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When we think about Christmas, words such as joy, peace, hope, and salvation naturally come to mind.
However, there is another word that belongs near the center of the Christmas story:
humility.
The humility of Jesus at Christmas becomes astonishing when we remember who entered our world.
The eternal Son did not begin to exist in Bethlehem.
Instead, the One through whom all things were made took upon Himself genuine human nature.
John 1:14 says:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory…”
Therefore, Christmas is not merely the story of an extraordinary baby.
It is the story of the eternal Son entering the human condition.
Moreover, He did not come surrounded by earthly splendor.
He came in humility.
Yet His humility did not end at His birth.
Philippians 2 takes us from His preexistent glory to His incarnation, servanthood, obedience, and ultimately His death on the cross.
Consequently, if we want to understand Christmas more deeply, we should look not only at the manger but at the mind of Christ.
What Does the Humility of Jesus at Christmas Mean?
Philippians 2:5–8 gives us one of the clearest biblical pictures:
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus… he emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Notice Paul’s purpose.
He is not giving the Philippians a lesson in Christology simply to increase their theological information.
Instead, he tells them:
“Have this mind among yourselves.”
Therefore, the humility of Christ is both something we worship and something we imitate.
First, we look at Him.
Then, His example exposes our pride.
Ultimately, Christmas calls us not merely to admire humility but to practice it.
1. The Humility of Jesus at Christmas Begins With Who He Is
Jesus’ humility becomes meaningful only when we understand His identity.
If Jesus were merely an ordinary man born into modest circumstances, His humble beginnings would still be moving.
However, the New Testament says much more.
John describes Him as the eternal Word.
Moreover, Philippians 2 speaks of Christ existing “in the form of God.”
Therefore, the wonder of Christmas is not that a poor child eventually became great.
It is that the glorious Son came down.
He did not climb toward deity.
Instead, He entered humanity.
Consequently, Christmas begins with descent rather than ascent.
Our culture constantly teaches us to move upward.
Gain influence.
Build status.
Increase visibility.
Yet Jesus moves in the opposite direction.
Jesus Did Not Stop Being God
Here we must be theologically careful.
Philippians 2 says Christ “emptied himself.”
However, Paul does not mean Jesus emptied Himself of His deity or ceased possessing divine attributes.
The text itself explains the emptying:
He emptied Himself “by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
Therefore, the Son’s emptying is not subtraction of deity but the taking on of genuine humanity and the servant role.
Jesus remained fully divine.
Moreover, He became truly human.
This is why Christmas is so profound.
The eternal Son did not stop being who He was.
Instead, He took upon Himself what He had not previously possessed: a human nature.
For more about His miraculous entrance into the world:
2. The Humility of Jesus Is Seen in His Willingness to Become Human
We cannot choose where we are born.
Neither can we choose our parents, nationality, century, or family circumstances.
However, the incarnation was not an accident.
The Son willingly entered our world according to God’s saving purpose.
Therefore, the humanity of Jesus itself reveals astonishing condescension.
He experienced hunger.
Moreover, He became tired.
He grew from infancy to adulthood.
He knew sorrow.
Eventually, He suffered.
Yet He did all of this without sin.
Hebrews tells us that He can sympathize with our weaknesses while remaining sinless.
Consequently, Christians do not worship a distant God who remained untouched by human suffering.
In Jesus, God the Son entered our human condition.
He Came Into a Broken World Without Sharing Its Sin
Sometimes we say Jesus “identified with our fallen race.”
That phrase needs qualification.
Jesus truly entered a fallen world.
Moreover, He shared genuine human existence.
However, Scripture does not present Him as personally fallen or sinful.
He was “without sin.”
Therefore, it is better to say:
Jesus entered our broken human world without participating in our rebellion against God.
That makes His humility even more remarkable.
He entered the mess created by sin in order to save sinners.
3. The Humility of Jesus at Christmas Is Seen in His Lowly Circumstances
Luke tells us that Mary laid Jesus in a manger because there was no suitable guest space available for them.
Therefore, the Messiah’s first resting place was not a royal cradle.
However, we should avoid adding details Scripture does not provide.
The Bible does not explicitly say Jesus was born in a wooden stable surrounded by the exact scene found in many Christmas cards.
Instead, Luke simply tells us that He was laid in a manger.
That is enough.
The King entered the world without the visible status people associate with kings.
Moreover, His mother and Joseph were not members of an earthly royal court.
