STUDY ON THE BOOK OF PHILIPPIANS
Humble Living In Light Of Jesus’ Humble Example
Read Philippians 2:1-11
Introduction
I can’t help but conclude that the Philippian church had a problem with unity — and with the humility required to achieve that unity. If not, why would Paul spend a significant part of this short letter exhorting them about it?
Our churches today also need unity and humility. We need to understand that following Jesus means following him as a servant who humbles himself — or we’ll never really understand him. So, let’s begin as Paul sets up the issues in the first few verses. This passage has five sections:
- An appeal to Christ’s blessings and benefits (2:1)
- A call to unity (2:2)
- A warning against selfishness (2:3a)
- A call to humility and selfless love (2:3b-4)
- The ultimate example of selfless humility displayed in Christ (2:5-8)
An Appeal to Christ’s Blessings and Benefits
“Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” (vv1-2)
Paul pleads with the Philippian Christians to listen to what he has to say, to open their spiritual ears. Paul is saying, if Christ has benefited you in any way, I beg you to listen to me. Let’s look at the benefits that Paul piles one on top of another in verses 1-2 as inducements to unity.
“Consolation” here means “the act of emboldening another in belief or course of action” and “lifting of another’s spirits.” Paul is saying, if Christ has encouraged you by being united to him, listen!
“Comfort” means “pertaining to that which offers encouragement, especially as consolation, means of consolation, alleviation … solace.” Here Paul is particularly referring to the comfort derived from realizing that you are intensely loved by God.
“Fellowship” is the Greek word we’ve see a number of times in Philippians, the noun koinōnia, “sharing, partnership, fellowship.” Paul is reminding them of their participation in the Holy Spirit as an inducement to listen.
“Affection” is the Greek noun splanchnon, “of the seat of the emotions, heart … the seat and source of love, sympathy, and mercy.”
“Mercies” (KJV) is the Greek noun oiktirmos, “display of concern over another’s misfortune, pity, mercy, compassion.” Here, paired with splanchnon, the words together mean “tender compassion.” Paul is pleading: If you have any tenderness in you, any compassion, then listen to me!
If your blessings from being a Christian mean anything to you, Paul implores, listen to me: You must have the attitude of humility within you that Jesus Christ himself has.
A Call to Unity
“…fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (v2)
This speaks of a personal request of Paul. Part of the reason Paul wanted the Philippians to take heed to his word was because they should know that it would make the founding apostle of their church happy. This is a personal, passionate, and deep relationship-based appeal.
Think the same, Paul commands us. Is he appealing to some kind of politically correct “group think”? I don’t believe so. Paul recognizes and applauds differences in people (1 Corinthians 12). But he calls them to the same attitude of mind, the same humility, the same way of thinking about life and others, the same kind of selflessness. Think the same when it comes to selfless humility, he tells us.
- Same attitude of mind
- Same love
- Same spirit
- Same purpose
This unity is the goal. What follows in Philippians 2:3-4 are descriptions of how to achieve and practice the unity mentioned here in Philippians 2:2.
A Warning against Selfishness
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit…” (v3a)
This is the first step to this kind of unity. In the flesh, we are often motivated by selfish ambition or conceit. Much of what we do is not done out of love for others, but out of our own desire for “advancement” or “promotion” (selfish ambition). Paul found it important to say selfish ambition. Not all ambition is selfish ambition, and there is a good ambition to glorify God and serve Him with everything we have.
This is the second step to this kind of unity is dealing with conceit. Conceit is thinking too highly of oneself, of having an excessive self-interest and self-preoccupation. It could be more literally translated “empty glory.” A dictionary definition of conceit is “An excessively favourable opinion of one’s own ability, importance, wit,” and so forth. When we live with the feeling that we are so important, or so able, or so talented, we are out of God’s will. We are working against the unity Paul pleaded with the Philippians and all Christians to have.
A Call to Humility and Selfless Love
“…but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (vv3b-4)
This third step to the kind of unity described in Philippians 2:2 is completely contradictory to the attitude of the world, because lowliness of mind is about the least attractive thing to the thinking of this world. The ancient Greeks considered lowliness of mind to be a fault, not a virtue. Humility was looked down upon, considered a sign of weakness. But Christians know that it is their hallmark, the way of life of their Master. Far from being weak, humility takes the strength of the Holy Spirit since, it goes against our human nature.
When Paul speaks of letting each person esteem others better than himself, this rebukes much of the culture’s concept of self-esteem. The Bible knows nothing of the idea that we should – and must – carry with us an attitude of confident superiority in every situation and knows nothing of the idea that this is the foundation for a healthy human personality. As we esteem others better, we will naturally have a concern for their needs and concerns. This sort of outward looking mentality naturally leads to a unity among the people of God.
In the phrase: “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others”, here Paul’s thought is completed. As we put away our selfish ambitions, our conceit, and our tendencies to be high-minded and self-absorbed, we will naturally have a greater concern for the interests and needs of others.
The Ultimate Example of Selfless Humility Displayed in Christ
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (vv5-11)
Paul will, in wonderful detail, describe for us the mind of Jesus in these verses. before he describes the mind of Jesus, he tells us what we must do with the information. Let the mind of Jesus also be in you! It is all too easy for us to read the following description of Jesus and admire it from a distance. God wants us to be awed by it, but also to see it as something that we must enter into and imitate. Let this mind means that it is something that we have a choice about.
