BIG IDEA:
THE PATTERN FOR BOTH HUMBLING OURSELVES AND BEING EXALTED BY GOD IS JESUS CHRIST
INTRODUCTION:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you at the proper time.” 1 Peter 5:6
Otherwise, if we try to exalt ourselves, God must come along and humble us.
Remember the Greek people were a proud people and the Jews were filled with nationalistic pride.
Dennis Johnson: This passage is, as we have observed, a majestic mountain peak, towering over the surrounding countryside. It is a pinnacle of theological truth, piercing the heavens and probing the mystery of the incarnation. Its dramatic movement traces the inverted arc of Christ’s redemptive mission from divine glory down into humiliation and death, and then up again to heaven’s heights in resurrection splendor. These seven verses may have generated more scholarly comment and theological reflection than the other ninety-seven verses of Philippians put together, and for good reason. This brief and beautiful text is one of the fullest, most explicit descriptions in the New Testament of the identity of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Steven Lawson: The greatest display of humility that the world has ever witnessed was the incarnation of Christ, which led ultimately to his crucifixion. Here Jesus demonstrated what it looks like to truly be humble. He himself declared that he “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). From a sovereign to a servant—this was the lowly role that Jesus assumed.
Gordon Fee: Thus the narrative summarizes the centrality of Christ in Pauline theology. His death secured redemption for his people; but at the same time it serves as pattern for their present life in the Spirit, while finally we shall share in the eschatological glory and likeness that are presently his. And all of this “to the glory of God the Father.”
In the final analysis, therefore, this passage stands at the heart of Paul’s understanding of God. Christ serves as pattern, to be sure; but he does so as the one who most truly expresses God’s nature. As God, Christ poured himself out, not seeking his own advantage. As man—and not ceasing to be God—he humbled himself unto death on the cross. That this is what God is like is the underlying Pauline point; and since God is in process of recreating us in his image, this becomes the heart of the present appeal. The Philippians—and we ourselves—are not called upon simply to “imitate God” by what we do, but to have this very mind, the mind of Christ, developed in us, so that we too bear God’s image in our attitudes and relationships within the Christian community—and beyond.
Robert Gromacki: Paradoxically, he illustrated exhortation with doctrine, whereas most preachers try to make their doctrinal sermons practical.
G. Walter Hansen: Although there is widespread agreement that Philippians 2:6-11 is a poem or a hymn, debate regarding the specific details of its literary form continues unabated. Ernst Lohmeyer’s analysis provides a good starting point in this discussion. In his description of the literary form of the passage, he sets forth the Greek text in six stanzas, with three lines in each stanza. . .
(1) The one existing in the form of God
did not consider it an advantage to exploit
to be equal to God,
(2) but he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
becoming in the likeness of human beings;
(3) and in appearance being found as a human being,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient unto death — even death on a cross.
(4) Therefore also God highly exalted him
and gave to him the name
that is above every name,
(5) that in the name of Jesus
every knee will bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
(6) and every tongue will acknowledge that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Like threads in a beautiful tapestry, the lines in this poem are carefully woven together to form a complete picture. In the six stanzas of three lines each, the first three stanzas depict the attitudes and actions of Jesus on his journey from his original glory of equality with God all the way to his death on the cross; the last three stanzas proclaim the actions of God resulting in the universal worship of Jesus to the glory of God. Thus, the hymn portrays a divine parabola of descent from eternal glory to the cross and ascent back again to eternal glory. As a narrative poem, beginning and ending in eternity, it is complete in itself.
