The Christ Hymn of Phil 2

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. "

Introduction

This passage, known as the "Christ hymn" or the "Kenosis of Christ" (kenoo is the Greek word for "emptying"), emphasizes the threefold movement of Christ's life-- (1) Not claiming equality with God (v. 6); (2) Humbling himself on Earth (vv. 7-8); and (3) Being Exalted by God (vv.9-11). But Paul refers to Christ's life, death and exaltation not primarily to lay out a primer of Christian theology but to exhort his hearers to "let the same mind" that was in Christ be in them. He is overjoyed with so many things in the life of the Philippian Church; he would just like them to "perfect" his joy by demonstrating the virtues which Christ did in his life On this Palm Sunday, when Christ took the route of personal humility by riding on a donkey into Jerusalem, it is appropriate that we also recognize the movement of equality, humility, exalted life in Jesus as a model and hope for our own action.

Christ as Paul's Model

One thing we realize about Paul's self-portrait in Philippians is that he uses the structure of this Christ hymn to understand his own religious pilgrimage. In ch. 3 he speaks of it. He had all the privileges and status in the Jewish religious community. He was a "Hebrew born of Hebrews" as well as a Pharisee and, as to zeal, "a persecutor of the church." Paul is trying to tell us that he was high in status in the Jewish community.

Though Christ's original status wasn't expressly mentioned, he didn't seize "equality with God" (a phrase Paul never explains but I think can be elucidated by studying the first dozen or so verses of the Gospel of John). Christ didn't cling to his original position. In the language of the hymn, he didn't "regard equality with God as something to be exploited." That word translated "exploited" is harpagmon, and is from a verb occurring regularly in Greek literature and meaning to "seize as a thief" or to "steal." I think the concept lying behind harpagmon may well be illustrated in Jesus' earthly life by his not taking the devil's bait during the temptation narrative. He didn't "steal" the authority over the heavens and the earth at the cost of worshipping Satan. Rather, he humbled himself, taking on the hard and long path to glory. There would be no shortcut to glory for Christ.

Paul, too, saw himself as humbled for the sake of Christ. For Christ's sake, Paul says elsewhere, he has endured all kinds of humiliations and inconveniences. Christ is also his example in this. Finally, just as Christ has been exalted, so Paul thinks that he too will share in that exaltation. Sharing the fellowship of Christ's sufferings will lead to the resurrection of the dead (Phil. 3:11). Thus, I think this hymn bulked so large in Paul's thinking here because it not only told him about he way Christ lived his life, but it gave Paul an interpretive key to his own.

Our Lives and Christ's Life

But can Christ's life also be a key to our own? How did Christ live his life, according to the passage? First, he didn't take a "shortcut to glory." He realized that equality with God might have been within his grasp even before his earthly pilgrimage. He, the Word of God, was in the beginning with God and was God. But there was work to do, so to speak; there was a life to live, and people to heal, teachings to deliver, a community to create, and a life to give up for the sins of others. So it is with us. We all have our dreams, our hopes, our aspirations. But they will come with a cost. They always do. There may be shortcuts to the next town but there aren't shortcuts in the life of faithful discipleship.

The reason there are no shortcuts is that most of the process of realizing our dreams is the shaping of our own soul in obedience to God. That is, the person we most need to "save" in the world is not a starving person in Darfur but is ourselves. Our soul is shaped in the crucible of distress and loss as we try to bring life to others. We are like Christ in this particular, then, if we realize that the road to our usefulness in the world comes not through a shortcut.

Second, Christ chose the path of obedience in this life, even though it led to actions that brought him humiliation and rejection. We wish life to be much more comfortable for us; indeed, the images flashing across all the TV screens in America today emphasize the good and comfortable life. Elegance, choice, and comfort are the trinity of desires held out to us today by our culture. But this triad is pretty incompatible with the brief lines in the Christ hymn of our passage. Obedience was Jesus' way, even to the cross. Can we hear that word in our culture today?

Finally, there is the word of exaltation. I think we tend to rush to this before we let the previous words sink in. We like the good and happy ending. Sometimes when I have taught on the Book of Job (I have written two books on it), people want to hear the "good news" of Job's "vision of God" before they really let the "bad news" of Job's distress sink deeply into their minds. So it is with Christ. There will be a the hope of exaltation, but it will never be seen or realized in this life. We may have the slightest taste or hint of it, but its full realization awaits another time.

Conclusion

Paul pens these words, which are probably shaped by a deep reading of Is. 45 as well as reflection on the life of Christ, to a congregation whom he loves and whom he exhorts to unity. The way to that unity lies directly through the path of humble service, even to the cross. Jesus found that to be true. Should those who follow him, even in 2007, think it should be different?

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