Philippians 2:1-13
A little history lesson on Paul to provide background. In the year 50 or 51 Paul, along with Silas and Timothy, traveled by sea from Asia Minor (present day Turkey) to Europe, landing on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea in what is now north-eastern Greece. They landed at an access point to one of the great Roman roads—not the Appian Way (that’s in Italy)—but the Via Egnatia. The city of Philippi was ten miles inland along the Via Egnatia.
Philippi was a major Roman city then. It was there (in 42 BC, about 100 years before Paul arrived) that Marc Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassias, the assassins of Julian Caesar, and established control of the Roman Empire. The veterans of the victorious armies were settled in Philippi, making up a sizeable population. Paul came to Philippi on what is called his second missionary journey. Paul proclaimed the Gospel and established his first Christian community in Europe.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians was written some years later from prison. Paul was imprisoned several times for preaching the Gospel. Scholars debate which imprisonment was the one from which this letter was written. Paul appears to have maintained a close and cordial relationship with the community in Philippi.
New Testament scholar Raymond Brown writes about the letter to the Philippians: “In some ways this is the most attractive Pauline letter, reflecting more patently than any other the warm affection of the apostle for his brothers and sisters in Christ. Indeed, Philippians has been classified as an example of the rhetoric of friendship. It contains one of the best-known and loved New Testament descriptions of the graciousness of Christ: one who emptied himself and took on the form of a servant, even unto death on a cross” (An Introduction to the New Testament).
That beloved description of the graciousness of Christ is part of the reading appointed for this day.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:5-11)
This portion of Philippians is thought to be an early Christian hymn, a very early Christian hymn. In the original Greek, its structure and style are distinct from the rest of the letter. Among scholars there is lack of clarity about the hymn’s specific origin and how involved Paul may or may not have been in writing it. But it is clearly something that Paul knew, and it is possible that he taught it to the Philippians on his initial visit.
Hymns are powerful tools for evangelism and for community building.
The hymn is introduced with a line that could also be its refrain: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
To help understand what the mind of Jesus was, as so graciously described in this hymn, I want to look at two words. One word clearly describes what Christ did not do; what was not in the mind of Christ. The other word highlights what Jesus did do.
Jesus did not “exploit;” he did “empty himself.”
He did not “exploit.” The Greek word (harpagmos) is used only here in the New Testament. In the Greek of the time it appears to have meant “to utilize something for gain.” Different translators, bringing somewhat different theological presuppositions to the act of translation, have translated the Greek word differently. But all of the English translations I looked at conveyed a certain level of violence.
“Exploit,” as we heard this morning.
The King James Version translates this verse: “[Jesus], being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”
The New English Bible says: “For the divine nature was his from the first; yet he did not think to snatch at equality with God.”
The New Jerusalem: “[Jesus] did not count equality with God something to be grasped.”
The New Revised Standard Version, which we use in worship: “[Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited.”
Jesus did not rob, snatch, grasp or exploit.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
And Jesus could have snatched or exploited. This is very important. As the hymn says, and as we know… Jesus was in the form of God. Equality with God was who he was. He had every right to claim his divinity. He was entitled to every aspect of God’s being. Jesus shared God’s being. He was entitled to every bit of power over human kind that God possesses. He deserved an exalted status. He had a right to stand in full glory remote from human kind.
But he didn’t. What he did do was empty himself. The Greek verb (keno’o) is rare in the New Testament. It has both active and passive meanings. The passive meaning is to “be desolate.” The active use occurs only here. It means “to make empty.” To actively empty. Jesus emptied himself.
To find fulfill his purpose he emptied himself. His life’s meaning and purpose came through serving others.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
How often in our daily lives do we say things like…
I have a right to…And we say this about things that we do have a right to, that we have earned or are entitled to. Or we say...
I earned it…
I deserve it….
This is important to me, to who I am as a person…From the trivial to the not at all trivial trivial, we grasp, snatch, exploit… time, status, stuff, the earth’s bounty… we grasp, snatch, exploit for our own gain. Thumbing our noses at Jesus rather than bending our knees in humility at the sound of his name.
I can’t live without….
Jesus did not exploit, even that which was rightfully his. He did empty himself in service to others.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Paul was fond of the Philippians. And, lest we despair, we should remember what Paul reminds them of: God is at work in you. By God’s grace, with God’s help…
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Who did not grasp or cling or rob or exploit—even the things and position and power to which he was fully entitled. Rather he humbly poured himself out in service of others.
