5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ
Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled
himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Year ABC
Palm/Passion Sunday
April 9, 2017
Cross~Wind
Title: Untranslatable Words
Introducing the passage
Philippians 2:5-11 has the theme of the example of Christ Jesus for the
church in Philippi in how they were to treat each other. In light of what
Christ Jesus has done, Paul says, they as readers are to act out their
partnership in relation to each other. He knows their relation to Christ will
be the strongest appeal he can make when he offers his exhortation to proper
Christian behavior and discipleship. Paul writes this letter from prison, using
himself as an example of patient dependence upon God. He now shows that Christ
subjected himself to the limits of a human life in order to become Savior.
Christ becomes an example of how Christians are to submit to each other. Christ
willingly submits to the will of God. Christian teaching regarding Jesus,
Christology, often thinks of two phases of the history of Jesus, referring to the
exaltation and glorification of life with the Father, and the humility of his
life with humanity. Paul will use a word that has become important to Christian
teaching. In Greek, the word is “kenosis.” It will carry a double meaning that
is difficult to communicate with any one word in English.
Introduction
The Palm Sunday story is not just
about a king and a colt, or a crowd and their cloaks. It is also about kenosis.[1]
I realize this may be a new word,
so let us pause for a moment. The devotional Draw the Circle on Day 29 has the title “A New Prayer.” As we
discussed that day in our small group, I put up some words I found interesting
because we do not use them very often. He said we have a “heuristic” bias. It
comes from the Greek language. People started using it in the 1800s in English.
It increased greatly in use after WWII. It means that we tend to develop rules
or patterns of thought and practice. As the devotional also suggests, we might
call it ritual, habituation, or routinization. I put all of these words on the
board. I shared that my wife gave me an opportunity to use the word that day. It
struck me as appropriate that in emphasizing new ways to pray, we were also
learning new words.
“Heuristic” is a good example of
the flexibility of the English language. I have a little experience with
foreign languages. I took courses in New Testament Greek and biblical Hebrew. Translating
is not easy work. One can try to take a wooden, word-for-word approach. Yet,
the problem with this is that words are not that static. They carry different
meanings when considered in the light of a sentence, a paragraph, or even other
writings of the author.[2]
Some words, of course, seem translatable only by a few words. They do not have
exact equivalents in English. They at least hint at the possibility that
another culture has experienced something for which it found a word to describe
while those in English-speaking cultures lack a similar experience. It reminds
us of the power of words.[3]
The value of English at this point is that it can adopt words from another
language. We call them loan words. The language becomes richer and increases
its complexity. Heuristic is a word used primarily in philosophy, psychology,
and theology. Other good examples from the fields of religion and philosophy
would be Nirvana and Tao. We may not precisely know what they mean, but we have
a set of words in our minds that helps most of us make sense of a sentence that
uses them. In Christian worship, the Hebrew word Hallelujah or even Shalom
evoke certain images and experiences for us. Our language of worship has
expanded because of this ability to absorb loan words.
In Scientific American, Tim Lomas
writes about the magic of untranslatable words. He started by listing 216 of
these words, but found that the list kept growing. It now stands at 601. He has
discovered that exploring these foreign terms can make our own lives richer.[4]
One weighty word for Christians is
the Greek word Kenosis. Paul uses the word in our passage. I do not expect it
become a loan word. However, especially during this Holy Week, we need to learn
the experience to which it points us. Kenosis means "emptiness." Yet,
in the hands of Paul, and I hope in our hands, it communicates a kind of
emptying that leads to an example of the fullness of Christian life and
discipleship.
Application
Working with untranslatable words,
says Lomas, is like diving into "a deep and mystifying ocean." So let
us take the plunge!
First, what did Jesus accomplish by kenosis?
Paul tells us that Jesus was in the
form of God, but did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited
(vv. 5-6). In the words of Eugene Peterson's translation of the Bible, The
Message, Jesus "didn't think so much
of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what."
