Philippians 2:5–11
5 2:5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,1 6 2:6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,2 7 2:7but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,3 being born in the likeness of men. 8 2:8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 2:9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 2:10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 2:11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Section Overview
These seven verses are one long sentence in Greek. We will focus on three things. First, the main point of the passage is the call to have the mind of Christ, which is the pattern for the Christian mind of the previous passage. As shown in table 2.5, verse 5 contains the word that builds the verbal bridge connecting the ethical exhortation of 2:1–4 to the Christ hymn of 2:6–11.
TABLE 2.5: Philippians 2:5 as a Bridge between 2:1–4 and 2:6–11
| 2:1–4 | 2:5 | 2:6–11 |
|---|---|---|
| “being of the same mind” (phroneō) “being of one mind” (phroneō) |
“Have this mind” (phroneō) | Christ hymn |
Paul then paints a two-part picture highlighting how (1) Christ made himself low (2:6–8), and (2) God raised him high (vv. 9–11). This verbal painting beautifully captures the glories of the incarnation, life, death, ascension, and second coming of Jesus. Jesus was perfectly free of selfish ambition and empty conceit and perfectly full of humility and love. He could have used his exalted position of privilege for his own advantage (v. 6), but instead he humbled himself in a process that began with his taking on flesh in the form of a servant (v. 7) and climaxed with his death on a cross (v. 8). This voluntary humiliation led to the highest exaltation. God highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name (v. 9), so that everyone will bow before him (v. 10) and confess that he is Lord (v. 11).
Second, the Christ hymn1 draws upon two texts from Isaiah (Isa. 45:14–25; 52:13–53:12). Paul skillfully sews these texts together to create a rich tapestry combining Isaiah’s fourth Servant Song (Isa. 52:13–53:12) with the promise that every knee will bow (Isa. 45:23 is quoted in Phil. 2:10–11). The Christ hymn and the fourth Servant Song share much in common. First, both passages have a poetic or lyrical quality. It is no accident that many label them as a song (Servant Song) or hymn (Christ hymn). Second, the songs share the same movement and message. Specifically, the most striking similarity is the unique progression of thought from exaltation to humiliation and then back to exaltation. Third, while there are only a few shared words in the two texts (“death,” “servant,” “exalt”),2 clear conceptual connections abound.3 Fourth, the fact that Paul clearly cites Isaiah 45:23 in Philippians 2:10 shows that Paul has the wider context of Isaiah in view.
These four arguments have a cumulative force when the two passages are read together. Table 2.6 makes some of these connections clear.
TABLE 2.6: The Christ Hymn of Philippians and the Servant Songs of Isaiah
| Christ Hymn | Servant Songs |
|---|---|
| “emptied himself” (Phil. 2:7) | “poured out his soul” (Isa. 53:12) |
| “servant” (Phil. 2:7) | “servant” (Isa. 49:3–7; 52:13–14; 53:11) |
| “form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7) | “his form” (Isa. 52:14); “no form or majesty that we should look at him” (Isa. 53:2) |
| “likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7) | “his appearance” (Isa. 52:14) |
| “to the point of death” (Phil. 2:8) | “to death” (Isa. 53:12) |
| “on a cross” (Phil. 2:8) | “he was pierced” (Isa. 53:5) |
| “God . . . highly exalted him” (Phil. 2:9) | “he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted” (Isa. 52:13) |
| “every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:10) | “To me every knee shall bow” (Isa. 45:23) |
| “every tongue confess” (Phil. 2:11) | “every tongue swear allegiance” (Isa. 45:23) |
| “to the glory of God” (Phil. 2:11) | “shall glory” (Isa. 45:25) |
Third, the reader should not miss the many pointers to the deity of Christ. Jesus had the very “form of God” (morphē theou; Phil. 2:6) and enjoys “equality with God” (isa theō; v. 6). He has the divine name (v. 11) and receives worship as God (vv. 10–11).
Section Outline
- II.B.3. Example: Christ (2:5–11)
1 Referring to the passage as a “Christ hymn” does not mean one should presume it was a pre-Pauline hymn used in the worship of the early church. Gordon Fee has argued it could merely be an example of Paul’s exalted prose (Fee, Philippians, 40–43). This is an interesting discussion but does not have a direct bearing on how to read the passage in its present context.
2 The explicit lexical connections are not as impressive as the conceptual links. Still, both passages use the same term for “death” (thanotos; Phil. 2:8; Isa. 53:12 LXX). Both have a cognate form of “exalt”: Isaiah 52:13 uses hypsoō, while Philippians uses hyperypsoō. Isaiah 52:13–14 uses the word pais as a reference to the servant, while Philippians uses doulos. This difference is offset by the fact that Isaiah 49:3–7 uses doulos and Isaiah 53:11 uses the verb form douleuō.
3 Both passages celebrate the central character’s (1) humanity, (2) obedience, (3) humility, (4) death, and (5) exaltation/vindication.
Response
The Lowest Place Reveals the Greatest Love
The Roman orator Cicero once said, “Let the very name of the cross be far away not only from the body of a Roman citizen, but even from his thoughts, his eyes, his ears.”1 This shows the upside-down nature of God’s kingdom. The cross was far from the thoughts of Rome’s citizens but near to the thoughts of heaven’s citizens. Meditate much on the cross. Behold how the lowest point of Christ’s descent displayed the highest peak of his love. Jesus went from the highest place of heavenly blessing to the lowest place of earthly curse—death on a cross. Why did he have to go so low? He had to come to where we were in order to rescue us. If someone falls into a pit, it does no good to meet him half way. Our rescue from sin and death required Jesus to go all the way down to where we were, enslaved in complete condemnation. The Son of God left the courts of heaven and laid aside his crown to bear the dreadful curse on the cross. The hymn “What Wondrous Love Is This” captures the depth of our despair and testifies that Christ’s love went deeper still:
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down;
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.
Stand in awe of the self-giving love of God seen in the cross of Christ. Rejoice in the Jesus “who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
The Mind of Christ Perfectly Reflects the Character of God
God is a giver, not a grasper. Generosity is a defining aspect of the God-ness of God. The contrast between the blessed God and fallen humans is great on this score. Fallen human rulers are selfish graspers and hoarders. By contrast, God gloriously needs nothing, because he is perfect and has no deficits. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything” (Acts 17:25a). The God who has no needs delights to meet the needs of the needy: “He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25b). He does not need workers who wait upon him hand and foot; he works for those who wait for him (Isa. 64:4).
The incarnation put the nature of God as giver on display in a preeminent way. Precisely because Jesus was God (a preeminent giver), he took a form that fit with the nature of God as giver: a “slave” (doulos). Giving and serving defines the very vocation of a slave. A slave serves perpetually, not occasionally.
If God Has Been Humble, How Can We Be Proud?
One cannot be a follower of Christ without sharing the mind of Christ. This command to have his mind calls for real relationships, because we must know the interests of others before we can seek them. Once we know those interests, we can use whatever power and privilege we have to serve others. Hoarding is not the path of joy. We will find it more blessed to give than to receive. We must cultivate gospel humility. Pride is high-minded and believes that some things are beneath us. We must behold the one who was high above all and yet did not regard anything as beneath him in saving us. If Christ took off the royal robes and put on the servant’s towel to die for us, how can we say that any call to serve others for his sake is beneath us?
1 Cicero, Pro Rabiro Perduellionis Reo 5.10.16, cited in Hawthorne and Martin, Philippians, 123.