In theology, this term refers primarily to the State of Humiliation of Christ. It is not about embarrassment, but about His voluntary descent. This state includes his entire earthly life from his incarnation and birth in a lowly manger, through his life of service, his suffering and rejection, his agonizing death on the cross, and his burial. It represents the Son of God willingly setting aside the full expression of his divine glory to take on the form of a servant and obey the Father, even to the point of death, for the sake of man's redemption.
HUMILIA'TION, n.
HUMILIA'TION, n. The act of humbling; the act of reducing from a high to a low state, or of reducing pride and self-dependence. 2. Descent from an elevated state or rank to one that is low or humble. 3. The state of being humbled; a state of meekness and penitence; abasement of pride.
Philippians 2:6-8 - "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Isaiah 53:3 - "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
2 Corinthians 8:9 - "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."
The modern understanding of humiliation is almost exclusively negative, meaning to be publicly shamed, degraded, or e...
The modern understanding of humiliation is almost exclusively negative, meaning to be publicly shamed, degraded, or embarrassed. This loses the profound theological concept of a voluntary and purposeful act of self-lowering for a redemptive purpose, as exemplified by Christ. The modern sense implies an involuntary loss of dignity, whereas the biblical sense demonstrates a voluntary laying down of glory.