How did Christ humble himself in his death?
Christ humbled himself in his death, in that having been betrayed by Judas,1 forsaken by his disciples,2 scorned and rejected by the world,3 condemned by Pilate, and tormented by his persecutors;4 having also conflicted with the terrors of death, and the powers of darkness, felt and borne the weight of God's wrath,5 he laid down his life an offering for sin,6 enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death of the cross.7
Scripture proofs
The Westminster Assembly's proof texts (KJV). The bracketed numbers in the answer above mark the clause each set of references supports; expand a row to read the verses.
1 Matt. 27:4
Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
2 Matt. 26:56
But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
3 Isa. 53:2–3
Isa. 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Isa. 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.
4 Matt. 27:26–50; John 19:34
Matt. 27:26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Matt. 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
Matt. 27:28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
Matt. 27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
Matt. 27:30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
Matt. 27:31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
Matt. 27:32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.
Matt. 27:33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
Matt. 27:34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
Matt. 27:35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
Matt. 27:36 And sitting down they watched him there;
Matt. 27:37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Matt. 27:38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
Matt. 27:39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
Matt. 27:40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Matt. 27:41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,
Matt. 27:42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
Matt. 27:43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Matt. 27:44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
Matt. 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Matt. 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Matt. 27:47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
Matt. 27:48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
Matt. 27:49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
Matt. 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
5 Luke 22:44; Matt. 27:46
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
6 Isa. 53:10
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
7 Phil. 2:8; Heb. 12:2; Gal. 3:13
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
This doctrine across the Standards
Where the Confession and the Westminster Shorter Catechism treat the same matter, so the question can be studied alongside its parallel statements.
In the Westminster Confession
VIII.4 This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which, that he might discharge, he was made under …
This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which, that he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill it; endured most grievous torments immediately in his soul, and most painful sufferings in his body; was crucified, and died; was buried, and remained under the power of death, yet saw no corruption. On the third day he arose from the dead, with the same body in which he suffered; with which also he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of his Father, making intercession; and shall return to judge men and angels at the end of the world.
→ VIII.4 · Of Christ the MediatorIn the Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q.27 Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist?
Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
→ Open Q.27Q.28 Wherein consisteth Christ's exaltation?
Christ's exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.
→ Open Q.28