Gerald Hawthorne: The Christ-hymn (Phil 2:6–11) presents Jesus as the supreme model of the humble, obedient, self-sacrificing, self-denying, self-giving service that Paul has just been urging the Philippians to practice in their relations one toward another (vv 1–4). Hence, although this hymn (1) is unquestionably a christological gem unparalleled in the NT, (2) may be considered soteriological, or better, kerygmatic, in character (yet with parenetic enforcement brought out in 2:12 as a call to obedience; there is no dichotomy between the two, as Martin, Hymn of Christ, lxxii–lxxiv, seeks to show), and (3) may have been originally composed for christological or soteriological reasons, Paul’s motive in using it here is not theological but ethical. Yet this disjunction may be granted to be chimerical since Paul’s ethics are always theological ethics; i.e., the call is to act because God in Christ has acted in the first place (see Martin, New Testament Foundations, 2:11–13). Paul’s grounding of Christian ethics is in the work or event of Christ, with the call being “Become in practice what you already are in Christ,” just as Christ, the heavenly one, became Lord only by way of self-abnegating surrender of his “form” and receiving his title to lordship as a consequence (v 9: διὸ καί, “as a consequence, therefore”) of his obedience and elevation to cosmic authority. The Philippians are “in Christ” (v 5). Let them live it out (v 12). Paul’s objective is not to give instruction in doctrine but to reinforce instruction (parenesis) in Christian living. And he does this by appealing to the event of Christ.
Tony Merida: Main Idea: In this amazing passage, Paul magnifies the humility and exaltation of Jesus, which should lead us to emulate Jesus’ example and adore Him as Lord of all.
I. The Mind of Christ (2:5)
II. The Humility of Christ (2:6-8)
- His humble renunciation (2:6)
- His humble incarnation (2:7)
- His humble crucifixion (2:8)
III. The Exaltation of Christ (2:9-11)
- His exalted position (2:9)
- Everyone’s adoration and confession (2:10-11)
I. (:5-8) THE PATTERN FOR HUMBLING OURSELVES IS JESUS CHRIST
A. (:5-7) Humbling in Mind –
Christ’s Chose Service to Others Over Personal Rights
- (:5) Christ Modeled Humility in His Mindset
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Speaking of that inner disposition to seek the welfare of others.
Ben Witherington: V. 5 is a crucial transitional verse that sets up how the hearer is to interpret the hymn and in what frame of reference it is to be understood. Touto (“this”) could be either retrospective (the mindset already described in 2:1-4) or prospective (the mindset of Christ about to be described), or it could be both, but it is most likely retrospective. Certainly the reference to mindset echoes what was said in v. 2, and Paul has already described briefly in vv. 1-4 the sort of humble unitive mindset he has in mind.
John MacArthur: Yet as profound and unfathomable as this passage is theologically, it is also ethical. As the introductory words (Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus) make clear, it is primarily designed to motivate Christians to live like their Lord and Savior. Paul was not merely describing the Incarnation to reveal its theological truths, magnificent as those are. He presents the supreme, unparalleled example of humility to serve as the most powerful motive to believers’ humility. The Incarnation calls believers to follow Jesus’ incomparable example of humble self-denial, self-giving, self-sacrifice, and selfless love as He lived out the Incarnation in obedient submission to His Father’s will (cf. Luke 2:49; John 3:16–17; 5:30; 12:49; 15:10).
Grant Osborne: So this is an imperative statement, commanding that all interpersonal relationships be dominated by Christlike thinking. Throughout this challenge verses 2–4 are in mind. There can be no humility until Christ’s thought-life permeates and guides our every thought. This idea connotes a strong ethical quality, demanding that our relationships with others among God’s people reflect Christ at every point. He is indeed the archetypal model for the kind of mindset that produces oneness and makes relationships possible. The phrase “in Christ” means that his mindset must become the sphere within which our thought processes are governed. Only then can we attain the “humble-mindedness” of verse 3.
- (:6) Christ Relinquished Personal Rights Related to His Equality with God
“who, although He existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped“
Jesus’ existence did not begin in the manger in Bethlehem or even in the womb of Mary.
John MacArthur: Morphe (form) refers to the outward manifestation of an inner reality.
