Philippians 2:5-11Philippians 2:1-13 (5-11Palm/Passion Sunday, Service of the Word; Year A September 25-October 1) is an exhortation to harmony and humility, using an early Christological hymn to support the exhortation. I will explore the community emphasis of Paul and its kenosis (self-emptying) implication for Christology, along with some practical application. Because of this, some of what I offer will be speculative in its theological reflection, but I hope still grounded in the text. The text challenges us to re-consider what classical Christian theology means by divine immutability and impassibility.
Verses 5-11 hymn
In Philippians 2:5-11 has Paul setting before his readers the example of Christ Jesus for the church in Philippi as to how they ought to treat each other. In inviting them to consider a life worthy of the gospel (1:27), Paul is going to suggest that regardless of any human examples one may find, what Christ did is for Christians is the supreme example of how we are to treat each other. What Paul will say here is of great interest in Christian reflection upon Christology. Yet we need to remember that the purpose of this section is to support his previous exhortation to the community. Considering 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 to become Savior. Christ becomes an example of how Christians are to submit to each other. Christ willingly submits to the will of God.
In the process of providing the supreme example of humility, however, Paul will write some of the most important statements regarding who Christ is. The hymn becomes a common confession of the faith of those gathered for worship. It shows that early in the life of the church was a felt need to express through a fixed text that which unites them before God.[1] 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 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.[2] Paul either appeals to an early hymn from Antioch, of which we have examples in Colossians 1:15-20, II Timothy 2:11-13, and Ephesians 5:14, or he constructs his own hymn along the lines of the exalted prose of I Corinthians 13.[3] 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.
As Paul begins, he urges his readers to allow humility and obedience to shape their lives. He wants them to keep maturing in the faith by setting before them the example of Jesus. He is appealing to what they already know about themselves in Christ. He is urging them to put aside all competition and internal strife. Paul appeals to Christ as the pattern for the behavior of the community. If they listen to Paul, they will have a common, shared approach to each other. Christ will be the heart of that commonality. The basis for his encouragement is their relationship as believers to Christ rather than Torah.[4] Therefore, those who differ can still have unity of spirit that makes them want to put others in the group first and look beyond their personal interests.
Paul describes the first part of the life of Christ, the path of his humiliation. The nature of that humiliation provides a place of debate. The incarnating mission of Christ becomes a pattern for the incarnating mission of local congregations. Paul helps the Philippians remember that Jesus Christ began his life in a unique way. He was in the form (μορφῇ) of God, which, although its background is humanity created in the image and likeness of God, here it refers to the equality of the Son in relation to the Father. The temptation may have been present in the Son to be independent of the Father, but as Adam, created in the image and likeness of God, chose that course, the Son did not. Adam chose independence from God in hope of being like God, having the right to judge matters of right and wrong. By contrast, the Son relinquished divinity for the sake of humanity. The Son refused special privileges, but rather, seized an opportunity for special and sacrificial service. Human destiny is fellowship with God, but taking this destiny into our own hands means with withdraw from that destiny. Our destiny becomes a temptation for us. When we grasp at our destiny as if it were our prey, which we can do through both religious cultivation of our life with the divine or by emancipation from all religious ties, we will miss our destiny. We can achieve our destiny only through acknowledging our distinction from God, accepting our finitude, and accepting ourselves as creatures of God.[5] The Son resisted the temptation to remain within the divine fellowship he already had with Father and Spirit. Rather than remain in that fellowship, the Son emptied (ἐκένωσεν) himself.
