The Way Down
day nineteen
Everything in us wants to climb higher. Be noticed. Be secure. Be admired. Be in control.
But when Paul describes Jesus, he tells a story of descent. The One who had all the power, all the glory, all the right to stay untouchable — He let it go. He did not cling to status. He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. He went down, all the way to death.
This is not how kingdoms usually work. Kings don’t descend. They dominate. Yet in God’s Kingdom, glory is revealed in surrender, power in humility, life through death.
We spend so much of our energy climbing ladders — career, reputation, even ministry success. Jesus walks past the ladder and kneels. His path to renewal is not upward mobility, but downward love.
That changes what mission looks like. It’s not about showing strength. It’s about carrying weakness. Not about being seen, but serving when no one notices. Not about winning, but about pouring out.
This is the way the Kingdom comes. Not in a blaze of worldly triumph, but in the slow, hidden offering of self-giving love.
The question is not “How high can you climb?” but “How low are you willing to go?”
DAILY READINGS
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2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. -
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
DEEPER
Philippians 2 is sometimes called the hymn of Christ. And it sings of a God who does the unthinkable. Though Jesus shared equality with God, He did not consider it something to exploit. He chose the way down. He emptied Himself. He became a servant. He took on flesh. He embraced weakness. And He kept descending, all the way to the humiliation of the cross.
This is the centre of the Kingdom. The shape of God’s power is not grasping but giving. Not climbing but kneeling. Not forcing but serving.
Isaiah foresaw this when he spoke of the Suffering Servant: “He had no beauty to attract us… He was despised and rejected… pierced for our transgressions.” The Messiah would not conquer by crushing enemies but by being crushed, carrying our pain into Himself.
Look closely, and you’ll see the reversal… the way down is actually the way up. Paul says that because of this descent, “God exalted Him to the highest place.” The resurrection and the crown come through the cross. This is not a trick or a loophole. It is the very logic of love.
And if this is how God reigns, then this is how mission takes shape. Not through power plays, marketing brilliance, or perfect performances. Mission looks like washing feet. Listening when it costs you. Serving without applause. Giving without needing to be repaid. Letting your love be hidden, sometimes even misunderstood.
This is not glamorous. It is costly. But it is how the Kingdom comes — quietly, humbly, persistently. Every small act of self-emptying becomes a seed of resurrection. Every hidden act of service participates in the victory of the Lamb who was slain.
So the call is not to grasp, but to release. Not to climb, but to descend. And in that descent, you will discover the paradox: this is the way into life.
RESPOND
Where in your life are you climbing, reaching for recognition, control, or comfort? What would it look like instead to go lower with Jesus, even if no one sees?
PRAYER
Jesus, you took the way down. You emptied yourself for love. Teach me to follow that path. Help me release my need to prove myself, and show me the quiet, hidden ways I can love like you today.
Also, pray now for more families in our area to find their way into our community. Ask God to draw those who are spiritually hungry, the ones already on His heart, to become not just attendees but contributors and co-workers in His mission.
ACTIVATE
Do one thing today for someone else that cannot be repaid. Keep it quiet. No credit, no spotlight. It might be as small as picking up the tab, covering a shift, or doing the chore nobody wants to do. As you do, ask Jesus to remind you that this is His way, and that He is close.
“The river runs low before it runs wide. Humility is where the current begins.”