The Humiliation that Exalts Us

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him” (Luke 22:63-65).

Human beings binding, beating, and blaspheming their Creator? These are the consequences of Christ’s willing surrender to His earthly captors… “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17-18). The men who thought they were Jesus’ captors were unaware and in denial of His true identity… “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). We get it because the grace of God has opened our eyes to see the true identity of Jesus Christ… “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:16). Today, the Holy Spirit gives us a breathtaking glimpse of the humiliation that exalts us.

He was bound that we might be free. Christ is praised and worshipped by all of creation… “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:10). Yet he was imprisoned and mocked by men. The Holy Spirit reveals that through His captivity, Jesus Christ was setting us free from bondage to sin… “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6). We are delivered from sin’s guilt through the beating and humiliation of Christ on the way to Calvary and on Calvary’s cross.

He was beaten that we might be healed. Christ is the perfect, spotless Lamb of God… “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Yet He was beaten and bruised by men. Through His physical humiliation and beating, He offers us healing… “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). We are delivered from sin’s disease through the beating and humiliation of Christ on the way to Calvary and on Calvary’s cross.

He was blasphemed that we might be sanctified. Here is a clear definition and illustration of blasphemy, that is to defame, revile, and deny the true character of God that was so clearly revealed by the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus Christ. They could not blindfold God who sees everything... “The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds” (Psalm 33:13-15). They could only pretend that God who knows what’s in the heart of man did not know who struck Him... “Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD; how much more the hearts of the children of man!” (Proverbs 15:11). Blasphemy is an unforgivable sin because to deny the divinity of Christ is to deny the Holy Spirit’s testimony that He is the Savior… “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:8-10). Christ’s surrender to the humiliation and blasphemies of His captors led to His exaltation on the cross and to the believer’s promise of exaltation in glory… “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:20-21). We have grace to live above sin through the blasphemy and humiliation of Christ on the way to Calvary and on Calvary’s cross.

As we grow up into Christ, we are being prepared for eternity with Him by understanding…

The Humiliation that Exalts Us.