Paul stresses that the Son stripped himself of his divine privileges and status and took on the responsibilities, limitations, and status of a human being, indeed of a servant among human beings, the lowest of the low. [6] In other words, we should read this passage in a social way, considering the given social order in Philippi. Just as Paul is not asking the Philippians to give up their Roman citizenship and the identity which comes with that to truly be a citizen of the heavenly commonwealth, so he is not suggesting that the Son gave up his heavenly identity to be a human being. What he gave up was his privileges and status to self-sacrificially serve others and even die for them. The Philippians are also to take on the mindset of Christ and so not view their social status and privileges as they have in the past, which should lead to different and more self-sacrificial behavior. Rather than remain in the fellowship with the Father and the Spirit, the Son emptied (ἐκένωσεν) using a term that has received attention in the attempt to clarify what is took place in this transaction. Further, he took the form (μορφὴν) of a slave, was born in human likeness (ὁμοιώματι), and was found in human form (σχήματι) or appearance. The transaction undoubtedly means he emptied himself throughout the course of his life in service to others, Paul thus underlining the exhortation to not look to one’s own interests but to the interests of others (v. 4). A dramatic picture of this is the foot-washing episode in John 13:5-17 (Origen, Cyprian). The historical path of the life of Jesus was that of self-emptying. He showed the love of God for humanity by becoming one with humanity. Paul places in explicit contrast the form of God and the form of a servant. He places in stark contrast the form and equality with God to the form of a slave and the likeness of humanity. Thus, he is also referring to the transaction of self-emptying as the path of the pre-existent Son entering earthly existence, showing how the fully divine Son became the historical Jesus of Nazareth. Such a kenotic Christology communicates the self-emptying that the Son voluntarily offered on the cross. It begins with the Son, in living and eternal relationship with the Father and Spirit, who set aside his divinity to become human. Kenosis at this level reveals the distinction of the Son from the Father and subordination of the Son to the Father. The divine Son completely identifies with sinful humanity. Equality with God was the not his goal, so he took on a form not originally his own and adopted that form to the extreme as the Son identified with humanity. This act of divine self-emptying was the path for the divine to enter the world of humanity without becoming unlike the divine. 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 and comes into being through this self-actualizing.[7] In such self-offering and self-humiliation, the Son remains divine, showing that God does not become a stranger to God by this process of self-emptying in Jesus of Nazareth. 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 Son sets aside the equality of divine life with Father and Spirit, but through his obedience during his earthly life remains the Son. The fullness and completeness of his obedience reveal Jesus as the pre-existent Son. Yet we also see the course of the earthly life of the Son as one of self-emptying as he lives in obedience to God. The human life of Jesus contrasts with Adam, who disobeyed God and hid from God. He forfeited his fellowship with God, while Jesus during 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. 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. Thus, the hymn embraces both the path of the pre-existent Son and the path of the earthly life of Jesus. 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. Kenosis becomes the free expression of the will to love. It reveals the core of divine reality, that God is 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. We can see divine majesty in the cross. Jesus was Lord most meaningfully in the depth of his life as a servant of the Lord and in serving others. Thus, self-emptying here is not a decision to stop being divine, but a decision to show what it really meant to be divine. Rather than exploiting or taking advantage of his divinity, the Son became human in and as Jesus of Nazareth, regarded his equality with God as committing him to the course he took of becoming human, of becoming Israel’s anointed representative, of dying under the weight of the world’s evil. This is what it meant to be equal with God. As you look at the incarnate son of God dying on the cross the most powerful thought you should think is: this is the true meaning of who God is. He is the God of self-giving love.[8] The allusion to Isaiah 53:12 seems clear, where the suffering servant pours out his life to the point of death. Yet he also humbled himself by setting aside his divine equality to adopt the human form of existence. Such self-emptying becomes an expression of divinity. His equality with the Father was not the only possibility for the Son. In actualizing this other possibility, the Son shows the true essence of divinity. Such self-emptying is the free expression of the will to love. It shows that God is love. The Son accepted a form in which the world would not recognize, and in which concealed divine glory. The suffering servant of Isaiah 52-3 undergoes suffering and humiliation for the sake of others. Yet he also charted the course for the new human being in humbling (ἐταπείνωσεν) himself and becoming obedient (ὑπήκοος) to the point of death. As the Son lived in obedience to the Father, he set himself apart from humanity and in the process showed what human beings can become. He states in poetic form here what he argued in Romans 512ff, that the course of the life of Jesus of Nazareth was one of obedience, which set him in sharp contrast with Adam. His obedience as a human being reverses the effect of the disobedience of Adam. The humble and obedient Son sheds light upon the original situation of Adam and therefore our human nature and our destiny in relation to God.
