“Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;

rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,

each looking out not for his own interests,

but also for those of others.

Have in you the same attitude

that is also in Christ Jesus,

Who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.”

Jesus emptied himself to make room for our humanity with his divinity. This idea is expressed in the Greek word kenosis, to empty. Imagine, for a moment, having grown up as royalty. Every will or desire fulfilled: nannies, servants, tutors, cooks, drivers, gardeners, maids, guards, etc. You had not want nor need. In a sense, you were all in all. Having ascended the throne, you discovered that the deceased king and queen had given care of your twin sister to an orphanage because of her blindness. It was not a kind place and after years of neglect and mistreatment she was turned out on the street, eking out her meager and mean existence as a beggar alone with no home or family. Moved with compassion and righteousness, you sought her out. You sent many to assist her, but every attempt to help was rejected. When you, yourself, went, she recoiled at your power and might. She didn’t trust royalty one bit. So, you did something radical. You left behind your robes, your guards, your servants, and all the trappings of power and became a beggar living on the streets. You sat, day after day, with your sister in her squalor and befriended her bit by bit. You lived as she lived, begged as she begged, and suffered as she suffered. She was no longer alone. She learned love and glimpsed happiness. Amidst the pain, she had joy. In a terrible freezing storm, you huddled together for warmth and comfort. In the end, you died as she died, not alone, but together. This is kenosis. 

To take on our humanity, Jesus set aside not his divine nature, but all his sufficiency, glory, and power. Willingly and willfully, he limited himself to become one of us. In, for, and through love, Jesus emptied himself. He became like us in all things but sin. God, in person, entered our limited time and space, walked the earth, was born, lived, and died. It is something to be grasped! It could easily remain esoteric, but Paul sees it as a pattern or model for how we, ourselves, should live. Our ego can be boundless, selfish, and mean. The universe orbits our ego. We are the center. Paul offers us a different path, “…humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.” This is dying to self to live in Christ. Specifically, it is emptying ourselves to take on the burdens of others. We can all think of practical applications, from the interstate to the office, from the sports field to the family, or from the parking lot to the voting booth. The way of love is the way of self emptying. It is kenosis. It is the way of the cross.