Remember also that this mind is something granted to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that we have the mind of Christ. But let this mind shows us that it is also something we must choose to walk in. You have to let it be so.
Jesus was in the form of God.
This describes Jesus’ pre-incarnate existence. We must remind ourselves that Jesus did not begin His existence in the manger at Bethlehem but is eternal God. Some scholars explains that the ancient Greek word translated “form” is very difficult to translate. When we use the word “form”, we think of the shape of something; but the ancient Greek word had none of that idea. It is more the idea of a mode or an essence; it is the essential nature of God, without implying a physical shape or image. “Thus, the Greek word for ‘form’ refers to that outward expression which a person gives of his inmost nature.
Did not consider it robbery to be equal with God
Reading from the classic amplified version, verse 6 reads:
“Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained” (v6 AMPC)
The pre-existent Christ already possessed equality with God and determined not to clutch at it or cling to it, but rather to obey his Father and humble himself. It wasn’t that Jesus was trying to achieve equality with the Father. He had it and chose not to cling to it. Jesus’ divine nature was not something He had to seek for or acquire, but it was His already.
Jesus made Himself of no reputation.
The meaning of the Greek words themselves are clear enough. “Made himself nothing” (NIV), “made himself of no reputation” (KJV), and “emptied himself” (NRSV) is the Greek verb kenaō, literally, “to make empty, to empty,” and figuratively or metaphorically, “to make of no effect.” Used with the emphatic “himself” makes it clear that this was a voluntary action by the pre-existent Christ.
Did he give up the form or nature of God, that is, his actual divinity? Or did he give up some of the “relative attributes” of deity — omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence — while retaining the “essential attributes” — holiness, love, and righteousness? Frankly, this text in Philippians doesn’t really tell us exactly of what he emptied himself. But we know from the text that he:
- Became a slave and
- A human being.
“He took on the form (morphē) of a slave,” an expression of servility. This is in contrast to expression of divinity in the preexistent Christ, “although he was in the form (morphē) of God.”
Obedient to Death
The humiliation of the transcendent Almighty God to become a human being might be compared to a human taking the form of a slug or a mosquito. But this voluntary humiliation was not enough. In addition, he took on the humiliation of death, and a very painful and shameful death at that. Jesus’ death on the cross is comparable to being executed as a criminal by the electric chair or a slow public death by hanging — a shameful and tortured death, nothing as painless or private as lethal injection.
Paul’s point all along is that Jesus set the ultimate example of humbling oneself rather than insisting on one’s own way with selfish ambition and vain glory. Jesus did this twice over — first in his humbling by becoming a human being and whatever loss of divine power and prestige that required. Then again by voluntarily assenting to the most shameful and painful death imaginable in his day. Jesus humbled himself, Paul insists, and we must, too.
Exalted to the Highest Place
Christ — one equal with God — emptied himself, humbled himself, and gave himself up to a tortured death for us. “Exalted … to the highest place” (NIV) or “highly exalted” (KJV, NRSV) is the Greek verb “hyperypsoō”, “to raise to a high point of honour, raise, exalt.” Here, “to raise someone to the loftiest height.”
Humility, followed by being exalted by God, is a theme that runs through the New Testament, especially in Jesus’ own teaching:
“Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4)
“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12)
“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11)
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10)
“Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6)
It is no accident that genuine, self-imposed humility is the only way that love and unity can flourish in the Church, the Body of Christ. And Jesus himself leads the way.
A Name Above Every Name
This goes beyond giving Jesus the Divine name Yahweh. When we consider the Hebrew concept of the name, it also implies that God declares that Jesus has a character and person above all. This verse, with its clear statement of Jesus’ deity, is powerful ammunition against those who deny the deity of Jesus Christ. There is no higher name than Yahweh, and Jesus has that name.
Every Knee Shall Bow
Not only is Jesus exalted by the Father, but the whole world is brought into submission to the Son including those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth. This conveys the absolute totality of all creation recognizing the superiority of Jesus Christ.
In this, Paul draws on the idea of Isaiah 45:23: I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. Notice that in Isaiah, it is to Yahweh that all knees bow, and tongues confess. In Philippians it is to Jesus, showing that Jesus is Yahweh.
The combination of tongues confessing and knees bowing gives evidence that the idea is a complete submission to Jesus, both in word and in action, and one that is required of all. he totality of this recognition of Jesus’ deity and exaltation has caused many to envision this happening in a formal way after the final judgment, when every creature in heaven and hell is required to bow their knees and make the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.
That Jesus Christ is Lord
From this we can say that there is a sense in which Jesus returned to heaven with more than He had than when He left heaven. Not only did He return with His humanity still added to his deity (although a resurrected humanity), He also returned with the recognition planted among men of who He was and the worship He deserved – something unknown until the Incarnation and the full revelation of His person and work.
Remember that Paul did not give this description of Jesus in Philippians 2:5-11 simply for the theological education of the Philippians.
- He gave it to equip them to endure the hardship they were experiencing.
- He gave it help them to understand Paul’s hardships.
- He gave it to help them to practice real Christian unity in the midst of hard times.
This picture of Jesus has helped them to understand how to assess the ministry of Paul, which seemed weak at the present time.
This picture helped them to understand the context of God’s revelation of power – how God delights to show His power through humble actions.
This picture has equipped them to act in a way towards each other that will promote unity in the body of Christ.
This picture has shown them how to follow Jesus’ pattern of patient, humble obedience – something Paul will call them to continue in the following verses.
