The Mind of Christ: His Self-Emptying and Exaltation (Philippians 2:5–11)

C) The Apostle presents the pattern of all the virtues that dispose one toward these things in Christ the Saviour, who humbled Himself for our sake (Phil. 2:5–11)

Phil. 2:5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, urging His disciples to great feats, sets before them as an example now Himself, now His Father, now the Prophets. So in one place He says: ‘for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you’ (Mt. 5:12); in another: ‘If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also’ (Jn. 15:20); and: ‘Learn from Me, for I am meek’ (Mt. 11:29); and in yet another: ‘Be merciful, just as your Father’ in heaven (Lk. 6:36). The same does the blessed Paul. For urging the Philippians toward humility, he sets Christ before them as an example. And not only here, but also when he speaks of love for the poor. For he says: ‘for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, for your sakes He became poor’ (2 Cor. 8:9). For a great and truly philosophical soul nothing so encourages it to good deeds as the knowledge that by this it becomes like God. What could be equal to this as an incentive? Nothing. Knowing this, Paul, in exhorting the Philippians to humility, first besought and implored them, then persuaded, and finally added: ‘let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus’ (holy Chrysostom).”

This example, through the word “for”—for—is directly linked to what immediately precedes—namely that “one ought to look not to one’s own interests but to the interests of others.” From the example it is plain that as soon as the good of one’s neighbor requires some active assistance, one must on no account shrink from it, however humbling it may appear. The Apostle says as it were: it is your duty—your urgent obligation—to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord, being God by nature, was pleased to humble Himself to the reception of the form of a servant when this was necessary for the salvation of man. And not only this, but He humbled Himself “even to the death of the cross”—to the last extreme of self-abasement, below which there is nowhere left to descend. Enter into the compelling power of this example, and you will never look only to “your own interests” while ignoring those of others; you will never exalt yourselves over others, but on the contrary will in humility count one another better than yourselves, and will be filled above all with self-denying love for one another—a love that separates itself from no one among the brethren but lives with all as one soul and one mind. Thus in this example all the virtues indicated before shine forth and all the vices mentioned are condemned. But above all, the humility that bestows good on others shines most brightly.

To point to this example, a brief word would have sufficed: “let this mind be in you.” But the holy Paul, whose mind was always plunged in contemplation of the great and unsearchable economy of our salvation, could not touch upon this mystery without his speech flowing in an unrestrained torrent. Therefore he did not let pass this opportunity to trace—concisely, yet all-embracingly and from every side—the whole work of the Lord for our salvation. He brings down the Son of God from above the heavens, clothes Him in the man Jesus, leads Him down to the death of the cross, and raises Him again above all things to receive the worship of every knee of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. The dogma of the incarnation and the redemption, and of the person of Jesus Christ as the God-man, is here set forth with such precision that this one passage strikes down all the heretics who have erred in this regard.

Holy Chrysostom, approaching his homily on this passage, is moved and says to his hearers: “attend, I beseech you, and be wakeful. Like a sharp sword with two edges, wherever it is directed—though against countless troops—it readily cuts them down and destroys them, because it is sharp on every side and nothing can withstand its blade; so too are these utterances of the Holy Spirit. For by these utterances He has overthrown the followers of Arius of Alexandria, and of Paul of Samosata, and of Marcellus of Galatia, and of Sabellius of Libya, and of Marcion of Pontus, and of Valens, and of Manes, and of Apollinarius of Laodicea, and of Photinus, and of Sophronius, and all heresies in general. Therefore, wishing to see such a spectacle and so many hosts falling from a single blow, be wakeful—lest you be deprived of the pleasure of this spectacle, the pleasure of our refuting—by God’s grace—all heretical opinions and all the devil’s constructions along with their authors, at once and in one stroke.”

Phil. 2:6. Who, being in the form of God, did not count it robbery to be equal with God.

Who is our Lord Jesus Christ? God by nature, who humbled Himself to the reception of human nature, so that in outward appearance He was like any other man. The present verse speaks of His Godhead; the next verse speaks of His becoming man.

