4. READ: PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11
c. How did Jesus die?
Answer: Jesus was crucified on a cross, (verse 8).
Being crucified on a cross heightened Jesus' humiliation; He died as someone cursed. Crucifixion was the most degrading kind of execution that could be inflicted on a person:
Galatians 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'"
Deuteronomy 21:22-23: "If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance."
Hebrews 12:2: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Concerning Christ's obedience to the Father, even to death on a cross:
Matthew 26:39: "Going a little farther, He [Jesus] fell with His face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.'"
John 10:17-18: [Jesus said,] "The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My Own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father."
Through Christ's obedience to the Father, even to death on the cross, we can be made righteous:
Romans 5:19: "For just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One Man [Christ] the many will be made righteous."
Hebrews 5:8-9: "Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him..."