Instead, Jesus
"emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human
likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient
to the point of death -- even death on a cross" (vv. 7-8).
This is where we run into kenosis in the original Greek,
where its meaning is "emptied out." Christ Jesus "emptied
himself," taking the form of a slave so that he looked for all the world
like an ordinary, very common, nondescript, perhaps even marginalized human
being!
What does Jesus accomplish by this?
The text tells us that God
"highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father" (vv. 9-11).
Palm Sunday would be easy to understand if it contained only
the familiar: kings, colts, crowds and cloaks.[5]
However, kenosis turns our expectations upside down. Precisely because Jesus
emptied, humbled, lowered and abased himself, God exalted him and made him the
king of all creation. Putting it this way leads to a question.
Second, exactly how does this
self-emptying result in fullness?
For Jesus, kenosis leads to glory
and power because it has its basis in humility and obedience. Once again, we
turn to Peterson's interpretation in The Message. Jesus
"didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages
of [divine] status no matter what."
He was in the form of God, but chose to accept the form of a
slave. That is humility. It is a counterintuitive attitude.[6]
As you have often heard, the way up is down. The way to lead is to serve.
+ To receive blessing, be a blessing to others.
+ To receive love, give love.
+ To receive honor, first be humble.
+ To live truly, die to yourself.
+ To gain the unseen, let go of the seen.
+ To receive, first give.
+ To save your life, lose it.
+ To lead, be a servant.
+ To be first, be last.
The self-emptying of Jesus has its
basis in both humility and obedience. Paul tells us that "he was in the form of God, [but] did not
regard equality with God as something to be exploited" (v. 6). Instead
of remaining in the safety and security of his divine existence, the Son
entered human life as a fetus, a baby, a child and eventually a man. C. S.
Lewis, in Mere Christianity, put it
this way: "If you want to get the hang of it, think of how you would like
to become a slug or a crab."
Kenosis begins with the Son, in
living and eternal relationship with the Father and Spirit, who set aside his
divinity in order to become human. The divine Son completely identifies with
sinful humanity. This act of divine self-emptying was the path for the divine
to enter into the world of humanity without becoming unlike the divine. To say
it personally and devotionally, the Trinitarian God shows humanity what God is
like by showing up in the one who lived his life as a servant, Jesus of
Nazareth. The fullness and completeness of his obedience reveals Jesus as the
pre-existent Son.[8]
Jesus said "Yes" to
emptying himself and entering human life, and he did this out of obedience to
God. Paul tells us "he humbled
himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross"
(v. 8).
The course of the earthly life of
the Son is one of self-emptying as he lives in obedience to God. The human life
of Jesus is in contrast to Adam, who sought fulfillment by his disobedience,
choosing a path that glorified him.[9]
Jesus emptied himself in his obedience and thus remained in the likeness of God
as the Son. The course of the life of Jesus is one of self-emptying and
humbling that led to the cross. We see divine majesty in the cross. The result
is that such self-emptying, such kenosis, is a genuine expression of divinity.
If you want to see what God is like, look here, at the kenotic life of the Son.
It reveals the core of divine reality, that God is love.[10]
Because of this choice of a kenotic
life, God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, making
him Lord of heaven and earth. His journey of kenosis, of emptying himself, led
to fullness.[11]
Third, how can we empty ourselves
so that God will fill us?
Our kenotic life will likely not
lead to a cross, but it will still be path of humility and obedience.[12]
We might try to develop a welcoming
attitude toward others.[13]
We might try to be the servant of
others.[14]
We might try to be generous with
material things.
We might try thinking the best of
others, forgiving them when they do not know what they are doing.
We might try praying for our
"enemies," and those who "persecute" us (see Matthew 5).
We might try being a peacemaker.
We might try denying ourselves and
carrying a cross for a while.