George Hunsinger: God’s eternal mode of being is a matter of self-existence, not preexistence. “Preexistence” (when used to interpret this passage) comes too close to suggesting that being in “the form of God” is just a “prelude” to an earthly “existence” that is somehow more basic. Nothing could be more basic, however, than God’s self-existent being from and to all eternity. Divine self-existence represents a uniquely sovereign and eternal mode of being. Strictly speaking, it is neither “preexistent” to something else nor merely “pretemporal,” as if it were little more than an unaccented syllable. God qua God is eternal, sovereign, and self-existent. . .
We turn now to the vexing term “to be grasped” (harpagmon), which has generated so much discussion while remaining so obscure. Does it mean “using something for one’s own advantage”? Does it mean “clinging” to something or “grasping” at it? Does it mean regarding something as “robbery”? What about “demanding one’s own rights”? Or even “retaining something by force”? Based on the interpretation offered here—whereby being “in the form of God” and being “equal to God” are thought to be semantically the same—a paraphrase is suggested.
If what is at stake is a transition from one mode of existence to another—the one glorious, the other ignominious—then the core idea would be that of “relinquishment.” Christ Jesus does not consider his glorious mode of existence as something that cannot be relinquished. He can relinquish it without ceasing to be who he is. Indeed he is never more fully who he is than in the act of relinquishing it. He relinquishes his glorious mode of existence without ceasing to be God. He does not refuse to act selflessly, at cost to himself, for the good of others. We may say the change to which he subjects himself is “existential” rather than “ontological.” Without ceasing to be God, he relinquishes the ordinary exercise and enjoyment of the prerogatives of his divine mode of existence.
The term “to be grasped” (harpagmon) thus means that he does not count his glorious mode of existence, along with the exercise of its prerogatives—“equality with God”—as something that cannot be relinquished in a particular sense. He relinquishes two things—both his outward glory and the normal exercise of his prerogatives—without surrendering his divine essence. The relinquishment of his prerogatives is thus severe without needing to be absolute.
Dwight Pentecost: If these Greeks should think they have a superior vantage point, how much superior was the vantage point of the Son of God, for He was not the most exalted among men, He was the eternal Son of the eternal God. If any had a right to consider Himself, a right to express His own rights, it was Jesus Christ.
Robert H. Mounce: Though in His pre-incarnate state he possessed the essential qualities of God, he did not consider his status of divine equality a prize to be selfishly hoarded.
morphe, form, in verses 6 and 7 denotes a permanent expression of essential attributes, while schema, fashion (v 8), refers to outward appearance that is subject to change
Our Lord was in the form of God. Thus the outward expression of His inmost being was as to its nature the expression of the divine essence of Deity.
Context is speaking of the outward expression (not the inward possession) of the divine attributes.
John MacArthur: It is that attitude of selfless giving of oneself and one’s possessions, power, and privileges that should characterize all who belong to Christ. They should be willing to loosen their grip on the blessings they have, which they have solely because of Him. Christians are set apart from the world as children of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Yet they must not clutch those privileges and blessings. Instead, like their Lord, they must hold them loosely and be willing to sacrifice them all for the benefit of others.
- (:7) Christ Emptied Himself to Function as a Human Servant
“but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
Christ did not empty himself of His Deity, but of the rights and privileges and full manifestation of that Deity.
Richard Melick: The hymn moves from attitude to actions. Two verbs describe successive actions as Jesus gave himself for humanity: “He made himself nothing” and “he humbled himself.” Each has a phrase modifying it.
Robert H. Mounce: Unlike the first Adam, who made a frantic attempt to seize equality with God (Gen 3:5), Jesus, the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:47), humbled himself and obediently accepted the role of the Suffering Servant.
Active process of humbling himself began with the Incarnation but extended much further.
John MacArthur: The Son of God emptied Himself of five divine rights.
- First, He temporarily divested Himself of His divine glory.
- Second, Jesus emptied Himself of independent divine authority.
- Third, Jesus emptied Himself of the voluntary exercise of some of His divine attributes, though not the essence of His deity. He did not stop being omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, or immutable; He chose not to exercise the full limit of those attributes during His earthly life and ministry. He did, however, exercise some of them selectively and partially.
