Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV)
Jesus is Fully God
This ‘hymn of exultation’ describes the story of Jesus in 4 verses. At the beginning of the story, Jesus is God. He was, in very nature, God. This chapter reminds me of two passages. The first is John 1:1-3, where Jesus is identified as the Word; the Word who in the beginning was with God, who was God, and who created all that we see. Jesus is fully God.
The second passage is Isaiah 14:12-15. This passage describes one who sought to be equal with God and was cast from his place and into the depths.
The expression in the Philippians passage, “a thing to be grasped,” is apparently hard to translate. Other translations, including the NIV, render it as “used to his own advantage.” Being God was not something that Jesus had to grasp for. It was his by nature rather than something to strive for. Unlike the one in the Isaiah passage, for whom it was a prize to be obtained.
Jesus Is Fully Human
The second verse of the story of Jesus described in this hymn is challenging. Jesus emptied himself, or made himself nothing, and took on the nature of man. The word ‘nature’ here is the same one used earlier. As Jesus was in nature God, he now became in nature man. As he was fully God, now he became fully man. Jesus’ humanity was not just a shell around his divinity that allowed him to interact with humanity. Hebrews 2:14-18 says that Jesus shared our humanity, becoming human in every way.
There are several ways that people have understood the expression “emptied himself,” and many of them are so subtly different that I do not grasp the significance (see kenosis in Wikipedia for a look at how some understand this). But it does tell me that when Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago, he did it as a man. He developed both physically and intellectually, he got tired, he was emotional, he depended on the Father for the message he delivered to us, he was limited in his knowledge, and he could be killed.
I do not believe that the Jesus we read about in the Gospels had any advantage by also being God. Instead, he set aside his nature as God to fully take on the nature of man. I do not believe that he was not God during that time, but that somehow, he was able to function simply as a man.
Jesus Gave His Life
In the hymn’s third verse, Jesus further humbled himself by experiencing death on the cross. While this hymn does not express why Jesus went to the cross, other than as an act of obedience, Scripture elsewhere affirms that it was a redemptive action. Jesus went to the cross to make it possible for me to experience life with God. We celebrate the soldier or policeman who gives his life to save another. How much more the man Jesus, who gave his life to provide salvation to all who would come to him in faith?
The Exaltation of Jesus
Because Jesus was willing to become a man and go to the cross in obedience to the Father, God has exalted him to the highest place, made his name greater than any other, and will cause all to bow before him, acknowledging him as Lord. But like Jesus’ emptying of himself, this passage is challenging to understand, at least for me.
It would seem to me that Jesus, as fully God, already had the highest place, honor, and name. This only makes sense to me if it is the man Jesus who the Father is exalting. Jesus twice sacrificed himself, first by becoming human, and then by dying for me. Jesus lived a life without sin, always walking in the Father’s will, up to and including death on the cross. He did not do that as God, with a shell of humanity wrapped around him. He did it as fully human in every way.
Could it be that Jesus faced the cross as an act of faith in the Father? If he was fully human, he could not see the future and his resurrection; he had to trust what the Father told him.
And because of his faithfulness to the Father, Jesus is exalted to the highest place. He is honored above every other, excluding, of course, the Father himself. Is Jesus still human, or at least post-resurrection human? I believe so. Is he also God, fully one with the Father? I believe that to be true as well; that nature he set aside at his incarnation, I believe he has taken back up.