Conclusion
The point Paul is making is not
just a statement about who God is. Rather, his point is that if God is like
that, then you are to be of the same mind and attitude in your life. If the Son
had this kind of kenotic love, then we are to be of the same mind and have the
same love, namely, a kenotic mind and love. That is the discipleship challenge
Paul offers us.[15]
Palm Sunday has always been a
predictable story of kings, colts, crowds and cloaks. However, the addition of
the untranslatable word kenosis turns our expectations upside down. This
self-emptying of Jesus, grounded in humility and obedience, is the unexpected
key to his heavenly fullness. Self-emptying is also the key to our fullness as
well.
Going deeper
Most scholars think of this passage as an early Christian hymn from
Antioch that Paul is using here as a reminder for this congregation as to how
they are to live. However, one could make a fair case for considering the text
as a genuine piece of Pauline exalted prose (not unlike I Corinthians 13).[16] If the text is a hymn, we
could think of it as along the lines of other hymns: Colossians 1:15-20, II
Timothy 2:11-13, and Ephesians 5:14.
The Son emptied himself (kenosis) of divinity in order to become one of
us, to show us the path of obedience to God, while yet remaining divine. The
implication is that as Adam experienced temptation and disobeyed, the
temptation of the Son was to remain within the divine fellowship he already had
with Father and Spirit. Yet, out of love for humanity, he became one with us.
He willingly endured the shame of the cross in order to remain obedient to God.
He was in solidarity with the Father, even as he gave his life in solidarity
with us. This example of Jesus leads to our reflection upon discipleship, for
we need to willingly put aside our rights and serve each other. This path of
discipleship does not seek honor the way human beings do. Rather, one receives
honor as a gift from God through the promise of eternal life with God.
Some scholars think that Philippians as known in the canon is a
"multiple letter" reconstruction. If so, then 2:5-11 is part of
Letter B, which implies that Paul is writing this correspondence from prison
(Philippians 1:7, 13, 17). The realization that Paul is writing from prison
makes the message of Philippians 2:5-11 much more powerful than it might
otherwise have been. After describing his own subjugation to the ruling
authorities and using his own suffering as an example of patient dependence
upon God, Paul uses this perfect opening to describe how Christ subjected
himself to the constraints of human existence in order to become the Savior of
humanity. It also provides him with a compelling model for Christian submission
to one another. The image of Christ portrayed in the hymn of verses 6-11 is one
of willing submission to the will of God. This text offers what may very well
be one of the oldest Christological reflections in the entire New Testament. If
this is indeed the case, the theology behind this hymn represents not only
Paul’s own thoughts, but also the Christological convictions of the first
generation of believers. The hymn is the basis of the for the theological
tradition making a distinction between two phases of the history of Jesus in
terms of a state of humiliation and a state of exaltation, based on the
preexistence of Christ.[17]
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let the same mind [Paul is not implying that the folks there
were not already sincere in their faith and in their living of it. However, he
is calling for them to keep growing and maturing in the faith, to keep moving
toward the example of Jesus.] be in you [the
Philippians are to put aside all competition and internal strife] that was in Christ Jesus, [The pattern
for the community is the incarnation and the cross. Pannenberg notes that when
finding a basis for his injunctions, Paul did not usually appeal to the
authority of the requirements of the law, but sought to derive the content of
his practical directions from the relationship of believers to Christ.[18] Paul is also saying here
that, with Christ as our common ground and with our shared desire to follow
him, we who differ can still have a unity of spirit that makes us want to put
others in the group first and look beyond our own interests. In fact, this
unity of spirit is something that God bestows on us when we seek God together
in the church, the place that Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "the meeting
grounds of Christianity." Fred Craddock says that in this passage,
"Paul lifts to the conscious level those qualities of common life by which
the church has been identified and sustained." Craddock adds that by not
laying a guilt trip on the Philippians regarding whatever failure in unity
there was among them, "Paul is able to nourish his exhortation with the
most unused resource in the church: who the members are and what they already
know."
