What do you think about it? Or what do you think about it? On Average, the scientists will tell us that you will have 60,000 thoughts per day! So think about what you think; think again about all those thoughts that have passed through your head. How many do you remember? How many started there this morning and have lingered through the day – something you are worried about, or perhaps even thought that excites you about what may be? Maybe it is something far more straightforward; possibly, it is simply a lingering thought about the football match that’s coming up or the Roman Empire! Did you know that 43% of men will think about the Romand Empire at some point throughout the year, compared with only 16% of women; there is no apparent reason for it; it just enters the mind and then leaves again until the following year.

This might seem the stupidest thing to say, but each of us here today is thinking about something! How do I know? Because we are alive! What consumes our mind shows what our hearts live for, and our lives are shaped around. If someone could spend an hour reading our thoughts, they would know no more about us than if we were to talk to them for days. The Philosopher might say: “We are what we think.” A beautiful little phrase from the IT world – GIGO– describes how computers and our brains work. It stands for Garbage in Garbage Out, meaning that if you put rubbish into a computer, you will get rubbish out! What goes in will always come out; from my life experience, the human mind is no different! We all need to watch what we consume and how it shapes our thinking, and if that is true for everyone, then how important it must be for Christians to watch what they are thinking about! Think about our thinking, think about what influences our thinking, and fight to make sure that what we are bringing in is shaped in a positive way what we are putting out. James Smith captures this thought perfectly when he writes: “Jesus is a teacher who doesn’t just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isn’t content to deposit new ideas into your mind; he is after nothing less than your wants, loves, and longings.”¹

The Mind of Christ

Paul has been writing to this young Church in the city of Philippi, a Church that has been battered by the culture, worn down by all their opposition and continued to Love God and one another! As he has moved into Chapter 2, Paul encourages them to continue living for Jesus and all with the Holy Spirit’s help Like Jesus. Hence the excellent list from 2:2-4:

• Agree Wholeheartedly with each other
• love one another,
• work together with one mind and purpose
• Don’t be Selfish
• Don’t try to be impressive (Worldly), be humble! Think of others as more important than the self
• Think of Others rather than your interests
  

All of these are beautiful things, and they are not given as moral instructions about how to live a better life; instead, they are given as clear outworking of life in the Spirit, fruits of the Kingdom – or, to put it another way: What it looks like to love Jesus and live like him. When verse 5 challenges us to have the same attitude it is looking back to look forward. The root word can be translated as mind, view, or setting your mind; think about when Jesus rebukes Peter and tells him to” Get behind me, Satan … for you are not setting your mind. When we hear the word attitude, we are to understand that it’s about thinking. Thus, when Paul calls the Church to have the same attitude that Jesus Christ had, he does not mean a particular view on something; instead, he means that all of our thinking and minds should be like Jesus’! How do we do that? Simply put, we transform our minds to be more like Jesus by consuming the things of his Kingdom and considering him! Or, to put it in one short, simple sentence, we adopt the attitude of Jesus by thinking like Jesus, and we feel like Jesus by giving ourselves to his way and his word and allowing the Holy Spirit to use the Kingdom tools to provide us with Kingdom minds.

The Example of Palm Sunday

In the rest of our passage, Paul uses an early hymn from the Church to help us see more of the mind of Christ and marvel at it. That one who was all-powerful and Sovereign was marked by humility and gentleness. That is the mind we are called to have because when our hearts belong to Jesus, then all we are in how we see the world and interact with it is transformed by Him through the practical Grace of the Holy Spirit. From the heart of Jesus comes the mind of Jesus. It is the mind we see so clearly on Palm Sunday and all that this day represents at the beginning of Holy Week as Jesus moves towards the Cross.

Even when the crowds cheered and celebrated him and gave him more earthly power than he would ever have longed for, they cheered and lifted him as their political Messiah; Jesus remained Jesus. Imagine what we would have been like then; we would love it! Start believing the hype around us and Maybe even consider ourselves great. What did Jesus do? He ignored the crowds and set his mind on the Cross to which he was called, not to be crowned by the world’s ways but by the Kingdom of God – a crown not of gold but thorns. A humble crown for a humble King who, by his humiliation, would bring salvation to the world. This is the mind of Jesus that Palm Sunday captures so clearly, and Philippians call us to consider it so powerfully. This is our King, and this is how we are called to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and to shape our thinking and seeing in our everyday ordinary as we seek to know God and live for him.

The Beauty of Christ’s Humility (6-7)

In the moments before our passage, Paul shows us what the mind of Christ should be like for those of us who are his disciples, living in the power of his Spirit and seeking to build his Kingdom in our everyday lives. Yet, just in case we have not grasped it, Paul paints a picture for us to see. When we think of the examples of the fruit of the Spirit, we often create drawings with little stick men, yet what Paul paints’ for us is the roof of St Peter’s Basilica with this Hymn from the Early Church.

What does humility look like with one who has all the power, authority and dominion? Verse 6: “Though he was God, he did not think of Equality with God as something to cling to.” (NLT) Other translations will phrase it “as something to be exploited.” Paul is clear that Jesus is God in every way, yet such is his humility that he never considered his Goddess as something he could use to his advantage over his creation, nor was it something he needed to grasp onto above all else. The original word here is difficult to translate; this is the only time it is used in the Bible, and its use appears to suggest Robbery or doing something for selfish gain. Thus, how did the modern English Bibles understand the verse? Although the original is difficult to correlate directly into English, the outworking is clear – Jesus is God, and such is his assurance in his divinity and confidence from it that he has never considered using his Glory or power for his benefit. He has no need to do so and no desire. When man gets power, it will corrupt him; think of the effects of the Ring on those who hold it in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings; we become obsessed with power and keeping it, using it to our advantage and against those who might need us or want what we have. We get power and will do all we can to keep it. That is the earthly way: that is not the Kingdom way.

