Home	Our Hope
Bible Study		June 26, 2011
Be Like Jesus

Introduction

In this lesson we will study a small passage in the New Testament that is often quoted for its theological significance, but it has a strong message on Christian humility. The text also has a beauty and harmony to it.

The Aramaic New Testament in English is a very direct translation that best preserves that beauty and harmony. So the verses we will use come from that translation.

Lesson (Philippians 2:1-11)

¹ If you have, therefore, comfort in The Messiah, or the filling up of hearts with love, or communion of The Spirit, or tender care and mercy, ² fulfill my joy, that you would have one conscience, one love, one soul and one mind;

These verses show a very carefully chosen structure. I've tried to show that here.

By paralleling love on the left with love on the right and Spirit on the left with soul on the right, it seems certain that the author's intent is to parallel each one. Therefore he parallels Messiah with conscience and tender care and mercy with mind.

Note that Paul uses 'Or' on the left but 'And' on the right. The argument then is that Paul wants those who have even one of the benefits on the left to strive to have the full unity described on the right. This unity is also a parallel to the unity of the triune God - a unity where there is no dissension or competition.

Paul now describes an attitude that hurts or builds the unity he wants to see in the Philippians.

³ And you should not do anything with contention or empty glory, but in humility of mind, let every person esteem his neighbor as better than himself.

The word contention has more than one meaning but 'rivalry' is the meaning that matches best by being the opposite of the humility described later in the sentence. So the point is that the successful party to a rivalry between Christians would have achieved nothing, an empty glory. Instead of this Paul says that the Christian attitude should be one where everyone is considered greater than himself.

Paul now describes another attitude that hurts or builds unity. The previous attitude was about other people. This attitude is about possessions.

⁴ Neither let a man care for that which is his own unless every person cares also for that which is his neighbor's.

Remember how Paul used 'or' and 'and' before, where he said if you have even one of the 'or' possibilities you should strive to have all of the 'and' possibilities. In a similar way to that he uses 'one person' (a man) of many and 'every person' here. This is part of the harmony that is in the text.

And when he says 'cares' we need to be careful to understand that he does not mean 'desires', but instead 'sees that they have value to the owner'. The message then is that we should not consider the things that we possess to have value unless everyone understands that the other people's possessions have value to them.

We can think of this concept as being a humility of possessions, just as the previous verse described a humility of persons. With people we are to consider others better than ourselves. With possessions we are to consider the value of others' possessions before we consider the value of our own possessions.

And when we say possessions we should not only think of tangible things like cars and houses but dreams and aspirations, skills and talents, everything that makes up a person. Do we value and care for the dreams of a person as much as we care for our own dreams? How can we achieve that attitude?

Paul now proceeds to support the points he has made by using Jesus as the model for us.

⁵ And reason in your souls this that also [Jesus] The Messiah did:

⁶ He who, while he was in the form of God, did not esteem this as a prize, that he was the equal of God, ⁷ but he stripped himself and took the form of a Servant and was in the form of the children of men, and was found in fashion as a man. ⁸ And he humbled himself and was obedient unto death, even the death of being crucified.

These verses really can't be separated without destroying the meaning so we'll analyze them as a group. In verse 5 Paul is saying, consider deep within yourself what the Messiah did and how that was an example of what Paul was saying.

Jesus' possession was being the equal of God (the Father). But he did not consider that of great value to himself when we saw the needs of others. This is the concept of humility of possessions we discussed above. Jesus put this idea into practice by stripping himself of that equality with God. Thus he changed from being in the form of God to being in the form of the children of men.

The verses don't describe exactly what it meant for Jesus to strip himself of his equality with God. Other translations use the word 'empty' instead of 'strip'. We probably couldn't understand it anyway. But we can be certain that equality with God would be a prize that anyone would want to attain.

In stripping himself this way Jesus humbled himself. No longer was his title Lord and Master but instead Servant. In his form he became no different from the other people of his creation (children of men). In his fashion he became a man (not a woman).

By his own choice the creator of life and death humbled himself to death, so that it might be possible for him to die like any other person. He even humbled himself to the most humiliating and painful death possible then.

Having at first described the attitude of humility that Christians should have, and now having shown Jesus as the model for that attitude, Paul talks about the result of having that attitude using Jesus as the model.

⁹ Because of this, God has also greatly exalted him and he has given him the name which is greater than all names, ¹⁰ that in the name of [Jesus], every knee shall bow, which is in Heaven and in The Earth and which is under The Earth, ¹¹ And every tongue shall confess that [Jesus] The Messiah is the Lord [Yahweh] to the glory of God his Father.

Note that it begins with "because of this". The word 'this' refers back to Jesus humbling himself. So the text could be expanded to say "because Jesus humbled himself, God has elevated him". So greatly did Jesus humble himself that God has elevated him such that everyone in Heaven and Earth will bow before him and call him Lord. Note that this includes those which are "under the earth". And just as an earthly father glories when his child does something wonderful, the father in Heaven will glory in the works of his Son.

Therefore the model is set for us - humility in this life brings greatness in the next life. This is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 18:4 "⁴ whoever therefore humbles himself like this boy, he will be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." Then our father in Heaven will glory in our works.

Now Paul brings the message home for his readers.

¹² Therefore beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not when I am near to you only, but now when I am far from you, all the more, with awe and with trembling, do the service of your life. ¹³ For God is carefully working in you both to desire and to do that thing which you desire.

He says you have always obeyed the will of God, not only when he was there but also when he wasn't. And he commands them to do the service of their lives with awe and trembling. In saying "service of your lives" he is referring back to the start of this section and therefore saying they should humble themselves to achieve one conscience, one love, one soul and one mind. In doing so, they should be in such awe of the example of Jesus that they should tremble.

We also have here a wonderful promise. God is changing us to desire what is right and also to do what is right. We only need to want and accept those changes.

Questions

1. Can you think of anything that any person could do that would demonstrate a humility equal to what Jesus showed? If a king would become a servant, would that be about equal?

2. What is the key to building a church that is unified in conscience, love, soul and mind?

3. Paul says that even those who are under the earth will also bow and confess that Jesus the Messiah is Lord. Who is he talking about here?