[Verses 6-8 describe the first part of the life of Christ, the path of
his humiliation or emptying (kenosis).]
6 who, though he was in the form
of God,[Christ began his
life in this way.]
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited, [grasp, clutch greedily, or hold onto. The
connection to Genesis 1:26-27 seems clear, but we can also see II Corinthians
8:9, I Corinthians 11:7, and Psalm 8:5.
Yet, one cannot deny
the allusion to Genesis 2-3, raising the likelihood that the hymn contrasts
Adam, made in the image of God and attempting to be equal with God through his
pride, with Jesus Christ, who through his humility revealed his equality with
God in becoming one of us. Here the most commonly argued comparison juxtaposes
the disobedience of the human Adam, who grasped at a divine status that was not
his to take, with the obedience of a truly divine Christ, who gladly relinquished
divinity for the sake of saving fallen humanity. Unlike Adam, who exploited his unique
position in creation by trying to raise himself up by his own bootstraps, as it
were, the pre-existent Christ does not see in his singular position, as an
equal with God, an opportunity for special privilege. Instead, Christ views this as an opportunity
for special sacrificial service. "To be equal with God," suggests
that as Adam was tempted, so was the pre-existent Son tempted to be independent
of God. Pannenberg notes that our human
destiny is toward fellowship with God. However, we take this destiny into our
own hands with a view to sharing in the divine life. Being with God is human
destiny, yet for this very reason is a temptation for us. When we snatch it to us
as our prey, as Paul hints at here, whether by way of the religious cultivation
of our life with the divine or by emancipation from all religious ties, we miss
it. We can achieve this destiny only when we know that we are distinct from God
and, in our finitude, accept ourselves as creatures of God.[19]]
7 but emptied [ἐκένωσεν] himself,
[The Kenotic doctrine of Christology explains how the fully divine second
Person of the Trinity became the historical Jesus of Nazareth. It explains it
by explaining that in order to be transformed from the Pre-existent One to the
Incarnate One, Christ "by his own decision emptied himself of his divine
form and mode of being or laid it aside, taking the form of a servant by
becoming human."[20]At
this point, the hymn emphasizes the complete identification of the divine
Christ with sinful humanity. In the act of self-emptying, the divine entered
into the world by becoming human without becoming unlike the divine. Pannenberg
refers to the self-emptying of the Son as the self-actualizing of the deity of
the Trinitarian God in its relation to the world that comes into being through
it.[21]
Pannenberg says we can describe the self-distinction of Jesus from the Father
as his self-emptying and self-humbling along the lines of this hymn. Jesus is
the new human being, the person of obedience to God as distinct from the sin of
Adam, who wanted to be like God and thus forfeited the fellowship with God for
which God had created him. Does the hymn sing of the historical path of Jesus
Christ or of the path of preexistent being to earthly existence? Could this be
a false alternative? As he sees it, the self-humbling obviously refers to the
earthly path of obedience that led Jesus to the cross, but the self-emptying
seems to start with the divine equality of the Son that he renounced so as to
take to himself the slave-existence of the human conditions of life. Yet, the
two verses with their two ideas of self-emptying and self-humbling describe the
path of Jesus to suffering and crucifixion. Support for this view derives from
the allusion to Isaiah 53:12 and hence to denote the giving up of a life of
equality with God to death so that it coincides with the result of
self-humbling to the obedience of the passion. He agrees with Cullman that the
path to the cross in this hymn is an act of obedience on the part of the man
Jesus and an act of the Preexistent manifested in him. The exaltation of the
Crucified makes clear that his earthly path was already the path of one who
related to God from all eternity and that precisely on this path, he offered
obedience to God. The starting point of the path of Jesus Christ in
preexistence has the function of ruling out an adoptionist understanding of the
exaltation. Thus, the hymn as a whole sings of the earthly path of Jesus as
that of the preexistent Son of God.[22]]
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
[Such self-emptying
is not a negation of divinity, but rather a genuine expression of divinity, a
notion beautifully expressed by Barth. As he sees it, self-emptying means that
the Son did not view his equality with God as the only option or possibility of
his existence. The extreme humiliation Christ undergoes when he empties himself
of divinity and takes on human form reveals the true essence of divinity. Self-emptying on such a level demonstrates
divine love - revealing in fact the core of divinity: God is love. Kenosis, as the most genuine expression of
divinity, is the free expression of the will to love - the true definition of
God. He was ready to accept a position in which the world could not know him as
God. The form of a servant concealed his divine glory. The hymn then underlines
the genuineness of the humanity Christ embraced. The slave or servant image
calls to mind the suffering servant of Isaiah 52-3, a servant who also
willingly undergoes suffering and humiliation for the sake of others. As Barth
sees it, the divine essence has the freedom to engage in this self-offering.
