Understanding the Christ Hymn of Philippians 2

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Eunice Washington
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1 Understanding the Christ Hymn of Philippians 2 Humble Imitation versus Theological Implication A Research Paper By: Matthew Brooks For: Bib 503: Acts and Pauline Epistles Dr. John L. Terveen Fall 2005 Philippians 2:6-11 (NIV) 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2 The so-called Christ Hymn in Philippians 2:6-11 is one of the most studied and hotly debated passages in the Bible. 1 Countless scholars have examined this text in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the nature of Christ and his relationship with the Father. This passage is among the most informative statements in the Bible on the nature of Christ s incarnation, 2 so it is logical that we would bring some of our most difficult questions to this text such as To what extent was Christ human and to what extent divine? and What is the nature of relationship within the Trinity? These are questions scholars love to ponder and debate, and yet there is a surprising lack of consensus among intelligent, Bible believing, men of God. Even a passage containing so much information about Christ provides little interpretive consensus. 3 Why? When we look at the passage in context, the answer to this question becomes clear. Philippians 2:6-11 is not intended to inform its readers about the nature of the incarnation, but to present Christ as an example of the humility and self-sacrifice which all Christians should endeavor to posses. While this text certainly has implications with regard to many important theological questions, Paul s purpose here is not to answer these questions, but to extol us to be humble and to serve one another as Christ served us. Therefore, we should not be surprised that clear answers to these theological questions cannot be obtained from this passage. It was never Paul s intent to answer such questions. Unfortunately, attempts to extract answers of this sort have often led to the isolation of this text from the greater context, and a failure to understand or apply the true intent of this wonderful passage of scripture. 4 1 Frank Theiman, The NIV Application Commentary: Philippians. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2 Ibid 1995), Moises Silva, The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary: Philippians. (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988), Theiman, 110

3 The first issue that often leads to this isolation and improper interpretive emphasis is the poetic element of the language, which has led many scholars to suggest that Paul is here quoting, perhaps with some slight modifications, a pre-existing Christian hymn. 5 While the language itself suggests that this is at least possible, it is a relatively new idea with no manuscript evidence to support it. 6 Even if this theory is true, there would be no way to reconstruct the hymn and any attempt to interpret it apart from this, the only context we have for it, is not advisable. 7 It is only as part of Paul s letter to the Philippians that we have this passage, and even if it were originally written for some other purpose (which is not certain), it is only as part of this letter that it can be considered God s word. Therefore it should always be examined as part of the whole, never in isolation. The key to a proper understanding is context, beginning with verse 5, which states the purpose for including verses 6-11: namely that we should have the same attitude as Christ Jesus. With this established Paul presents this poetic description of Christ s incarnation, crucifixion, and exaltation as an example of the desired attitude. The Greek word translated as attitude is phroneo, which relates to a way of thinking. 8 The inclusion of the coordinating conjunction kai in the original Greek is also significant. This word, often translated as and or also, suggests a connection between the attitude of Christ and something else. 9 The natural connection is to verses 3 and 4, which describe this attitude. In the NIV these verses read: Do nothing out of selfish 5 Kenneth L. Baker, Ed., NIV Study Bible. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1995), Theiman, Silva, Barclay-Newman, Greek-English Dictionary, Bible Works 6, Copyright Friberg, Analytical Greek Lexicon, Bible Works 6, Copyright 2005

4 ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 10 When we realize that the Greek word translated as better (huperecho) literally means to hold above 11 and so conveys a sense of perceived or assigned value rather than an inherent or intrinsic superiority, it is not difficult to view these two verses as a description of the way of thinking recommended in verse 5 and illustrated by Christ in verses With this in mind we should understand verses 6 and 7 not primarily as theological statements but rather as descriptions Christ s superiority to us and corresponding willingness to release his rights and privileges as God by taking on human form. The key Greek word here is harpagmos translated as something to be grasped ; it is only used here in the entire New Testament, and literally means a thing that is seized or taken by force as in plunder or booty. 12 The implication, then, is that the one grasping or seizing did not originally posses the thing in question. This is theologically problematic and it seems an odd word for Paul to use here, especially if his goal is to give us a clear understanding of the Trinity. Elsewhere in scripture (Jn 1:1, Rom 9:5, etc.) it is made perfectly clear that Christ has possessed full equality with God the Father from all eternity. Why then might Paul use a word with this connotation? Perhaps this is because he wishes to imply a comparison between Christ and us. Christ willingly gave up his rightful privileges which he possessed by nature from all eternity, but we often to cling to our perceived rights and privileges, which are not in fact ours by nature but, where they have any legitimacy at all, have been given by God. For us to grasp these so-called rights would certainly be to seize a kind of plunder, 10 Baker, Friberg 12 Friberg