Yet heaven recognized what earth largely missed.
Angels announced His birth.
Shepherds came.
Eventually, wise men worshiped Him.
Therefore, humble circumstances did not diminish His identity.
Humility Is Not the Same as Worthlessness
This distinction matters.
Biblical humility does not mean thinking:
“I am worthless.”
Neither does it mean denying gifts God has given us.
Jesus knew exactly who He was.
Yet He served.
Therefore, humility is not pretending we have no value.
Instead, humility means refusing to use status, gifts, strength, or position merely to exalt ourselves.
Jesus demonstrates this perfectly.
He possesses infinite dignity.
Nevertheless, He stoops to serve.
4. Jesus Was a King Who Chose the Way of a Servant
Jesus did not refuse to be King.
He is the Messiah, Son of David, and King.
Moreover, Matthew presents Him as such from the beginning.
The issue is that His kingship does not resemble the prideful kingdoms of this world.
Jesus did not establish His kingdom through self-exaltation, manipulation, or military ambition.
Instead, He walked the path of servanthood.
Mark 10:45 says:
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Therefore, Christmas introduces us to a King whose greatness is revealed through service.
The King Went Lower Still
The manger was not the lowest point of Jesus’ humility.
The cross was.
Philippians 2 moves from incarnation to servanthood and then toward:
“obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Therefore, the Christmas story cannot ultimately be separated from Good Friday.
Jesus was born in order to accomplish the mission the Father gave Him.
Moreover, His road leads toward sacrifice.
The wood of a manger should not be romanticized into a direct prophecy of the cross.
Yet the theological direction is unmistakable:
the Son came to give His life.
For more:
5. The Genealogy of Jesus Reveals God’s Grace
Matthew begins his Gospel with a genealogy.
At first, that may seem like a strange way to open the story of Christmas.
However, the genealogy tells us something important.
Jesus entered real human history.
Moreover, His family line includes stories of faithfulness, failure, scandal, suffering, outsiders, kings, and ordinary people.
Matthew specifically mentions Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and “the wife of Uriah.”
Therefore, we should resist turning these women merely into illustrations of shame.
Their stories are more complex.
Ruth, for example, becomes an extraordinary example of faithfulness.
Moreover, Tamar’s story exposes serious failures within Judah’s family.
Rahab is incorporated into God’s people through faith.
Bathsheba appears in a story involving David’s grievous abuse of power and sin.
Consequently, the genealogy does not tell us that Jesus came from a neat family history.
Instead, it shows God’s grace working through deeply complicated human history.
Jesus Is Not Ashamed to Enter Our Human Story
We often try to edit our family histories.
We display what makes us proud.
Meanwhile, we hide what embarrasses us.
However, Scripture does not sanitize the genealogy of Messiah.
God’s redemptive plan moves through real people with real failures.
Therefore, Christmas gives hope to people whose lives do not look perfect.
Grace works in messy history.
Moreover, Christ came precisely because humanity needed redemption.
6. The Humility of Jesus at Christmas Confronts Our Pride
Paul’s application in Philippians 2 is direct.
Before describing Christ’s humiliation, he says:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Therefore, Christmas theology should eventually affect our relationships.
It should change:
how we speak,
how we lead,
how we respond when ignored,
how we treat people with less status,
how we handle disagreement,
and how desperately we need recognition.
Moreover, pride does not always look arrogant.
Sometimes pride appears as constant comparison.
At other times, it appears as defensiveness.
Likewise, it can appear as the inability to apologize.
Consequently, the Christmas question is not merely:
“Do I believe Jesus humbled Himself?”
It is also:
“Is His humility shaping me?”
Spiritual Growth Should Produce Humility
Knowledge matters.
Doctrine matters.
Moreover, spiritual gifts matter.
Yet biblical maturity that continually produces greater pride should concern us.
The closer we walk with Christ, the more clearly we should see our dependence upon grace.
Therefore, growing spiritually should make us less impressed with ourselves and more impressed with Jesus.
This does not mean mature Christians become passive or insecure.
Instead, they become increasingly free from the need to make everything about themselves.
Humility allows us to serve without demanding applause.
7. The Humility of Jesus Leads to Exaltation
Philippians 2 does not end at the cross.
It continues:
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name…”
Therefore, the story moves from humiliation to exaltation.
Jesus humbled Himself.
Then the Father highly exalted Him.
