Article 2: Jesus Christ - obedient servant

As we continue our series from The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, we come to Article 2: Jesus Christ. Once again, there is far more to say about the person and deity of Jesus Christ than can be fully realized in one article or one sermon. Yet we do well to note what is emphasized here.

We are reminded in this article of the salvation that is available to us through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are reminded that he has been ever present and that he is both fully human and fully divine, though we often struggle to fully grasp this. We are reminded that He is prophet, teacher, high priest, and king.

He lived among us (God in the flesh) and in his birth, life, death and resurrection He modeled for us what it means to follow in His footsteps (I Peter 2:21-22). He modeled what it means to live a life of reconciliation with God and all of humanity both spiritually and physically through nonviolent action. While many of the ancient creeds focus only on Jesus' birth, death and resurrection, we focus on these but also include the whole of his life. While both the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed spend time with Jesus' birth and then jump to his passion, summing up the whole of his life in a comma or a semi-colon; we in the Anabaptist tradition also find much significance in the life of Jesus and attempt to live as He lived.

It is in Jesus' life, a life that leads to His death and resurrection, that we see the depth of His obedience and power of His servant heart. These are the qualities that I see emphasized in Philippians 2:5-11 but that so much of mainstream Christian theology neglects. Yes, Jesus is our savior from sin and death, reconciling us to the Father. Yes, Jesus is Lord of the universe calling us to live a life worthy of Him. Yet Jesus was also wholly obedient to the Father and humbly a servant even to His followers as he demonstrated in washing their feet. May we experience the obedient servant Jesus and live that out in our lives.