5 something not rightfully ours. By using harpagmos Paul implies this contrast without equating Christ s legitimate rights with our perceived rights. Remember, Christ did not consider his equality with God to be harpagmos. His claim was legitimate, but the language implies that when we do not have the same attitude we are grasping for what, for us, really is harpagmos. Another significant word in the Greek appears in verse 7. The verb kenoo is translated as made himself nothing in the NIV. The literal meaning is to make empty, but it is most often used figuratively in the New Testament. 13 The idea conveyed here could be one of Christ letting go of his prerogatives of divinity, or simply one of his giving himself up fully to his role as incarnate redeemer without holding anything back. 14 Paul may have had either or both of these ideas in mind here but to whatever extent he intended the first interpretation of kenoo it would not have been primarily as a theological statement but rather as an example to follow. That is, Christ willingly gave up his divine attributes to serve us so we should surely be willing to give up what little we may have in order to serve him? We can never give up as much as he did. The second interpretation, however, seems to fit the context even better. That is, Christ did not hold back anything in serving us but made himself nothing for our benefit. We then should be ready and willing to become nothing for the benefit of others by not holding anything back for ourselves. Verse 8 contains the key statement of the entire passage, namely that Christ humbled himself. This is the point Paul is making. In verses 6 and 7 we see how Christ humbled himself in the incarnation, and here we are reminded of the ultimate expression of his humility: his willing death on the cross. Christ s attitude was such that he was willing to die the most humiliating and painful death imaginable. This is the kind of humble, self-sacrificial attitude that we are to have as 13 Friberg 14 B. Witherington III, Christology, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Ed. by Gerald F. Hawthorne (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 107

6 believers. We cannot ignore the inclusion of verses 9-11 in this passage. This description of Christ s exaltation and eventual reign over all creation may seem somewhat superfluous given our understanding that this passage is intended to give us an example to follow. We certainly can not expect to have all creation bow to us and declare us Lord. This ultimate exaltation is reserved for Christ alone but as Christians our humility, like Christ s, will eventually lead to our being exalted by the Father. James 4:10 and 1 Peter 5:6 both tell us that those who humble themselves will be lifted up by God. The attitude Paul is here exhorting will lead to suffering more often than not, just as it did for Paul himself, but there is reason for hope. Christ suffered in his humility just as we must expect to suffer in our imitation of him. Paul understood this and still longed to imitate Christ (Phi 3:10) because he understood that suffering is not the end of the road for the humble. He wanted us to understand this as well. Just as Christ ultimately was lifted up by God the Father so we too can expect to ultimately be lifted up by God. It is this hope that enables us to suffer joyfully as we imitate Christ s attitude. The misguided emphasis so often placed on this passage is an example of one of the most common mistakes we make as Bible reading Christians. Often we are more interested in answers to intellectual questions than we are in character transformation. It is all too easy for us to read this passage and immediately begin to ponder the deep mysteries of the nature of God without once considering the implications of Christ s example for the way we live. If Christ gave up his place in heaven to serve me, shouldn t I be willing to give up the place I am grasping in the church or at work in order to serve him? If Christ was willing to suffer the humiliation of the cross because of his love for me shouldn t I be willing to risk potential humiliation by boldly declaring my love for him? These questions are much easier to answer than the theological questions we often ask instead

7 but they are also much harder in the sense that they demand that we respond with our lives as well as our minds. This may be why we prefer the theological questions. When we read scripture the first question we ask should not be, What does this tell me about God? but What does this mean for me? There is certainly value in seeking to grow in our proper biblical understanding of who God is; some passages of scripture have the truth about God s nature as their primary purpose, but even these passages should result in our desiring to change our lives in light of who God is. There is value in grappling with the mysteries of God, but we must understand that He is so far beyond us that we will never fully understand him. Moreover, we should never hide behind these mysteries to avoid obedience to the clear teaching of scripture. A desire and willingness to change should be foremost in our hearts and minds whenever we come to scripture. Ideally we should pray for this before we begin the study of a particular passage. Without this, we will too easily slip into the trap of pondering mysteries without ever seeing the truth that can actually impact our lives. Departing from the debate over the mysteries that this passage touches on leaves us with three profound truths about Christ, which should combine to supremely motivate us to follow his example. The first truth we see is that Christ s rights and privileges infinitely exceed our own. He was in very nature God (v.6). A broader understanding of scripture fleshes out exactly what this means, but even without a full understanding of this phrase it is clear that Christ s pre-incarnate standing was so far above our own that we could never give up enough to compare our sacrifice with what he gave up in becoming human. Secondly, we see that Christ willingly experienced suffering and humiliation on a scale that most of us will never begin to approach. Our sufferings and humiliations are insignificant by comparison. Finally, we see that because of his humility, his willingness to give up his place in Heaven and suffer a humiliating death on the cross, God the

8 Father exalted Christ to the highest place, and will ultimately put him over all creation. This kind of exaltation as a reward for humility is one that we can expect to experience ourselves someday, although not to the same degree. In light of these three truths, we should joyfully and patiently endure all suffering and humiliation in the name of Christ, our perfect example. In addition to a more applicable approach scripture and an increased appreciation for Christ as the supreme example of humility, there is a third principle that we must take away from this passage. The thing that we are urged to imitate in Christ is his attitude. The entire passage displays that attitude but Paul exhorts his readers simply to have the same attitude as Christ. Suffering in itself, humiliation in the name of God, self-sacrifice-- these things have no value apart from a proper attitude. Likewise a humble attitude is of value even if suffering and humiliation do not result, although we may expect that they will. The characteristic of Christ that we are to emulate is internal. We are to be like him in terms of attitude, or character. An imitation of him outwardly is not commanded here or elsewhere scripture. God is interested in our hearts, not our behavior. Our behavior will surely reflect our hearts, but this is not God s ultimate concern, nor should it be ours.

9 Bibliography Barclay-Newman Greek-English Dictionary. Bible Works 6. Copyright 2005 Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993 Friberg Analytical Greek Lexicon. Bible Works 6. Copyright 2005 Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. The Life of Joy: An Exposition of Philippians 1 and 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989 NIV Study Bible. edited by Kenneth L. Baker. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, Theiman, Frank. The NIV Application Commentary: Philippians. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995 Silva, Moises. The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary: Philippians. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988

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