“Who, being in the form of God.” The form of God here is not in the sense in which man has the image of God—traits of likeness to God; but in the sense that His very nature is divine. For every kind of being there is its own norm of existence, by which we at once determine: ah, that is such and such. Everyone knows the norm of man, the norm of an animal, the norm of a tree; so that at a single glance we say at once: that is a man, that is a tree, that is an animal. Analogously, speaking in human terms, God too has His own norm of existence. Whoever possesses this norm of divine existence is God, just as whoever possesses the norm of human existence is a man. Concerning the Lord Saviour, the Apostle says here that He, by the norm of His existence, is God—His being, His substance, and His nature is divine.

Holy Chrysostom clarifies this by comparing the expression “being in the form of God” with the expression “having taken the form of a servant.” Here the form of God is μορφη, there the form of a servant is likewise μορφη. But the form of a servant there denotes human nature; consequently the form of God here denotes divine nature. — Against Arius he directs his argument thus: “Arius says that the Son has a different substance. — But tell me, what do the words ‘having taken the form of a servant’ mean? They mean, he says, that He became man. Consequently, ‘being also in the form of God’ means that He was God. For in both cases the same word ‘form’ stands. If the first is true, then so is the latter. To be in the form of a servant means to be man by nature, and to be ‘in the form of God’ means to be God by nature.‘Considerably further on he returns to the same point and says:’I said that the form of a servant is true and nothing less; so also the form of God is perfect and nothing less. Therefore the Apostle did not say ‘having been in the form of God,’ but ‘being.’ This expression is equivalent to the words ‘I am who I am’ (Ex. 3:14). A form, as a form (norm), shows perfect likeness. And it cannot be that someone possesses the substance of one being while having the form (norm) of another. For instance, no man has the form (norm) of an Angel; no irrational creature has the form (norm) of a man. — So also the Son. — Only since we are composite, the form (norm) in us relates to the body (most of all), whereas in what is simple and perfectly non-composite it relates to the substance (spiritual and intellectual).”

“Did not count it robbery to be equal with God”—did not consider it robbery to be equal with God—His being equal with God, ισα υεω, level with God, on the same plane as God, was not by usurpation of what was foreign to Him, but because His own nature and substance was divine. Holy Chrysostom says: “the dignity of being equal with God was His not by seizure but by nature. This is why the Apostle did not say ‘He did not seize it,’ but ‘did not count it robbery’—that is, He possessed authority not seized but natural, not given but perpetually and inalienably His.” The heretics, Chrysostom further observes, have perverted this passage and render its meaning corruptly. They see in it the thought that, according to the Apostle, the Lord—being lesser than God—did not venture to place Himself on an equal footing with God. “They say: being a lesser God, He did not wish to be on a level with the great, most high God. — So you introduce into the Church’s doctrine a pagan teaching? Among the pagans there is a great and a lesser God. Whether we have such, I do not know. But in Scripture you will nowhere find this. The great you will find everywhere, but the lesser nowhere. For if He is lesser, what sort of God is He? Whoever is lesser is no God. In Scripture, the true God is everywhere called Great: ‘Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised’ (Ps. 47:2) and the like. — But they say: this is said of the Father, and the Son is the lesser (God). So you say, but Scripture says the opposite: it speaks of the Son in exactly the same way as of the Father. Hear what Paul says: ‘looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God’ (Tit. 2:13). Is this said of the Father? Not at all. The words the Apostle immediately adds do not allow this: ‘the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’ Behold, the Son too is great. — Why then do you speak of lesser and greater? Know that the Prophet also calls Him ‘Angel of great counsel.’ Is the Angel of great counsel not great? ‘The mighty God’ (Jer. 32:18)—is He not great, but lesser? How then do the shameless and the brazen say that He is a lesser God? I often repeat their words so that you may keep all the further away from them.”

Phil. 2:7. But emptied Himself, having taken the form of a servant, having come in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man.

“But He emptied Himself,” εκενωσεν — He emptied Himself. This word is used in contrast to “did not count it robbery.” Knowing Himself to be equal with God, He did not seize what was foreign to Him; but, remaining such a non-usurper, He voluntarily stripped Himself—emptied Himself, laid aside His own, divesting Himself of the visible glory and majesty proper to the Godhead and belonging to Him as God. In this respect, some understand “emptied Himself” as: He concealed the glory of His Godhead. “God by nature, possessing equality with the Father, He concealed His dignity and chose the most extreme humility” (blessed Theodoret).

