Of No Reputation

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus came to earth and made Himself of no reputation when He left His throne of glory to become man. The Exalted One humbled Himself and became a servant. He wrestled in the Garden of Gethsemane with the thought of experiencing an excruciating death. But He obeyed His Father, knowing it was His will for Him to die so that we who did not deserve it would have everlasting life.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. Isaiah 53:4-7

Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. He took on our sins upon Himself and died for us. This is abundant love, mercy and grace. Although, we were in rebellion, He showered us with abounding love. All we should have received was punishment, but He showed us mercy. We shouldn’t even have eternal life because of our sins, but He gave us grace. He took our punishment and was tortured because we sinned. He had no sin but stood in our place. He did all of this with humility and not fighting back. I can’t think of doing all this for a good person, much less someone who I would regard as wicked. But God’s ways are far above our own.

The Jews expected a warring king, but instead He came as a meek lamb. We often want Jesus to meet our expectations, but He came in a manner we could never have imagined. We portray Jesus with features that make Him look like a handsome movie star. This may make us more comfortable and accepting of Him to think of Him as good looking. But He did not look like the Jesus in The Passion of Christ or The Chosen. Many people would not have chosen Jesus because of His appearance. He wasn’t considered a handsome man. His looks would not have drawn us to Him.  

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah 53:1-3

Many hated Jesus and had no respect for Him. He was for the most part rejected. However, there were still many who followed Him - some for His miracles of healing and others loved the bread He could easily multiply. Yet, there were those who were of no reputation who followed Him. They were fishermen, outcasts and women who had little value to society. At the cross the women who followed Him wept at His feet and it was women who first realized that He was no longer in the tomb. Although women were considered insignificant at that time, He gave them worth and had them first share the greatest news ever told – He is risen!

He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. Luke 24:6-11

These women may have been of no reputation like Jesus, but they told the truth even though their words were thought to be idle. They should be an example for us as they have demonstrated  that no matter what people think of us, we must not worry about our reputation or whether they will believe or not. Let us tell all that “He is risen!”