More Than an Example: Lessons About Christ from Philippians 2

Philippians 2:6-11 is a well-known hymn in the New Testament, clearly affirming Christ’s divine nature. The hymn tells the story of the descent of Christ from heaven to earth, followed by his death, resurrection, and exaltation back into the heavens. What is Paul’s purpose behind it? When read on its own, one may think it is to argue for Christ’s divinity and his dual nature. Reading the passage apart from its literary context, however, misses Paul's broader point. From the surrounding context, it appears that Paul's main purpose is to provide an example for the Philippians to follow with their attitude toward each other. While the focus must be on Paul's intention with the hymn, much can still be learned about Christ from it. Not only does Paul provide an ethical example for the Philippians, but the hymn also instructs them on Christ’s divinity, humanity, and exaltation.

Paul’s Purpose: The Attitude of Christ

To reiterate, the hymn Paul provides depicts the story of Christ. Paul first depicts Christ as divine but giving up his place with God to become a man. <1>Paul centers Christ’s story around his humility and obedience. The crux of the hymn is the humility Christ displays, which leads him to death on the cross. His humility then leads to God exalting him, and all of creation worshipping him. While much can be learned from the hymn itself, the surrounding context ultimately guides its interpretation.

Immediately preceding the hymn, in 2:1-5, Paul exhorts the Philippians to be “united in spirit” and love. (Phi 2:2) He then encourages them to live sacrificially for one another and to act in humility toward each other. Their conduct toward one another is important to Paul in this letter. Paul instructs them on their behavior several times throughout Philippians (1:9-10, 27; 2:15, 29; 3:17-19; 4:5, 8-9).

Verses 2:1-4 seem to especially echo 1:27, in which Paul tells them to “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” and that they should be “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind”.

The pivotal statement that ties all of this in with the hymn is 2:5, “You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had.” Paul then jumps into the hymn, showing the pattern of humility and obedience in Christ’s life. This hymn appears to be an example for the Philippians on Paul’s exhortations in 2:1-4.<2> Verse 5 also seems to indicate that Christ exhibited all the attributes Paul listed for the Philippians. Among these, Paul seems more focused on humility.<3> Verse 3 ties the humility of the Philippians to that of Christ displayed in the hymn. Paul writes in 2:3,

"Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself."

Though the hymn is short, it gives an impactful example of Christ’s humility. The hymn falls nicely into two main parts: 2:6-8 and 2:9-11.<4> 2:6-8 depicts the eternal, divine, Christ as taking on human form and humbling himself, through obedience, to the point that he died on the cross. The second part, 2:9-11, describes God exalting the lowly Christ because of his humility and obedience. This humility, as demonstrated by Christ, is what Paul calls the Philippians to imitate.

Christ’s Divinity, Humanity, and Exaltation

Though Paul’s main purpose should take the primary meaning of this passage, there is much we can still learn from the hymn about who Christ is. The hymn gives us information, though limited, on the divinity, humanity, and ultimate exaltation of Christ. In the first line, we are told of Christ’s divinity. “He existed in the form of God”. (Phi 2:6) Though some take form to mean physical appearance<5>, there is precedence from tradition that it may mean nature<6>, or that it may mean Christ is clothed in the glory of God.<7> Though there may be some contention here on what form (morphe) exactly means, it does seem to imply a high relationship with God, if not Christ’s divinity. The divine nature can be further argued when we explore the exaltation of Christ.

The humanity of Christ is depicted in 2:7-8. Here Paul describes Christ as emptying himself and taking the "form of a slave" and "sharing in human nature." At first, it seems that Christ only takes on the form of a man, the appearance of one, as he "takes on the form…by looking like other men". But the last line of verse 7 tells us that he also shares “in human nature.” This seems to indicate that, though his divinity may set him apart from other men, he truly became man. His humanity then is what allows for his death upon the cross.

Christ’s exaltation is the climactic ending to the hymn. In 2:9, Paul writes that God “highly exalted” Christ. What is so important about this exaltation, and what it means for Christ’s divinity, is that Christ is given the “name that is above every name.” (2:9) This likely implies the name of God, YHWH.<8> Christ receiving the “name that is above every name” implies that he shares in the divine identity of God.<9> The final part of Christ’s exaltation is that all of creation will worship him and every man will bow and confess that he is Lord. This is worship that is traditionally only given to God, so for Christ to receive this worship, he must be God.<10>

One of the major messages Paul pushes throughout the letter to the Philippians is how they treat one another and work together. He exhorts them to be humble, for Christ was humble. The arc of Christ’s life, as depicted in the hymn, was one of obedience and humility, which all of us are to imitate. Though Paul’s main purpose may have been to instill humility in the Philippians, his hymn nonetheless teaches us more about Christ and who he is. Not only do we serve the divine Christ; we serve one who shares in our humanity and humbled himself for us.

Bibliography

Bauckham, Richard.

Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament's Christology of Divine Identity.

Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008. Holloway, Paul A.

Philippians.

Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017. Reumann, John.

Philippians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.

New Haven: Yale University, 2008. <1>           “He existed in the form of God…but emptied himself…by sharing in human nature.” Phi 2:6-7, NET. <2>           Holloway, 115. <3>           Ibid. <4>           Ibid. <5>           Reumann, 342. <6>           Ibid, 341-342. <7>           Ibid, 342-343; Holloway, 117-118. <8>           Holloway, 127; Bauckham, 199. <9>           Bauckham, 200. <10>         Ibid.