|
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so 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.
ESV
Yesterday, we looked at a passage that was very challenging, but we came to the understanding that if our hearts and minds are centered on Christ, then the love, gentleness, like-mindedness, and humility that we are called to in relationship with each other is possible.
The passage today gives us the breadth and depth of understanding regarding why it’s possible as we consider one of the greatest statements about Jesus.
This passage has received loads of scholarly attention because it’s filled with meaning and purpose concerning what it says about Jesus and the way it says it. This passage talks about the divinity of Jesus and His humanity, about His preexistence, His equality with God, His identity with humanity, and the costly nature of that identity. In addition, there is an insight into Jesus’ status when God exalts Him and the submission of all created beings to Jesus’ authority.
Wow. We are drinking deeply here in this passage.
To be quite candid with you, to discuss all that is present in this passage would take more than the space of this devotional.
So here’s what’s catching my attention this morning.
One of the things in this passage that can trip us up is when we apply our understanding of what it means in verse 7 when it says that Jesus “made himself nothing.”
Our tendency is to think that Jesus somehow gave up or abandoned His divinity. However, in Greek, the language doesn’t imply the giving up of something, but figuratively nullifying something, making it of no account. Jesus doesn’t abandon any part of His divinity, instead, He reveals to us the form of God in human likeness.
In other words, in words that are just mind-blowing to me, Jesus is unwilling to use His divinity to selfish ends and instead expresses His divinity in human identity and humble service, in obedience even to the point of death on the cross.
This is an attitude of relentless unselfish love and giving, a characteristic of God, that finds its expression in Jesus, the Word become flesh (John 1:14).
This was shocking to first-century readers, and it is to us as well. In that context, power and position were used to get people to serve you. However, Jesus doesn’t use His status to bring about the kingdom of God with violence and force, instead, Jesus expresses His status in humble service and human identity.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus said of Himself when teaching the disciples about greatness and authority, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
If we take this single thought from these verses and place it in the context of what we read yesterday, we understand that we are called to be like Jesus, and it makes sense that as our lives are transformed by Jesus’ presence. In other words, Jesus makes it possible for us to live in the way Paul was describing and as we continue to follow Jesus, our faith, our Christian character, will be expressed as we serve and selflessly love as Jesus did, placing the interest of others ahead of our own just as Jesus did. This is something that Paul talks about further in his letter to the Galatians when he talks about the work of the Spirit in our lives and how the fruit of the Spirit begins to grow and mature in our character (Galatians 5.16-26).
The radical thing regarding what Paul is saying is that the world’s power structure is now flipped upside down in Jesus. Even in our own culture, the understanding regarding status and power is to be at the top and everyone below you serves at your pleasure.
Jesus flips that notion on its head. Jesus, whose status is above all others as Lord of lords and King of kings, has come to serve and give His life through His obedience to the will of the Father, even to death on the cross.
When we understand this and begin to follow Jesus—verses 1-4 from yesterday make a lot more sense, and we can begin to understand what an earth-shattering difference this can make in our world that defines power and status as the polar opposite.
This is radical and revolutionary stuff and it produced opposition and persecution because it threatened the very foundations of power in that culture. No wonder Paul was in prison. And heads up, it’s just as radical and revolutionary today.
God bless you and know that you are prayed for this morning.
Scott
|
