<p>2:7 <i>But poured himself out- </i>Christ &ldquo;made himself of no reputation&rdquo;, or &ldquo;emptied himself&rdquo; (R.V.), alluding to the prophecy of his crucifixion in Is. 53:12: &ldquo;He poured out his soul unto death&rdquo;. He &ldquo;took upon himself the form (demeanour) of a servant&rdquo; by his servant-like attitude to his followers (Jn. 13:14), demonstrated supremely by his death on the cross (Mt. 20:28). Is. 52:14 prophesied concerning Christ&rsquo;s sufferings that on the cross &ldquo;his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men&rdquo;. This progressive humbling of himself &ldquo;unto death, even the death of the cross&rdquo; was something which occurred during his life and death, not at his birth. We have shown the context of this passage to relate to the mind of Jesus, the humility of which is being held up to us as an example to copy. These verses must therefore speak of Jesus&rsquo; life on earth, in our human nature, and how he humbled himself, despite having a mind totally in tune with God, to consider our needs.</p><p><i>Taking the mental attitude of a servant, and was the made just the same as all ordinary men</i>- Trinitarians please note that Phil. 2 was written by Paul with his mind on the <i>death </i>not <i>birth</i> of Christ, as their false theology requires (Phil. 2:7 = Mt. 10:28; and note the connections with Is. 53). The mixture of the Divine and human in the Lord Jesus is what makes Him so compelling and motivational. He was like us in that He had our nature and temptations; and yet despite that, He was different from us in that He didn't sin. Phil. 2 explains how on the cross, the Lord Jesus was so supremely &quot;in the likeness of men&quot;; and yet the same 'suffering servant' prophecy which Phil. 2 alludes to also makes the point that on the cross, &quot;his appearance was so unlike the sons of Adam&quot; (Is. 52:14). There was something both human and non-human in His manifestation of the Father upon the cross. Never before nor since has such supreme God-likeness, 'Divinity' , if you like, been displayed in such an extremely human form- a naked, weak, mortal man in His final death throes.</p><p>The Lord <i>taking upon himself</i> the form of a servant is to be connected with how at the Last Supper, He <i>took</i> (s.w.) a towel and girded Himself for service (Jn. 13:4). The connection between the Last Supper and Phil. 2, which describes the Lord's death on the cross, would suggest that the Lord's washing the disciples' feet was an epitome of His whole sacrifice on the cross. The passage describing the Last Supper begins with the statement that the Lord &quot;loved us unto the end&quot; (Jn. 13:1). This is an evident description of the cross itself; and yet His service of His followers at the Last Supper was therefore an epitome of the cross. As that Supper was &quot;prepared&quot; (Mt. 26:17,19), so the Lord on the cross &quot;prepared&quot; a place for us in the Kingdom (Jn. 14:1 s.w.). As the observing disciples didn't understand what the Lord was doing by washing their feet, so they didn't understand the way to the cross (Jn. 13:7 cp. 36). There is thus a parallel between the feet washing and His death. But in both cases, the Lord Jesus promised them that there was coming a time when they would understand His washing of their feet; and then they would know the way to the cross, and follow Him. John describes the Lord <i>laying aside</i> His clothes in order to wash the feet of His followers with the same word he frequently employs to describe how Christ of His own volition <i>laid down</i> His life on the cross, as an act of the will (Jn. 10:11,15,17,18); and how later His sacrificed body was <i>laid aside</i> (19:41,42; 20:2,13,15). As the Lord laid Himself down for us, epitomized by that deft laying aside of His clothes, so, John reasons, we must likewise purposefully lay down our lives for our brethren (1 Jn. 3:16). As He did at the last supper, so He bids us do for each other. John uses the same word for Christ's &quot;garments&quot; in his records of both the last supper and the crucifixion (13:4,12 cp. 19:23). It could be noted that the man at the supper without garments was seen by the Lord as a symbol of the unworthy (Mt. 22:11 cp. Lk. 14:16,17). He humbled Himself to the level of a sinner; He created the story of the sinful man who could not lift up His eyes to Heaven to illustrate what He meant by a man humbling himself so that he might be exalted (Lk. 18:14). And He humbled Himself (Phil. 2:9), He took upon Himself the form of a servant and of a sinner, both in the last supper and the final crucifixion which it epitomized. As the Lord Jesus laid aside His garments and then washed the disciples' feet with only a towel around His waist, so at the crucifixion He laid aside His clothes and perhaps with a like nakedness, served us unto the end: the betrayers and the indifferent and the cautiously believing alike. Throughout the record of the Last Supper, there is ample evidence on the Lord's awareness of Judas' betrayal (Jn. 13:10,11,18,21,25). The account in 1 Cor. 11:23 likewise stresses how the Supper was performed with the Lord's full awareness of Judas' betrayal. It is perhaps therefore inevitable that we in some ways struggle with the problems of rejection, of betrayal, of being misunderstood and not appreciated by our brethren. For these were all essential parts of the Lord's passion, which He asks us to share with Him.</p><p>The Lord in His time of dying was and is the definition of self-humbling: &ldquo;But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted&rdquo; (Mt 23:11-12). Being a servant to others is the &lsquo;abasing&rsquo; or s.w. humbling that will lead to exaltation. The Lord became a servant of all in His death (Mk. 10: 44,45). These things are brought together in Phil. 2:5-11, where we are invited to have nothing less than the mind of Christ in the self-humbling of the cross: &ldquo;Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who&hellip;thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men&hellip;he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name&hellip;&rdquo;. The seven stages of the Lord&rsquo;s self-humiliation are matched by seven stages of the Father&rsquo;s exaltation of Him (read on in Phil. 2 and note them). And this pattern is to be ours. This mind is to be in us. Because of this, &ldquo;Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other&hellip; look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others&rdquo; (Phil 2:3-4). Every time we look on the things of others rather than just our own, not seeking our own glory but esteeming others enough to see them as worth suffering for&hellip;we have achieved the spirit of the cross, we have reached self-humbling. As the Lord died for Himself and others, so we are to look on the things of our salvation <i>as well as </i>those of others. This must be the foundation principle of all aspirations to preach or strengthen our brethren: esteeming others, thinking they are worth the effort, seeking their salvation.</p><p>&quot;In the likeness of man... in human form&quot; doesn't mean that the Lord Jesus only appeared as a man, when He was in fact something else. Rather the emphasis is upon the fact that He truly was like us. Going deeper, F.F. Bruce has suggested that these terms &quot;represent alternative Greek renderings of the Aramaic phrase <i>kebar-'enash </i>(&quot;like a son of man&quot;) in Daniel 7:13&quot; (F.F. Bruce, <i>Paul And Jesus</i> (London: S.P.C.K., 1977) p. 77).</p>