Moreover, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Consequently, Christian humility is not built on the idea that service is meaningless.
God sees.
God vindicates.
God exalts Christ.
Yet this passage is first and foremost about Jesus, not a formula guaranteeing earthly success to humble Christians.
We do not humble ourselves so that God will make us famous.
Instead, we humble ourselves because Jesus is Lord.
Christmas Humility Is Not a Strategy for Promotion
Sometimes Christian teaching accidentally turns humility into another way of getting ahead:
“Be humble now, and God will promote you later.”
That misses the point.
Jesus’ humility was rooted in loving obedience to the Father.
Likewise, Christian humility seeks God’s glory rather than personal advancement.
Therefore, true humility is willing to serve even when nobody notices.
It obeys even without applause.
Moreover, it loves people who cannot repay us.
That is radically different from image management.
What Does the Humility of Jesus Look Like in Everyday Life?
Christmas can easily become sentimental.
However, Philippians 2 pushes us toward concrete action.
Therefore, consider several practical questions.
Can you admit when you are wrong?
Moreover, can you listen without constantly preparing your response?
Can you serve someone who cannot benefit you?
Likewise, can you celebrate another person’s success without feeling threatened?
Can you apologize to your spouse or children?
Furthermore, can you receive correction without immediately defending yourself?
Can you do something good without making sure everyone knows about it?
These ordinary situations expose our understanding of humility far more than our Christmas vocabulary does.
Humility Does Not Mean Avoiding Leadership
Jesus was humble and authoritative.
Therefore, humility does not require leaders to become indecisive.
Pastors can lead.
Parents can establish boundaries.
Moreover, Christians can speak truth strongly.
The question is not whether we exercise authority.
Instead, the question is how and why we exercise it.
Do we use people to strengthen our position?
Or do we use our position to serve people?
Jesus gives Christian leadership its pattern.
Christmas Is About More Than Humility
At the same time, we should not reduce Christmas to one moral lesson.
Jesus did not come merely to teach us:
“Be humble.”
If that were the entire message, Christianity would become another self-improvement system.
Instead, Christ came to save.
Matthew 1:21 says:
“You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Therefore, we imitate His humility only because we first receive His grace.
The gospel comes before imitation.
Christ saves.
Then saved people learn to follow Him.
For the gospel itself:
Seven Lessons From the Humility of Jesus at Christmas
We can summarize the message through seven truths:
1. Christ’s humility becomes astonishing when we remember His divine identity.
2. The eternal Son willingly took genuine human nature without ceasing to be God.
3. Jesus entered the world in lowly circumstances rather than earthly splendor.
4. He remained the true King while choosing the path of a servant.
5. His genealogy reminds us that God’s grace works through complicated human history.
6. His humility confronts selfish ambition, comparison, pride, and our hunger for recognition.
7. His journey from incarnation to cross and exaltation calls believers to adopt the mind of Christ.
Therefore, Christmas should do more than create warm feelings.
It should bend our knees before Jesus and reshape the way we treat people.
The Humility of Jesus at Christmas Calls Us to Worship and Imitation
When we look at the Christmas story, we see glory in an unexpected place.
Not merely in power.
Not merely in majesty.
Instead, we see glory in the Son who willingly came near.
He became flesh.
Moreover, He took the form of a servant.
He humbled Himself.
Eventually, He became obedient even to death on a cross.
Then God highly exalted Him.
Therefore, this Christmas, do not merely admire the humility of Jesus.
Worship Him.
Receive His grace.
Moreover, ask the Holy Spirit to expose the pride hiding within your own heart.
Perhaps you need to apologize.
Maybe you need to serve someone quietly.
Likewise, you may need to stop fighting for recognition.
Or perhaps you need to remember that your identity does not depend upon proving your importance.
Ultimately, Christmas points us toward the King who came low in order to save.
The humility of Jesus at Christmas reveals the greatness of a King who did not use His glory for self-exaltation but entered our world as a servant and gave Himself for our salvation.
Continue the Study
The virgin birth of Jesus:
What is the gospel?
The cross of Jesus Christ:
Evidence for Jesus’ resurrection:
I am a blogger, writer, pastor, Director of Zion Romania Bible School, husband to Olguta, a father and, most importantly, a child of God. I also completed my studies at the King’s University where I earned a B.A. in Theology with a concentration in Messianic Jewish Studies. I love Israel and I love the ‘Jewishness’ of the Bible.
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