The following words explain how He emptied Himself. — “Having taken the form of a servant”—that is, having taken upon Himself a creaturely nature. Which one exactly? Human: “having come in the likeness of men.” Did human nature thereby receive any distinction? No. Just like all men, so was He: “being found in appearance as a man.”

He took the form of a servant. Who did? He who is in the form of God—God by nature. If He took it as God, then after the taking He remained God, the One who took the form of a servant. “The form of a servant” is not a characteristic mark but the norm of a servant. The word “servant” is used in contrast to the Godhead in the words “being in the form of God.” There, the form of God denotes the norm of the divine nature—the Creator’s Godhead; here, the form of a servant denotes the norm of a servant-nature, a creaturely nature, subordinate to God. “Having taken the form of a servant”—having taken creaturely nature, which, whatever rank it may stand at, is always subordinate to God. What followed from this? That the One without beginning—acquired a beginning; the omnipresent—was confined to a place; the eternal—lived out days, months, and years; the all-perfect—grew in stature and wisdom; the One who sustains and enlivens all things—was fed and sustained by others; the all-knowing—knew not; the all-powerful—was bound; the Source of life—died. And all this He underwent, being God by nature, by means of the creaturely nature He had taken upon Himself.

What creaturely nature did God take? Human nature. “For He did not take on Himself the nature of angels, but of the seed of Abraham.” He became in the form of a servant, “having come in the likeness of men.” Holy Chrysostom says: “the Marcionites, seizing on the words, say: He was not a man, but only in the likeness of man. — How then can one be in the likeness of man? By clothing oneself in a shadow? But that is a phantom, not the likeness of a man. There is a similar expression in the holy Paul elsewhere. He says: ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’ (Rom. 8:3) (that is, His flesh was the same as everyone’s, only that flesh is sinful, while His was sinless; in every respect it resembles sinful flesh, except for sin). What then do the words ‘having come in the likeness of men’ mean? They mean that He possessed much of what we have, yet some things He did not have. For example: He was not born in the natural manner of birth; He committed no sin. — Behold, He had things that no man among men has. He was not only what He appeared; He was also God. He appeared as a man, but in many respects was not like us, though according to the flesh He was like us. Therefore He was not a mere man. For this reason it is said: ‘in the likeness of men.’ We are soul and body; He, however, is God, soul, and body. Therefore it is said ‘in the likeness.’ And lest, on hearing that He emptied Himself, you imagine change, transformation, or some kind of annihilation, Scripture says that He, remaining what He was, took on what He was not; and, having become flesh, remained the true God the Word.”

By the words “having come in the likeness of men” it is determined that He took on human nature; and by the words “and being found in appearance as a man” it is indicated that He subjected Himself to the entire manner of human life—appearing to live as all men do, so that in this outward appearance He was in all respects as a man. Holy Chrysostom says: “since in this respect He resembles man, the Apostle also says ‘in appearance’—by which he expresses not that the nature was changed or that any mingling took place, but that He became man in ‘appearance.’ — Well said by the Apostle: ‘as a man.’ For He was not one of the many, but as it were one of the many. Since God the Word was not transformed into a man and His substance was not changed—yet He appeared as a man, presenting to us no phantom, but teaching humility. — Note: when speaking of the Godhead, the Apostle uses the expressions: ‘being in the form of God—did not count it robbery to be equal with God,’ and does not use the words ‘became’ or ‘received.’ But when speaking of the humanity, he uses the words ‘received’ and ‘became’: ‘having taken the form of a servant, was found in appearance.’ — This He became, this He received; that He was. So let us neither confuse nor divide (the Godhead and the humanity). One God, one Christ—the Son of God. And when I say ‘one,’ I express union, not confusion; for one nature was not turned into the other, but only united with it.”

Phil. 2:8. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross.

The incarnation is the first degree of self-abasement in the person of God, who was pleased to conceal the glory of the Godhead under the veil of humanity. But the sojourn within it could have been glorious. And this the Lord did not will. He chose the most inconspicuous manner of life: He was born in a manger, grew up in poverty and laborious work, lived amid privations, having nowhere to lay His head. Thus “He humbled Himself.” This “He humbled Himself” denotes the voluntary choosing of such a life—it defines the character of the entire life. The word “obedient” then encompasses the very course of that life with all its contingencies. The holy Evangelist says of Him that He did not break a bruised reed. He did not resist anything in the course of events but submitted to all as it unfolded. As God, He governed all things; and the course of His own life He could have directed Himself, but He renounced His authority and humbly accepted all that befell Him and submitted to it. Only once—with the word “I am”—and on two further occasions by becoming invisible when they sought to stone Him, did He, as it were, stand athwart the advancing malice; but this only for a moment, and only in order to show that He was surrendering Himself into its hands voluntarily. This was decreed in the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. The Lord Himself called this obedience to the will of His heavenly Father.

“Becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross.” Even to death He did not resist, and to such a humiliating death at that. To be subject even to ordinary death would have been humiliating; but to submit to such a death was the uttermost extreme of self-abasement. Death approached through the customary interweaving of human designs and wills. He saw this—from afar and in every detail—yet resisted nothing and voluntarily accepted the death which envy and injustice had devised. And in all of this He was obedient not to human malice, but to the decrees of God worshipped in the Trinity, expressed through the will of the Heavenly Father. In the mystery of the Godhead it was decreed that the Lord should submit to such a course of life and to such an end of it. The very course of events proceeded according to the common laws of divine Providence—sometimes determining, sometimes permitting and allowing.

Holy Chrysostom says on this passage: “see, they say, He was obedient—therefore He is not equal to the One to Whom He was obedient. O senseless and foolish ones! This in no way makes Him lesser. We too often obey our friends, but this in no way makes us lesser. He, as the Son, obeying the Father voluntarily, did not fall into the condition of a slave, but by this very great honor shown to the Father He especially preserved the honor of kinship with Him. The Son honored the Father not so that you might dishonor Him, but so that you might honor Him all the more and from this recognize that He is the true Son; since He honored the Father above all others. No one has ever honored God in this manner. As great as He was, so deeply did He humble Himself. Since He is greater than all and none is His equal, He also surpassed all in honoring the Father—not by compulsion and not under constraint. And this is a work of His virtue, or I know not how to express it. Ah, even to become a servant is a great thing and utterly ineffable; but to undergo death is far greater! But there is yet another thing still greater and more wonderful than this. What is it? That not just any death was like His death. For such a death was considered the most shameful of all and accursed. ‘For cursed,’ it is written, ‘is everyone who hangs on a tree’ (Deut. 21:23). For that reason the Jews took pains to put Him to death by such a death, and thereby to make Him an object of contempt—so that this manner of death would turn everyone away from Him, if mere death had turned away no one. For that reason also two robbers were crucified with Him, so that He might share their dishonor and so that it might be fulfilled what was said: ‘and He was numbered with the transgressors’ (Is. 53:12). But truth, the more it shines, the more brilliant it becomes. For when there are so many plots against His glory and yet it shines, the honor appears all the greater. Not by ordinary execution, but by an execution of precisely this sort they thought to make Him contemptible and to present Him more reprehensible than all; yet they did not succeed in the least. — This in no way diminished His glory.”

Phil. 2:9. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name.

“Therefore”—for the reason that He so humbled Himself, even to the death of the cross. And “God”—God the Father, or God worshipped in the Trinity, the Godhead. “Has highly exalted Him”—has so exalted Him that beyond this exaltation it is impossible to go. Whom? The same One who, being in the form of God, did not count it robbery to be equal with God, yet emptied Himself and humbled Himself to the death of the cross. For the person is one—the person of God incarnate. He was exalted—the same One—yet not as God but as man. This exaltation signifies that His humanity also was brought into the glory and power of the Godhead. And it is ascribed to Him; for the humanity in Him is not a separate person but His humanity. It is impossible to exalt His humanity separately in such a way that this exaltation would not refer to Him, just as the preceding self-emptying and humiliation—though they were according to the humanity—were His own. For this reason the exaltation has also taken on infinite power. God has exalted the humanity in Him, but since this humanity is His own, in exalting that, He has exalted Him. Holy Chrysostom says: “if this is said of the One who was incarnate, if it is said of God the Word (apart from the incarnation), then how did He ‘highly exalt Him’? Did He give Him something greater? In that case He would have been imperfect and through us would have become perfect. For if He had not bestowed good upon us, He would not have received the honor. (Such reasoning is inadmissible).” Here too are the words of blessed Theodoret: “it is evident even to those of little understanding that the divine nature is in need of nothing, and that in the One who became man it was not the divine nature that was exalted as though it had been humbled—even though it was exalted by nature and humbled itself voluntarily (in the incarnation). Not as the Son of God did He receive what He had not before; but as a man He received what He had as God. In humbling Himself, He not only did not lose what He had as God, but received it also as man.”

