Philippians Student Commentary
Philippians 2:1–11
The Humility and Selfless Love of Jesus
How to Use This Commentary
Go as deep as you’re ready to go.
Start by reading Philippians 2:1–11 in your Bible. Then choose how deeply you want to explore the passage.
The Big Idea
True greatness looks like Jesus. He chose humility, served others, and became obedient even to the cross. Following Him means learning to put away selfish ambition and care about the good of others.
Philippians 2:1–11 at a Glance
UNITY: The gospel should change the way Christians treat one another.
HUMILITY: Following Jesus means looking beyond ourselves and caring about the good of others.
SERVE: The eternal Son of God took the form of a servant and became truly human without ceasing to be God.
CROSS: Jesus humbled Himself to death on a cross to accomplish the salvation we could never accomplish for ourselves.
LORD: The humbled Savior has been exalted, and every knee will one day bow before Jesus Christ as Lord.
Let’s Understand the Passage
Now let’s slow down and follow Paul’s movement from the way Christians treat one another to the humility, cross, and exaltation of Jesus.
What Does Greatness Look Like?
What does it mean to be great?
Our world gives us plenty of answers.
Get noticed.
Be successful.
Gain followers.
Make the team.
Be the best.
Build your name.
Make sure people know what you’ve accomplished.
None of those things automatically make someone bad.
But they can quietly teach us that greatness means getting above everyone else.
Then Paul points us toward Jesus.
Jesus turns our idea of greatness upside down.
Philippians 2 shows us the eternal Son of God choosing the path of humility, taking the form of a servant, becoming truly human, and obeying His Father all the way to the cross.
Paul doesn’t simply tell Christians:
“Try harder to be humble.”
He tells us to look at Jesus.
If we want to understand humility, selfless love, and true greatness, Jesus is where we look.
1. The Gospel Changes How We Treat People
Philippians 2:1–2
Paul begins by reminding the Philippians of what they already share because they belong to Jesus.
They have encouragement in Christ.
Comfort from His love.
Fellowship in the Spirit.
Affection and mercy.
Those aren’t simply truths Christians are supposed to know.
They should begin changing the way Christians treat one another.
Paul wants the Philippians to be united—to share the same love, pursue the same purpose, and increasingly learn to think like Jesus.
The gospel doesn’t only change your relationship with God. It should begin changing your relationships with people too.
That means following Jesus should affect the way you treat your family.
Your friends.
Your teammates.
The people in your church.
Even the people you find difficult to like.
If Jesus is changing us, that change should eventually become visible in the way we treat one another.
2. Humility Looks Beyond Yourself
Philippians 2:3–4
Paul identifies two things that can destroy unity:
Selfish ambition and empty pride.
Selfish ambition asks:
“HOW CAN THIS BENEFIT ME?”
Pride asks:
“HOW CAN I BECOME MORE IMPORTANT?”
Paul tells followers of Jesus to move in the opposite direction.
In humility, we learn to value other people and look beyond our own interests long enough to notice theirs.
What Does That Mean?
Humility
Humility does not mean believing you are worthless. It doesn’t mean pretending your needs don’t matter. Humility means you no longer have to make yourself the center of everything. Your needs matter—and following Jesus teaches you to recognize that other people’s needs matter too.
Their struggles matter.
Their burdens matter.
Their feelings matter.
Their spiritual growth matters.
Following Jesus teaches us to look up from ourselves long enough to actually see the people God has placed around us.
Humility isn’t thinking you don’t matter. It’s refusing to believe you’re the only person who matters.
3. If You Want to See Humility, Look at Jesus
Philippians 2:5–7
Now Paul brings us to the heart of the passage.
He tells believers to have the same mindset—the same kind of attitude—we see in Jesus.
Why should Christians choose humility?
Not simply because humble people are nicer.
Not simply because humility makes relationships easier.
We choose humility because we belong to Jesus.
WANT TO KNOW WHAT CHRISTIAN HUMILITY LOOKS LIKE?
LOOK AT JESUS.
Paul’s story of Jesus doesn’t begin in Bethlehem.
Before Jesus was born, He already existed.
Paul says Christ existed in the form of God.
Jesus isn’t simply a good teacher who eventually became important.
He is the eternal Son of God.
He possessed the glory and dignity that belong to God.
Yet Jesus did not use His position for selfish advantage.
Think about how surprising that is.
We often want to use whatever we have—our talent, popularity, position, ability, or influence—to move ourselves upward.
Jesus moved toward us.
THE ONE WHO DESERVED ALL GLORY CHOSE THE PATH OF HUMILITY.
Paul says Jesus “emptied Himself.”
That can sound confusing.
Does that mean Jesus stopped being God?
No.
Paul does not say that Jesus gave up His deity or somehow became less than God.
Instead, Paul explains Jesus’ emptying by describing what He took upon Himself.
Jesus took the form of a servant.
Jesus became truly human.
The eternal Son of God became human without ceasing to be God.
Jesus didn’t empty Himself by becoming less than He was.