The meaning and the goal of this self-emptying is self-humiliation. In all
this, Jesus Christ remains God. In another wonderful turn of phrase by Barth,
God does not become a stranger to God in Jesus Christ. Such self-emptying and
self-humiliation reveal his divinity. He refers to this as a form of the
sternness of God against God as God engages in self-emptying and resignation.
As he sees it, by the incarnation God has revealed the immutability of divine
being as free love in the perfection in which we recognize it again and find it
confirmed in the divine acts of creation, reconciliation, and redemption.
8 he
humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
[Paul stresses the
course of his human life as obedience to God (see Romans 5:12ff). Pannenberg
also takes this hymn as allusion to the relation between the obedience of
Christ unto death and the sin of Adam. He did not lay hold of equality with God
as his booty in verse 6, but in obedience to God humbled himself to the death
of the cross in verse 8. Undoubtedly, we have here an allusion to the
temptation of Eve by the serpent, who offered her the hope of being like God in
Genesis 3:5, which led to the sin of her and Adam. The obedience of Jesus
Christ the Son in verse 8, then, reverses the act of Adam. Unlike the first man,
Jesus did not fall into the temptation of wanting to be like God, even though
in his preexistence, unlike Adam, he was in the form of God as in verse 6. His
obedience had a different content from that required of Adam, we can see an
antithetical correspondence between his act and that of Adam inasmuch as the
obedience springs from the mind of Christ that does not seek to be like God but
accepts distinction from God in subordination to God. Therefore, we can say
that Christ sheds light on the original situation of Adam and therefore on our
human nature and destiny in relation to God.[23]]
even death on a cross.
[Paul likely added
his distinctive emphasis here by stressing that death means death on a cross.
The hymn tradition saw in the cross a cooperation of the Son and Father, while
Paul himself tended to see the cross as the action of God in Christ.[24]
However, Pannenberg will stress that only from the standpoint of the special
meaning of his death “for us” can we say that the whole life of Jesus is a way
to this death. Thus, Jesus did not simply live in solidarity with others. He
lived in solidarity with God.[25]As
Barth put it, the divine majesty is not behind the cross, but in the cross. As
he beautifully puts it, Jesus was never greater as Lord than in this depth of
servanthood.[26]
In context, Paul is suggesting that if even Christ was willing to put aside his
rightful equality with God in order to save us, how much more so they must be
willing to put aside our personal "rights" and become servants to one
another. Paul's intent here is not to debate the essence of Christ's nature -
fully human fully divine - but to offer his Philippian readers a most moving
and miraculous example of genuine Christian behavior. In 2:2, Paul urges his readers to be "of
the same mind" and have "the same love" as Christ. In light of this plea, then, Paul offers
Christ's astoundingly humble and obedient acts of incarnation and crucifixion
as the supreme examples of the kind of behavior he is advocating.[27]
Yet, Paul is clearly referring to a significant and early incarnational hymn
describing the pre-existing Christ who sets aside divinity to take up human
form. Thus, we dare not limit these verses to a supreme example of the behavior
Paul wishes to inspire in the congregation. Paul would not have added verses
9-11 if that were his intent.]
