An advantage is something that puts you ahead. An edge, a position of strength, an opportunity to benefit yourself. In business, people look for leverage. In relationships, we sometimes hold onto control, status, or the upper hand. Having an advantage feels secure and powerful.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus had every advantage. The crowds were with him. They shouted his praises. From a human perspective, this was his moment. He could have seized power, rallied the people, and taken Jerusalem by force. And from his divine nature, his advantage was even greater. This is the Son of God, the one who could call down legions of angels (Matthew 26:53). No one could have stopped him.
But Jesus chose not to use his advantage for himself. “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing…” (Philippians 2:6–7). He set aside his glory, his rights, his power, and became a servant. He walked the path not to a throne, but to a cross. Not for his benefit, but for yours.
Now consider your own life. Where do you have an advantage in knowledge, authority, position, or influence? And how might you use it? Christ calls us to something higher. Not to cling to advantage, but to surrender it in love. To serve rather than to win. To seek not our own good, but the good of others.
5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:5-7)