“And given Him the Name which is above every name.” The Son of God possessed a Name that did not leave Him through the incarnation; but now it is received by Him also as a gift—as man. Up to this moment, as God, He possessed this Name; but not as man. Now it is given to Him also as man. It is “given”—for humanity, even when taken up by the Godhead, cannot merit such a Name; it cannot reach the point of this Name belonging to it by right of justice. “The Name above every name.” What is this name above every name? Here are the names that are above all names: God, the Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit—these are above all names and all are equally honorable. Which then of these was given to the One who is in the form of God and who humbled Himself to the death of the cross? God, Son (Oecumenius, blessed Theophylact), or God the Son, Son of God. — By this Name He was called before the world existed; now this same Name is transferred also to the humanity. In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is written that He inherited a name “more excellent” than that of the Angels. And the Apostle immediately explained what that name is, saying: “for to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son’” (Heb. 1:5–6) (blessed Theodoret).

The exaltation and the giving of the Name above every name is the same as what is expressed elsewhere as being seated at the right hand of the Father. Just as this signifies participation in the power and authority of the Godhead, so also does that. In other terms, this may be called the deification of humanity in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ—our Redeemer and Saviour. It was brought into this order from the moment of the incarnation; but in actual fact became such after the death of the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension—at the moment of the seating at the right hand of the Father.

Phil. 2:10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.

As soon as the exaltation was accomplished in the manner described and sealed with a corresponding special Name, the consequence of this had to be the divine worship of all creatures—heavenly, earthly, and those under the earth. In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is said that when God brought the Firstborn again into the world (“again” in His God-manhood), He commanded: “let all the angels of God worship Him” (Heb. 1:6). Is it not this command that the Angels, in the Apocalypse, together with those who are with them, with thousands of thousands of voices cry out fulfilling: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever’” (Rev. 5:12–13).

“That every knee should bow”—with divine worship, on account of the hypostatic union of humanity with the Godhead in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the words “of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth” the whole of creation is expressed: the heavenly—Angels; the earthly—men who are living; those under the earth—men who have died (blessed Theodoret). But holy Chrysostom says: “that is, the whole world—both Angels and men and demons, both the righteous and sinners.”

All this followed of itself—for the One who became incarnate is God the Son.

Phil. 2:11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

“Every tongue”—again every creature that has reason and speech. “Should confess”—and should acknowledge, and should proclaim and glorify. “That Jesus Christ is Lord”—that Jesus Christ is Lord and God (blessed Theophylact). “To the glory of God the Father.” “So that all should say this (that is, that He is Lord God). And in this is the glory of the Father” (holy Chrysostom). Or: “so that He may be glorified in the same way as the Father, as equal to Him and like Him” (holy St John of Damascus). That is, “every tongue should confess” that, inasmuch as Jesus Christ shines forth and is known as Lord and God, this moves all to unceasing glorification of God the Father; or that Jesus Christ is Lord in equal glory with God the Father, to the measure of the glory of God the Father.

Holy Chrysostom concludes his exposition of these last verses with the following exhortation: “therefore, let us believe to His glory and live to His glory. For one without the other is useless. So that when we confess rightly but live wrongly, we greatly offend Him—since, acknowledging Him as Lord and Teacher, we despise Him and do not fear His terrible judgment. The unclean life of pagans is not at all surprising and does not deserve great condemnation; but a similar unclean life in Christians, who share in such mysteries and enjoy such glory (called to such glory), is worst of all and most intolerable.”

cc) Instruction on how to live as a Christian (Phil. 2:12–18)

It is not indicated here by what commandments the true Christian life is defined, but rather how to abide in those commandments—how to live worthily of Christianity. The Apostle defines this with the following words: with fear and trembling—doing all things without murmuring and disputing—holding fast the word of life. The word of God declares what must be done; having learned this, do it with diligence and zeal, without murmuring and disputing, enlivening this zeal with the fear of God; and always keeping in view that in all things you are to be blameless children of God, and to glorify the name of God through yourselves, shining in the world like lights.