Jesus our Brother, God our Father: Part 3

As promised, I want to take a look at Philippians 2, a passage of Scripture that recounts Jesus’ journey to the right hand of God.  Here is the text:

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 
6 who, though he was in the form of God, 
   did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, 
   being born in the likeness of men. 
8 And being found in human form, 
   he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 
   even death on a cross. 
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him 
    and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
    to the glory of God the Father.

The Emptying of the Son and the Power of the Father
In Philippians 2:6-11 we find what some scholars suggest is the oldest surviving piece of writing on Jesus. We have what appears to be either a song or an informal creedal statement that we assume the church at Philippi either knew, had memorized, or even used in worship.  Paul reminds them of a picture of Jesus that they need to carry with them during their time of struggle. Paul shows us that Jesus is the ultimate example of true service to God. 

Equality with God:
But he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. Grasped in this sense is not “comprehend” with the mind, but indicates an actual physical grasping. The Greek word means more like “exploited, grabbed, taken for one’s own advantage.” The NIV editorial board updated the translation here to read “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.” Therefore, Jesus was not willing to use his divine nature for his own benefit. He refused to exploit his divine authority.
    
Emptied himself:
Jesus chose to make himself nothing. He “emptied” himself. This one word has been the subject of so much debate among theologians, “kenosis” in the Greek. It comes from the Greek word for to pour. He pours himself out. He gives himself and his authority away as he becomes born in the form of a human.  
    
Becoming a Servant:
He takes on the form of a servant. There are two words for servant- “diakonos" (where the church gets the transliterated word “deacon”) which is an administrator, server, waiter, attendant.  But then there’s “doulos;” a bondservant, slave, one without any authority. Jesus becomes a “doulos” not a “diakonos.”

I want you to notice something extremely important…this is the end of Jesus’ action in the text. In other words, Jesus’ part is over at the emptying, humbling, and serving. Paul is going to use the all important transitional word, “therefore” and so there is a continuation of the story as a result of what just happened…And you might notice that at this transition, it is “God” or the Father that takes over the action in the text. 

Again, we might ask the question where Jesus receives his power, and we might also discover that in this text Jesus, the Son, makes himself into a vulnerable servant of God to which God responds by exalting him.  It should not strike us as odd since Jesus himself made statements about God opposing the proud and given grace to the humble.  Yet, in this text we see the power of the Son being the ability to empty himself, and the power of God being to exalt and bestow honor.  While this text does indicate an equality of nature in the Father and Son, that is the same form…a reader of this text must see a striking contrast between the function of Father and Son.  The Son reigns by the Father’s power, and the Father is pleased by the Son’s unwavering character.  

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