He humbled Himself by taking on something astonishing: servanthood and humanity.
Don’t Miss This
Jesus Did Not Stop Being God
When Paul says Jesus “emptied Himself,” he isn’t saying that Jesus gave up His deity. The eternal Son became truly human and took the form of a servant without ceasing to be God. Jesus humbled Himself by coming near to us.
4. His Humility Took Him to the Cross
Philippians 2:8
Becoming human wasn’t the end of Jesus’ humility.
Paul tells us that Jesus humbled Himself even further.
He became obedient to the point of death.
And not just any death.
Death on a cross.
Jesus willingly followed the path of obedience all the way to the cross.
THE CROSS WASN’T AN INTERRUPTION OF JESUS’ MISSION.
IT WAS CENTRAL TO THE MISSION HE CAME TO ACCOMPLISH.
And this is where we need to remember something incredibly important.
Jesus is more than our example.
Yes, He shows us what humility looks like.
Yes, followers of Jesus should learn to live with His mindset.
But our greatest problem isn’t simply that we need a better example.
We need a Savior.
At the cross, the sinless Son of God gave Himself for sinners. He took the judgment our sin deserved and accomplished the salvation we could never accomplish for ourselves.
JESUS ISN’T ONLY THE EXAMPLE WE FOLLOW.
HE IS THE SAVIOR WE NEED.
We aren’t saved because we become humble enough to copy Jesus perfectly.
We are saved because of what Jesus has done for us.
5. The Humble Savior Is the Exalted Lord
Philippians 2:9–11
The story doesn’t end at the cross.
Jesus rose from the dead.
And Paul tells us that God highly exalted Him.
The Jesus who humbled Himself and took the place of a servant is the Lord before whom every knee will one day bow.
Every tongue will confess:
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.
Jesus isn’t simply an inspirational person.
He isn’t simply a teacher whose advice we can choose to follow when we like it.
He is Lord.
We worship Him.
We obey Him.
We build our lives around Him.
And that brings us right back to the beginning of the passage.
Paul told Christians to reject selfish ambition, choose humility, and care about the interests of other people.
Then he showed us Jesus.
The world often teaches us to climb.
Get higher.
Become more important.
Gain more influence.
Make sure people notice you.
Jesus shows us something completely different.
In the kingdom of Jesus, greatness isn’t found in climbing over people. It is found in becoming like the King who stooped down to serve them.
Don’t Miss This
Jesus Is More Than an Example
If we’re not careful, we can read Philippians 2 and turn Christianity into:
“Be more humble.”
“Serve more people.”
“Try harder to be like Jesus.”
But Jesus didn’t come simply to give sinners a better example.
Jesus humbled Himself.
Jesus became obedient to death on a cross.
Jesus accomplished the salvation we could never accomplish for ourselves.
Then the Savior who rescues us begins changing us to become more like Him.
We don’t imitate Jesus so He will save us.
Because Jesus saves us, we begin learning to live like Him.
Make It Personal
Jesus has shown us what true greatness looks like. Now think about where selfish ambition, pride, humility, and service show up in your own life.
Put the Whole Passage Together
Philippians 2:1–11 begins by calling followers of Jesus to live with humility and genuine concern for one another.
But Paul doesn’t leave us with a list of rules.
He points us to Jesus.
Jesus existed in the form of God.
Jesus did not use His position for selfish advantage.
Jesus took the form of a servant and became truly human.
Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to death on a cross.
The humbled Savior has been exalted as Lord over all.
Jesus didn’t merely teach humility.
He showed us humility.
Even more importantly, He humbled Himself to rescue us.
And the Savior who rescues us also begins changing us.
As we follow Jesus, His humility, obedience, love, and concern for others should increasingly become visible in us.
LOOK AT JESUS.
FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE.
TRUST HIS SAVING WORK.
Live It Out
Look Up From Yourself
Humility doesn’t mean thinking badly about yourself. It means you don’t have to spend your life making everything about yourself.
Ask yourself:
NOTICE: Who around me might need someone to notice what they’re going through?
HUMBLE: Where am I tempted to make everything about myself?
SERVE: What can I do for someone this week without needing recognition?
Choose one person this week and intentionally put Philippians 2:3–4 into practice. Notice them. Listen to them. Encourage them. Help them. Serve them—and don’t worry about whether anyone notices.
Think About It
1. Where are you most tempted to make things about yourself—at home, school, sports, church, friendships, or somewhere else?
2. Who is someone in your life whose needs or struggles you may have been overlooking?
3. What stands out most to you about the way Jesus humbled Himself in verses 5–8?
4. Why is it important to remember that Jesus is more than an example of humility?
5. How does knowing that Jesus is Lord change the way you think about following and obeying Him?
Remember This
True greatness looks like Jesus. The eternal Son humbled Himself, became a servant, and went to the cross for us. Jesus is more than our example—He is the Savior we need and the risen Lord we follow. Because we belong to Him, we are learning to replace selfish ambition with humility, service, and genuine concern for others.
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