Verse 7 grounds the beauty of this humility in the most practical examples. Whereas each of us would use power to our advantage: Christ gave up his power for the sake of others. With humility and by his own choice, Christ gave up that which was his by right so that we could receive by faith What we do not deserve. The fruit of Christ’s humility is that we could dwell and delight in the Glory of God. The creator took on the form he had created, becoming like us in every way so we could enter into life with Him. Jesus poured himself out, being born in a manger and walking us to free us from the burden of sin. A burden that we could never fix ourselves. It is Christ’s humility that saves us by leading to his humiliation.

The Beauty of Christ’s Humiliation (8)

” By becoming one of the poor who was deprived of his rights, by dying as one of those robbed of justice, God’s Son submitted to the utmost extremity of humiliation, entering into total solidarity with those who are without help.” – Flemming Rutledge

Christ’s humbleness led to his ultimate humiliation. That is what Palm Sunday marks the beginning of in many ways; Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with all its fanfare and cheer is the ultimate contrast to the world’s ways and how God works. He entered on a Donkey, a symbol of humility and peace; he encouraged the crowds as he entered. Why? Because he knew what was ahead, he knew what was waiting for him, and he remained solely focused on the task for which he had come because there was no other way to deal with what had to be dealt with. The King had come to be crowned, but not by the world’s powers or on the Thorne of David; his crown would be thorns, and his enthronement would be on the Cross. The world sought to humiliate him, yet beautifully for all to turn to Him – Christ’s Humiliation was his glorification. On the Cross, as the world thought they had dealt with him, he dealt with our most significant problem – sin. He humbled himself by becoming like us and humbled himself further still by becoming obedient to the point of death, even when that death was on a cross. What words: “even death on a Cross,” on Palm Sunday, we mark and celebrate Jesus’ entry into the City, but we never lose sight of the Cross that stood on Calvary’s hill. That’s why on Palm Sunday, we give out the Palm Crosses; they remind us of what is ahead. We never lose sight of it because we know that was the reason Jesus came; it was no surprise for him; it was the entire purpose of his life, ministry and humility. To Allow the world to humiliate him so that by faith, we could be free from sin and fulfil what we were made for – life with him.

” Dying he destroyed our Death,

Rising, he restored our life.”

The Beauty of Christ’s Exaltation (9-11)

Palm Sunday can be such a joyful celebration in the life of the Church, as we think of the cheers of Hosanna from the crowd and how they responded to Jesus, as we feel about the Donkey, and perhaps wave Symbolic Palm branches. Palm Sunday is a celebration, but it is also tinged with Sorrow because the shadow of the Cross stretches deep. There, Christ would pay the ultimate price for your and my sins. Christ would die so that we could live. Yet, such is the power of God and the wonder of the way that he works, which the devil meant for his purpose, which was, in fact, God’s ultimate display of power and glory. Christ’s humiliation was also his Glorification as he was crowned and confirmed Lord of all because not even death could hold him.

Because of the cross, Jesus was exalted by God and given the highest place of honour. Jesus went from the depths of despair to the highest place in one dramatic act of God. The Cross was humiliating, but it was also Christ’s vindication as he proved worthy of the task to which he was called and confirmed why all can trust him and put their faith in him. Because of the Cross, the name of Jesus stands above every other name. He is exalted as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and a day will come when the Joy of Palm Sunday will be a whisper compared to the celebration when he shall come again to remove the curse of sin and renew the created world. On that day, every knee will bow before him on heaven and earth (10), and whether by observation or faith, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord being the divine tile of Yahweh, meaning that all that he poured out to save us will be recognised in him, and as it is recognised, the Father and the Spirit will be honoured by all the dues he receives.

“May the mind of Christ, my Savior,
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and power controlling

All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly

In my heart, from hour to hour,

So that all may see I triumph
>Only through His power.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, as we ponder our journey from Palm Sunday to the Cross with Jesus, we’re reminded of the call of our discipleship and the outworking of the great commission in our context:— enjoying Christ, becoming like Christ and emulating the mind of Christ in our daily lives. This is not merely a theological aspiration but a practical, everyday commitment to living out the humility, love, and obedience demonstrated by Jesus. It is what life in the Spirit must look like. It calls us into a deeper understanding of what it means to think well, aligning our thoughts, actions, and desires with His. As we reflect on the sacrifice and victory of Christ, let us also consider the transformation required within us. The challenge is to allow the Holy Spirit to mould our minds and hearts, ensuring that our daily thoughts and actions reflect Christ’s love and grace. By his wounds, we are healed, and by the Spirit of God, we are being transformed.

Let us, therefore, as disciples and as a community, commit to nurturing the mind of Christ within us by engaging with Scripture, prayer, and fellowship. By being passionate about the gifts Christ has given us. Then, as we go deeper into him and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, we are equipped to boldly resist the worldly temptations of self-promotion, individualism, and desires for power and prestige. By the Spirit, we can cultivate a mindset that truly honours God. As we do so, our lives become a testament to the power of His love and the transformative grace of his humility. We become beacons of His light in a world in dire need of His truth and peace. This is our calling, and in embracing it, we embrace the very heart of what it means to follow Jesus.

1. James KA Smith. You Are What you love ↩