Though He Was in The Form of God…- Phil. 2:5-11

Jesus lifted up our humanity, showing us the possibility of becoming godly ourselves.

This is one of my favorite passages from Paul’s letters. It is an ancient hymn to Christ and so much more. It reveals the inexpressible power and the limitless humility of God. It also reveals the ultimate mystery of our natural, God-given, human dignity as revealed in and through the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

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If we look at it as a whole, this passage expresses the great mystery of God’s unconditional attitude of love toward us. We see in this passage about the Incarnation of Jesus, a downward movement from equality with God to a complete identification with the human race. This downward movement points, then, to the possibility of our upward movement. We see Heaven come down to earth, and the implication that that which is earthly could become heavenly. To put it in the words of the early Fathers, “God became man so that man might become God.”

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“Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped at.” This passage reveals to us the Nature of God. With poetic succinctness it evokes the unimaginable mystery of God’s love for us. Who but God, could choose to empty himself so completely? Who but God could choose so freely and so magnanimously to lower himself from such an inexpressible height to enter into the broken depths of our humanity in the fullest sense, to become a slave, being subject even to the pain of our physical, psychological, and spiritual distress? And, finally, who but God could choose to suffer the agony of total isolation from the Father, to willingly die on the cross, all for the sake of love.

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The Father responds to Jesus’s willingness to suffer on our behalf by, “exalting him and giving him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11). Whenever I read this it humbles me and moves me to tears at the recognition of God’s love for all of us, indeed, for me. It removes all my fears of being alone in my own brokenness. It shows me, with undeniable clarity, that I am loved beyond my understanding. It tells me that the majesty of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, willingly chooses, in every moment, to bend down from heaven to earth, to show us (me) the indescribable depths of his love. In coming down from heaven into our humanity, Jesus lifted up our humanity, showing us the possibility of becoming godly ourselves, if we choose freely and willingly to humble ourselves as he did.

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My Irish grandmother had a deep and abiding faith in the power of the name of Jesus. At the name of Jesus, she would make a simple gesture, giving an unobtrusive, almost imperceptible nod of her head. Most would never notice it, but with that simple gesture, she revealed her faithful and deep respect for that Name. That gesture was her version of “bending her knee at the Name of Jesus to the glory of God the Father.” I continue that gesture today; a simple nod in reverence to Jesus and the glory of God the Father. I do so out of the love that is freely given us through the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God. Amen.

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