Monday, March 13, 2017

Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2;5-11: Let this mind be in you, which was also in God's anointed one Jesus: 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. Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus God's anointed one Christ is lord, to the glory of God the Father.

What this passage does is to reinforce a significant aspect of Paul's gospel, namely that there is no genuine life in God's anointed one that is not at the same time, by the power of the God's Holy Spirit, being regularly transformed into the likeness of God's anointed one. 

A gospel of grace that omits obedience is not Pauline in any sense. To be sure, the indicative must precede the imperative or all is lost; but it does not eliminate the imperative, or all is likewise lost.

The behavioral concern of this passage is precisely in keeping with the Pauline paraenesis found everywhere. Paul's gospel has inherent in it that those who are in God's anointed one will also walk worthy of him (1:27). Thus, in Pauline ethics, the principle is love, the pattern is Jesus, and the power is of the Spirit; all of which have been provided for in the death and resurrection of God's anointed one Jesus.

The appeal in the present passage, which begins at 1:27, is to a unity in God's anointed one Jesus  that for Paul was a sine qua non of the evidential reality of his gospel at work in his communities. The bases of the appeal, God's anointed one, love, and the Spirit, were set forth in v. 1. The Christian graces absolutely necessary for such behavior are selflessness and humility, which one looks not only to one's own interests but also; especially; to those of others (vv. 3-4).

Here is where the example of Jesus comes in. Those who are "in God's anointed one" (v. 1) must also "think" like him (vv. 5-11), which is exactly as Paul has argued elsewhere (2 Corinthians 8:9; Romans 15:1-6). However, to insist that in context the basic thrust of this passage is "God's anointed one as paradigm" does not mean that there are no other agenda. Both the length and pattern of the passage suggest that Paul is laying a much broader theological foundation, probably for the whole letter. In the first place, the mention of Jesus death on the cross, even though the emphasis lies on his "humbling himself " to that extent, surely at the same time reminds them of the basis of their faith in the first place. It is that death, after all, that lies at the heart of everything. To put that in another way, the appeal to Jesus example in his suffering and death makes its point precisely because it presupposes that they will simultaneously recall the saving significance of that death. In 1 Peter 2:21-25 that is explicitly stated. Paul does it differently; he does not add, "by whose stripes you were healed," but such an intent almost certainly lies behind his mention of the cross.

Secondly, there is also an emphasis in this letter on imitatio with regard to suffering (1:29-30; 3:10, 21). Those who are privileged to believe in Jesus are also privileged to suffer for him; indeed to share in those sufferings is part of knowing him. Hence, this passage, with Jesus humbling himself to the point of death on the cross, will also serve as the theological ground for that concern. Indeed, that seems to make the best sense of the otherwise unusual emphasis in 3:10 that knowing God's anointed one Jesus includes the "fellowship of his sufferings." That certainly sounds as if Jesus death is once again serving as paradigm. There is both "participation" and "following" implied here.

Thirdly, the note of eschatological reward or vindication in vv. 9-11 is also struck more than once in this letter (1:6; 1:10-11; 1:21- 23; 3:11-14; 3:20-21). For this, too, Jesus serves both as exalted lord and as example or forerunner. His vindication, which followed his humiliation, is found in his present and future lordship, to which both the Philippians and their opponents will ultimately bow. But that vindication also becomes paradigm. Those who now suffer for God's anointed one Jesus, and walk worthy of him, shall also at his coming be transformed so as to be conformed to "the body of his (present) glory." Thus the centrality of God's anointed one Jesus in Pauline theology. His death secured redemption for his people; but at the same time it serves as pattern for their present life in the Spirit, while finally we shall share in the eschatological glory and likeness that are presently his. And all of this is, as our present passage concludes, "to the glory of God the Father." In the final analysis therefore, this passage stands at the heart of Paul's understanding of God himself. Jesus serves as pattern, to be sure; but he does so as the one who most truly expresses God's nature. As the son of God, Jesus poured himself out, not seeking his own advantage. As a man he humbled himself unto death on the cross. That this revelation of what God is like is the underlying Pauline point; and since God is in process of recreating us in his image, this becomes the heart of the present appeal. The Philippians; and ourselves are not called upon simply to "imitate Jesus" by what we do, but to have this very mind, the mind of God's anointed one, developed in us, so that we too bear God's image in our attitudes and relationships within the Christian community and beyond.

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