Phil 2:5-8
τοῦτο γὰρ φρονείσθω ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος, καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ.
This for {think you} in~among you which also in Christ Jesus, who in {the form} {of God} existing not {to be seized} {deemed it} to be equal {with God} but himself emptied {the form} {of a slave} taking, in likeness {of men} becoming, and {in fashion} {being found} as {a man} {he humbled} himself becoming obedient until death, death even {of a cross}
Have this mind in you
which was also in Christ Jesus
who existing in the form of God
counted not the being on an equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being made in the likeness of men;
and being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient even unto death,
yea, the death of the cross.
You will see from what I have given you above that I have maintained the American Standard Version as the passage before us. But in addition to that I have given you the first Greek sentence interlinearised and laid out in Propositional Analysis format so you have both tools to refer to as we work our way through the passage. Now I will begin to exegete the passage. By that I mean draw out what Paul intended or meant by the text we have before us. Exegeting is different from eisegeting; the second term means to read something into the text that was never intended by the speaker or writer. There is a big difference between the two. If you think about it I am sure you will agree.
Let’s begin our exegesis; our in-depth investigation into what Paul wrote:
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
I introduced this segment in the last Gem and drew your attention to the link between have this mind in you and which was also in Christ Jesus.
Put simply:
- have the mind of Christ in you (plural).
- Have the attitude of Christ among you in the Church of Philippi.
- All of you learn to think like Jesus does. [WWJD]
In the context we have this long string of relative clauses all related to Christ Jesus:
Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
I will handle this section as an integrated block, because it all hangs together in a series of subordinate clauses. Remember, this whole Majestic Passage is based on two sentences in Greek. The elements above constitute the first sentence. The one whose mind we are encouraged to have is the One, who being in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
Now we have to deal with this cascade of verbs all linked to Christ Jesus, who
- . . . though He is in essence God
- . . . didn’t consider His equality with God something to be grasped and held on to
- . . . emptied himself
- . . . took the form of a servant
- . . . allowed himself to be made in the likeness of mankind
- . . . allowed himself to be clothed with humanity (incarnated)
- . . . humbled himself
- . . . being obedient to the Father’s will to the point of death
- . . . not just a normal death but the humiliating death of a criminal.
All of those actions (verbs) which relate to Christ, need to be considered together in a block when summing up all that Jesus Christ did for us by willingly submitting to all of that and in the end to die on the cross. I hope you are beginning to sense the enormity of this string of verbs. Is it sinking in yet? Oh there is more to come yet. I am only just getting started. You can see now how I have structured this. I am going to maintain this approach throughout. We will gradually work our way through every element of this text to ensure we don’t miss a nuance or subtlety of what Paul intended.
However I think I have brought this first working Gem on this passage to a point where I should leave it. There is meaty stuff ahead. So better that I give you the space to take in what we have covered to this point before we get our hands dirty.
It’s amazing where reading just one phrase from the Bible can take you.
Arnie Hall
That said, just imagine where this one sentence from That Majestic Passage will take us once we know the full meaning of each element.
Ian Vail
We look for the minimum; Jesus always asks for the maximum.
Arnie Hall
Give Jesus the maximum people; don’t miss a single Gem in That Majestic Passage series. I promise you won’t regret it.
Ian Vail