Paul adds to the hymn a typical theme of his that the obedience of the Son extended to death on a cross. He did not just die a normal death. He died one of the most terrible deaths imaginable — death on a cross. The course of the pre-existent Son and the course of Jesus of Nazareth unite in the self-humbling involved in the cross.[9] A careful reading of the hymn makes it clear that Christ emptied self, served, and died — without promise of reward. The extraordinary fact of Christ’s act was that at the cross the future was closed. The door was locked; his obedient service came at the bitter end.[10] The grave of Christ was a cave, not a tunnel. Christ acted in our behalf without view of gain. That is precisely what God has exalted and vindicated: self-denying service for others to the point of death with no claim of return, no eye upon a reward.[11] Paul sees in the cross an action of God in Christ.[12] The life of Christ, in the special sense that his death was “for us,” is a journey to this death. Yes, he lived in solidarity with others. More importantly, he lived in solidarity with God.[13] We see divine majesty in the cross. Jesus was never greater as Lord than in this depth of servanthood that led to the cross.[14] Paul has offered to his readers an astoundingly humble and obedient act of Incarnation and crucifixion as supreme examples of the kind of behavior he is advocating.[15]
The Christological tradition closely followed this hymn. It understood the Incarnation of the Son as his course toward the humiliation on the cross. The Incarnation of the Logos is completed on the cross. Jesus is born to face his passion. He has fulfilled his mission once his Father abandoned him on the cross. One cannot speak of a theology of the Incarnation without it leading to a theology of the cross. God became the kind of human being we do not want to be as the outcast, accursed, and crucified. Yes, behold this man. It becomes a confession of faith that recognizes the humanity of God in the dehumanized Jesus on the cross. Behold, here is your God, hanging upon the cross. The Incarnation is the humiliation of God, where God is fully at one within God and fully at one with the dehumanized other. This death corresponds to the divine nature in contradiction of the abandonment that occurred on the cross. Yes, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, but this means that God is like this, the one who is with the dehumanized other. God is glorious in this self-surrender. God is powerful in this form of helplessness. God is fully God in this dehumanized form of humanity. Everything Christianity has to say about God is found in this, the Christ event. The Christ event is an event in God as well. God has acted and has gone on to suffer. In this event, God is love with all the being of God. The being of the divine encompasses the human being. The event of the cross in the being of God is both trinitarian and personal. Christian theology begins with the person of Christ and understands the relationship of the death of the Son to the Father and the Spirit. The entire doctrine of the kenosis, the self-emptying of God, attempted to understand the divine being in process. The divine being enters into the suffering of the Son and in so doing is and remains completely divine. As such, theology must be able to question the traditional theory of the immutability of God and the impassibility of the divine nature. The cross forces us to reflect upon death occurring in God.[16] To be brief and suggestive, my point here is that God is immutable and impassible in the sense that the character of God is not susceptible to the changing qualities of time. However, the significance of the revelation of who God is in Jesus as the Christ involves the change time inevitably brings and the suffering involved as the divine embraces the suffering and probabilities of time.
Paul then describes the path of the exaltation of the Son in his resurrection and ascension. Christian communal life is one that anticipates the future, eschatological exaltation of Jesus Christ with all human beings and of all creation. By implication, then, we need to ask ourselves if we are properly exalting Christ today in anticipation of this promised future. The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it this way: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” His exaltation confirms that he lived in obedience to the mission God gave him. It confirms that he was the obedient Son of the Father.[17] This ancient hymn views the resurrection and ascension as a single event of exaltation.[18] Only his resurrection from the dead gave the Crucified the dignity of Lord.[19] The result of this exaltation is that all creation will properly honor the one crucified and thereby shamed. He fulfills the meaning of name, Yahweh saves. The risen Lord has the authority to rule. The risen Lord is now preparing the way for that rule.[20] Confessing Jesus Christ as Lord honors the glory of the Father and enhances the confession of the one God. [21]
Thus, as the hymn (1870) put it:
At the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow,
Every tongue confess Him King of glory now;
’Tis the Father’s pleasure we should call Him Lord,
Who from the beginning was the mighty Word.
As another hymn (1916) phrased it:
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim,
Till all the world adore His sacred Name.
A praise song poetically recounts the course of the ancient hymn.
Lord, I lift Your name on high
Lord, I love to sing Your praises
I'm so glad You're in my life
I'm so glad You came to save us
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift Your name on high
The Son emptied himself (kenosis) of divinity 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 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.
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. What might such a life look like? It will invite us to look at life differently.
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.
Grasping at things and people is a natural human trait. We think we gain some significance to our lives if we can bring certain things and relationships in our sphere of influence. This is true. We express our worth and dignity by engaging the world around us. It becomes sinful when we grasp and cling to things and relationships in a way that asserts our superiority over others. One of the difficult life lessons we need to learn is that our worth and dignity does not have to be at the expense of others.
[1] Oscar Cullman, The Earliest Christian Confessions, ET 1949
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[3] (See Gordon D. Fee, "Philippians 2:5-11, Hymn or Exalted Pauline Prose?" Bulletin for Biblical Research 2 [1992], 29-46.)
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[10] (Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Philippians, pp. 59–60).
[11] Fred B. Craddock, Philippians (John Knox Press, 1985), 42.
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[15] According to Gordon D. Fee, "Philippians 2:5-11, Hymn or Exalted Pauline Prose?" Bulletin for Biblical Research (1992),
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