[Verses 9-11 describe the path of his exaltation, which we understand
to be his resurrection and ascension.]
9 Therefore God also highly
exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
[Exaltation answers
the self-imposed humbling we have just discussed. Precisely because Christ
Jesus emptied himself in this way, precisely because he lived in obedience to
the mission God gave him, the exaltation of Jesus from the dead confirmed that
he was the obedient Son of the Father.[28] We see here among the
oldest New Testament witnesses that the resurrection and ascension of Jesus
form a single event.[29] Pannenberg stresses that
only by his resurrection from the dead did the Crucified attain to the dignity
of the Lord.[30]
Pannenberg says that the exaltation of the risen Lord has put Christ in a
position to rule. However, already in a hidden way he exercises the lordship of
the Father in his earthly work by preparing the path for it.[31] Thus, the hymn shifts
from the actions of the suffering servant to the action of God in highly
exalting him. God gave him a name above every name, so that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven, earth, and under the earth, and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Pannenberg stresses that this confession is not in competition with the Father,
but in honor of the Father. Nor does this confession weaken the confession of
the one God.[32]]
[1] Palm Sunday.
Clearly,
this is one of the most joyful days of the Christian year. It is a day that
involves a king and a colt, plus crowds and cloaks. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem as a king. He is
riding on a colt. Crowds are laying their cloaks on the ground before him as he
rides. They cry, "Hosanna to the Son
of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!"
(Matthew 21:9). The people are tired of corrupt King Herod. They want Jesus to
be their ruler. We know this story well, and it is easy for us to grasp the
meaning of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt while crowds praise him and
roll out the red carpet by spreading their cloaks on the road. The crowds go
wild, and so do we. We wave our palm branches. We want Jesus to be our king and
to rule our world with love and justice. Everyone is shouting, jumping and
jostling to get a better view. The king, the son of David, is coming!
[2] In that
sense, no word is translatable from one language to another. Yet, we still do
it. Languages still have the basic sentence structure most of us learned early
in life and have since forgotten. Amour in French still means love in English.
Yet, translators insist that we lose something precious in making the
translation.
[3] Words
allow us to represent the natural, social, and private world we experience to
others. They allow us to engage others and learn.
[4] Lomas, Tim. "The magic
of 'untranslatable' words." Scientific American, July 12, 2016,
scientificamerican.com.
[5] In this
version of the story, King Jesus would ride into town and confront King Herod,
and the one with the biggest crowd would win.
"In Lewis Carroll's famous book, Through the Looking Glass, Alice steps
through the mirror in the living room to find a world on the opposite side
where everything is backwards: Alice wants to go forward, but every time she
moves, she ends up back where she started. She tries to go left and ends up
right. Up is down and fast is slow. “Similarly, Christianity is a kind of
looking glass world where everything works on principles opposite to those of
the world around us.”
[7] Some people would point to a modern hero like Captain
"Sully" Sullenberger who was at the throttle of Flight 1549 when he
had to land his jetliner in the Hudson River, saving more than 150 passengers
in the process. In the aftermath of that experience, Captain Sully exemplified
humility as few could. According to one account, "In an interview after
the crash, he was modest about his acts of courage, attributing his poise to
his training over the years. 'One way of looking at this might be that for 42
years,' he said, 'I've been making small, regular deposits in this bank of
experience, education and training. And on January 15 the balance was
sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.'" The event
became known as "The Miracle on the Hudson," and was made into a 2016
movie starring Tom Hanks.
Or,
you might point to heroes of the past, such as astronaut Neil Armstrong, a
political leader like Nelson Mandela, a religious leader like Gandhi or a
humanitarian figure like Mother Teresa. Do any athletic heroes come to mind?
You might consider some heroes in your own community, or better, in your own
congregation.
