morphē of any human being is humanity, and this never changes; but a person’s schēma is continually changing. A baby, a child, a young person, a man or woman of middle age and an elderly person always have the morphē of humanity, but the outward schēma changes all the time. Roses, daffodils, tulips, chrysanthemums, primroses, dahlias and lupins all have the one morphē of flowers, but their schēma is different. Aspirin, penicillin and magnesia all have the one morphē of drugs, but their schēma is different. The morphē never alters; the schēma continually does. The word Paul uses for Jesus being in the form of God is morphē; that is to say, his unchangeable being is divine. However his outward schēma might alter, he remained in essence divine.
Jesus did not think it robbery to be equal with God; he did not regard existence in equality with God as something to be snatched at. The word used for robbery, which we have translated as a thing to be snatched at, is harpagmos, which comes from a verb meaning to snatch or to clutch. The phrase can mean one of two things, both of which are fundamentally the same. (1) It can mean that Jesus did not need to snatch at equality with God, because he had it as a right. (2) It can mean that he did not clutch at equality with God, as if to hug it jealously to himself, but laid it down willingly for the sake of men and women. However we take this, it once again stresses the essential godhead of Jesus.
Verse 7: He emptied himself; he made himself of no reputation. The Greek is the verb kenoun, which means literally to empty. It can be used of removing things from a container until the container is empty, of pouring something out until there is nothing left. Here, Paul uses the most vivid word possible to make clear the sacrifice of the incarnation. The glory of divinity Jesus gave up willingly in order to become human. He emptied himself of his deity to take upon himself his humanity. It is useless to ask how; we can only stand in awe at the sight of him, who is almighty God, hungry and weary and in tears. Here, in human language stretched to its limits, is the great saving truth that the one who was rich for our sakes became poor.
He took upon him the form of a servant; he took the very form of a slave. The word used for form is morphē, which, as we have seen, means the essential form. Paul means that, when Jesus became human, it was not play-acting but reality. He was not like the Greek gods, who sometimes, so the stories ran, became human beings but kept their divine privileges. Jesus truly became a man. But there is something more here. He was made in the likeness of men; he became like men. The word which the Authorized Version translates as made and which we have translated as became is a part of the Greek verb gignesthai. This verb describes a state which is not a permanent state. The idea is that of becoming, and it describes a changing phase which is completely real but which passes. That is to say, the humanity of Jesus was not permanent; it was utterly real, but it passed.
Verse 8: He was found in fashion as a man; he came in appearance as a man for all to recognize. Paul makes the same point. The word the Authorized Version has translated as fashion and which we have translated as appearance is schēma, and we have seen that this indicates a form which alters.
Verses 6–8 form a very short passage; but there is no passage in the New Testament which so movingly sets out the utter reality of the godhead and the humanity of Jesus and makes so vivid the sacrifice that he made when he laid aside his godhead and became human. How it happened, we cannot tell; but it is the mystery of a love so great that, although we can never fully understand it, we can blessedly experience it and adore it.
HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION
Philippians 2:5–11 (contd)
IT is always to be remembered that, when Paul thought and spoke about Jesus, his interest and his intention were never primarily intellectual and speculative; they were always practical. To him, theology and action were always bound together. Any system of thought must become a way of life. In many ways, this passage is one which extends to the very limits of theological thinking in the New Testament; but its aim was to persuade the Philippians to live a life in which disunity, discord and personal ambition had no place.
So, Paul says of Jesus that he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The great characteristics of Jesus’ life were humility, obedience and self-renunciation. He wanted not to dominate men and women but only to serve them; he wanted not his own way but only God’s way; he wanted not to exalt himself but only to renounce all his glory for the sake of the world. Again and again, the New Testament is sure that only those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11, 18:14). If humility, obedience and self-renunciation were the supreme characteristics of the life of Jesus, they must also be the hallmarks of Christians. Selfishness, self-seeking and self-display destroy our likeness to Christ and our fellowship with each other.
But the self-renunciation of Jesus Christ brought him the greater glory. It made certain that one day, sooner or later, every living creature in all the universe – in heaven, in earth and even in hell – would worship him. It is to be carefully noted where that worship comes from. It comes from love. Jesus won the hearts of men and women, not by forcing them through his power, but by showing them a love they could not resist. At the sight of this person who set aside his glory for all people and loved them to the extent of dying for them on a cross, human hearts are melted and human resistance is broken down. When people worship Jesus Christ, they fall at his feet in wondering love. They do not say: ‘I cannot resist a might like that’ but, as Isaac Watts expressed it in the hymn ‘When I survey the wondrous cross’, ‘Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all.’ Worship is founded not on fear but on love.
Further, Paul says that, as a consequence of his sacrificial love, God gave Jesus the name which is above every name. One of the common biblical ideas is the giving of a new name to mark a new stage in a person’s life. Abram became Abraham when he received the promise of God (Genesis 17:5). Jacob became Israel when God entered into the new relationship with him (Genesis 32:28). The promise of the risen Christ to both Pergamos and to Philadelphia is the promise of a new name (Revelation 2:17, 3:12).
What then is the new name given to Jesus Christ? We cannot be quite certain what exactly was in Paul’s mind, but most likely the new name is Lord.
The great title by which Jesus came to be known in the early Church was kurios, Lord, which has an illuminating history. (1) It began by meaning master or owner. (2) It became the official title of the Roman emperors. (3) It became the title of the Greek and Roman gods. (4) It was the word by which the Hebrew Yahweh was translated in the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures. So, when Jesus was called kurios, Lord, it meant that he was the Master and the Owner of all life; he was the King of Kings; he was the Lord in a way in which the gods of the old religions and the idols could never be; he was nothing less than divine.
ALL FOR GOD
Philippians 2:5–11 (contd)
PHILIPPIANS 2:11 is one of the most important verses in the New Testament. In it, we read that the aim of God is a day when every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. These four words were the first creed that the Christian Church ever had. To be a Christian was to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (cf. Romans 10:9). This was a simple creed, yet all-embracing. Perhaps we would do well to go back to it. Later, people tried to define more closely what it meant, and argued and quarrelled about it, calling each other heretics and fools. But it is still true that anyone who can say ‘For me, Jesus Christ is Lord’ is a Christian. If we can say that, we mean that for us Jesus Christ is unique and that we are prepared to give him an obedience we are prepared to give no one else. We may not be able to put into words who and what we believe Jesus to be; but, as long as there is in our hearts this wondering love and in our lives this unquestioning obedience, we are indeed Christians, because Christianity consists less in the mind’s understanding than it does in the heart’s love.
So we come to the end of this passage; and, when we come to its end, we come back to its beginning. The day will come when people will call Jesus Lord,