “Why did Christ humble Himself?” The answer it gives is “Christ voluntarily humbled Himself to redeem me a lost and condemned person.” Jesus humbled Himself to redeem you and me. This humiliation of Christ was the ransom price which has been paid to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil. There was simply no other way for us to be saved from sin and hell. If Jesus had not gone through this terrible humiliation and suffering, we would be “dead in our trespasses and sins.” We would be without God and without hope. Thank God that, for us and our salvation, Jesus willingly “humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross.” That’s the reason for the cross on this window.

Now, we turn to the crown. In our text, after speaking about this dark, terrible, humiliation of the Son of God, St. Paul, very suddenly, says “Therefore.” Listen to a part of it again. He says: Christ “humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross. Therefore...” That “therefore” is like being in a pitch dark room and suddenly turning on the light switch, and the room is filled with brilliant light. That one word “therefore,” suddenly moves us from the cross to the crown. It moves us from our Lord’s humiliation to His exaltation.

Our text says, “Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” We have now suddenly moved from the very lowest place, the place where criminals die, to the very highest place, the place of kings, where knees bow in submission. This is a very remarkable change. And remember it is all speaking of the same person. Both the cross and the crown represent Christ.

The exaltation of Jesus is described in the second part of the second article to the Apostle’s Creed. It begins with His descent into hell, where He proclaimed His victory to the captives there. And then He rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God, from which He will one day return to judge the living and the dead.

And this exaltation of Christ has some very great implications for the church. It assures us, for instance, that God has accepted Christ’s suffering and death as the full payment for our sins. And it assures us that Christ is still present with His church today, and gives us forgiveness through His Word and Sacraments. It means that Jesus today rules heaven and earth for the gracious benefit of His church. It means that in our worship, we join with angels and archangels in bowing our knee before the Lamb who was slain for our redemption, who is now seated upon the throne in heaven. It means that we strive to have the same mind as Christ, who humbled Himself in service to others.

And, the humiliation and exaltation of Christ reminds us that God will not abandon us. He is with us always. Just as He exalted Jesus after His obedient suffering, He will one day exalt all who continue to trust in Christ.

Right now our Lord’s crown is an article of faith. We cannot see Jesus seated at God’s right hand and ruling heaven and earth. But we believe it because that’s what God has told us in the Scriptures. But the day is coming when our Lord will return in glory, and that crown will be visible for all to see. When He comes in judgment, we will see every knee bow before Christ, the ruler of heaven and earth.