Glory
and recognition came to all of these people, although none of them sought it,
nor did they think it important. However, the glory came in a counterintuitive
way. What example might you cite?
[8] Kenosis
at this level reveals the distinction of the Son from the Father and
subordination of the Son to the Father. In fact, to say it philosophically, the
self-emptying of the Son becomes the path for the self-actualizing of the deity
of the Trinitarian God in relation to the world. The Son sets aside the
equality of divine life with Father and Spirit, but through his obedience in
the course of his earthly life remains the Son.
[9] Adam disobeyed
God and hid from God. He forfeited his fellowship with God, while Jesus in the
course of his life remained in fellowship with the Father and the Spirit. Adam
wanted to be like God by turning from God and choosing a path for himself.
[10] Thus, the hymn embraces both the path of the
pre-existent Son and the path of the earthly life of Jesus. Kenosis becomes the
free expression of the will to love. The form of a servant concealed divine
glory. Kenosis fulfills Isaiah 52-53 as the servant willingly undergoes
suffering and humiliation for the sake of others. The divine essence offers itself
freely for the reconciliation and redemption of the world. His death “for us”
is in solidarity with the Father and in solidarity with humanity. Jesus was
Lord most meaningfully in the depth of his life as a servant of the Lord and in
serving others.
[11] For
Jesus, kenosis led to kingship. Because he emptied himself by being humble and
obedient, God filled him with glory and power. That leads me to ask another
question.
[12] God is
not going to ask most of us to follow Jesus to the point of death on a cross. However,
God is challenging us to show humility and obedience as we walk the path of
Christ in the world.
[13] Martin Hengel was a great New Testament historian who
taught at the University of Tübingen in Germany. In that country, people
generally have high esteem for professors and put them on a pedestal. However,
Pastor John Dickson remembers how Professor Hengel would have his students come
to his home on Friday evenings for meals and discussions.
"He
wasn't influential just because he was a brilliant scholar. It was the fact
that he let people come very close, that he shared his life with them -- that
humility is what made his influence lasting."
We
can show the same kind of humility, whether we influence students, coach a team
or lead a group of workers. People are grateful when we take them seriously and
welcome them into our lives.
[14] Our practice of kenosis also includes obedience to
Jesus Christ, who said to his followers, "Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant"
(Matthew 20:26). He wants us to empty ourselves, as he did, and act as slaves
to each other, just as he "came not
to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (v.
28).
[15] The good news is that this emptying does not lead to
embarrassment and powerlessness. Instead, it leads to great fullness. Jesus
says, "all who exalt themselves will
be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted" (Matthew
23:12).
I hope such reflections raise
a number of important questions for us as we enter Holy Week. Holy Week forces
us to confront kenosis, a word that is difficult, captivating and full of
significance for anyone who is trying to follow Jesus Christ. What might such a life look like? It will
invite us to look at life differently.
[16]
(See Gordon D. Fee, "Philippians 2:5-11, Hymn or Exalted Pauline
Prose?" Bulletin for Biblical Research 2 [1992], 29-46.)
[17]
Panennberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 308.
[18]
Systematic Theology Volume 3, 68-9.
[19]
Systematic Theoogy Volume 2, 230.
[20]
(Albrecht Oepke, "kenow," The Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament [Gerhard Kittle, ed.; 10 vols.; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1965],
3.661.)
[21]
Systematic Theology Volume 1, 421.
[22]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 375-7.
[23]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 296.
[24]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 439.
[25]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 424.
[26]
Church Dogmatics II.1 [31.2] 516-8,
II.1 [30.2], 397, IV.1 [59.1] 180, IV.2 [64.2] 150-1.
[27]
According to Gordon D. Fee, "Philippians 2:5-11, Hymn or Exalted Pauline
Prose?" Bulletin for Biblical Research (1992),
[28]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
3, 452.
[29]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 354.
[30]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 283..
[31]
Systematic Theology Volume 1, 312.
[32]
Systematic Theology Volume 1, 266.
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