Devotion 23 March 2026

I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; ----It is the Sovereign Lord, who helps me.  Isaiah 50: 6a + 9a

READING: Philippians 2: 6-11

I find it amazing how accurately the prophesy of Isaiah is, when he describes some of the gruesome torture that our Lord Jesus had to suffer from the Roman soldiers before His crucifixion.  In this week leading up to Palm Sunday when we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we also consider what He had to undergo following that entry.

In this passage from Philippians, we have a wonderful hymn describing our Lord Jesus Christ as a man, but also “Being in very nature God.”  It describes how He considered Himself to be a servant, even though He was God.  He humbled Himself and was obedient to His Father God and submitted to being tortured and being put to death in the cruelest way, by crucifixion on a cross, for the sins of the whole world.  His Father God recognized His obedience and named Him to be the highest and above all other creation.  His name was to be acknowledged as greater than any other, and would cause people to stop and worship him.  In this hymn of Paul, he invites us to have the same attitude as that of Jesus where we should stop trying to be the best, the first in line, but to humble ourselves and to serve, love and forgive one another without any pride.  It is a tough call, but it should be the very element of our daily lives.  We should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and is the Son of God and the Son of man, who lived an obedient life, giving glory to His Father God in all that He did.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we believe You are the Son of God, help our unbelief. We know that You led a humble, obedient life, honouring Your Father God until You were crucified and rose from the dead,  Make us to be humble like Jesus and to live our lives following Your example and sharing it with others.  We worship and glorify Your Holy Name.  Amen