- Fourth, Jesus emptied Himself of His eternal riches. “For your sake He became poor,” Paul explains, “so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).
- Fifth, He emptied Himself temporarily of His unique, intimate, and face-to-face relationship with His heavenly Father—even to the point of being forsaken by Him. To fulfill the divine plan of redemption, the Father “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
George Hunsinger: When the eternal Son “empties himself” to become human, entering into humiliation and death, he does not cease to be God. He is free to conceal his glory and majesty, along with restraining his prerogatives, without absolutely relinquishing them. What he relinquishes is possessing his majesty in only one modality, or in only its heavenly form. His eternal glory is upheld, but ineffably, in a complex and inconceivable way. It is retained in the midst of earthly abasement. God’s glory becomes ignominious without ceasing to be glorious. God is glorious in abasement while also remaining high above it. In assuming flesh to himself, the Son assumes the cross and its shame into his very person. His glory does not cease but is secretly present under the form of its opposite. It is not the shame that diminishes his glory, but his glory that is augmented by the shame, which abolishes it. The assumptio of abasement is real, but the glory prevails. God’s power is made perfect in weakness.
Robert Gromacki: Christ surrendered the independent exercise of His divine attributes. In the incarnation, he yielded His will to that of the Father. He was God manifest in the flesh. Therefore He possessed the attributes, but He used them only under the control of the Holy Spirit and within the will of the Father for His earthly life.
Max Anders: Scholars refer to this important statement as kenosis, from the Greek word. By becoming a man, Jesus did not lay aside his deity. Charles C. Ryrie sheds light on this event: “Christ didn’t become any less God, but he chose not to use some of his divine attributes. This involved a veiling of his preincarnate glory (John 17:5) and the voluntary nonuse of some of his divine prerogatives during the time he was on earth (Matt. 24:36). For God to become a man was humbling enough, but he was willing to go even further. Christ could have come to earth in his true position as King of the universe. Instead, he took the role of a servant. The Creator chose to serve his creatures.
Gordon Fee: In Christ Jesus God has thus shown his true nature; this is what it means for Christ to be “equal with God”—to pour himself out for the sake of others and to do so by taking the role of a slave. Hereby he not only reveals the character of God, but from the perspective of the present context also reveals what it means for us to be created in God’s image, to bear his likeness and have his “mindset.” It means taking the role of the slave for the sake of others, the contours of which are what the next clause will spell out.
David Garland: Jesus refused to exploit his divine status or use it as an opportunity for self-aggrandizement. He took up the cross, not the crown. For him equality with God meant giving up privileges, emptying himself, serving as a slave, spending himself, obeying God, and dying a slave’s death on a cross. Being equal to God meant making himself nothing and giving rather than getting, and his giving of himself revealed the true nature and love of God.
Steven Lawson: Jesus, the Son of God, assumed all of the limitations of finite humanity. While he remained fully and truly God, he became fully and truly man. Like any other person, Jesus grew weary and tired. He hungered and thirsted. He felt all of the throbbing pain of a human body. He subjected himself to the indignities of human pressures, temptations, and sufferings. Paul will reiterate this fact in the next verse: that Jesus was “found in appearance as a man” (v 8). He is keen to stress and repeat this truth because it is foundational, wonderful, and awesome. It should move us to praise and joy. Your God is the God who walked this earth as a man.
Tony Merida: Indeed, there have been many alternative positions through the years. Ebionism denied the divine nature of Christ. Arianism denied the fullness of the deity of Christ. Docetism denied the humanity of Jesus. Apollinarianism denied the full humanity of Jesus. Nestorianism denied the unity of the natures in one person. Eutychianism denied the distinction of the natures. In AD 451, leaders in Chalcedon wrote a creed affirming both Jesus’ full humanity and His full deity, united in one person. In so doing, they rejected all six of these Christological heresies. In every generation, we must contend for the biblical view of the person and work of Christ. We still hear things like “He was a prophet,” “He was a good man,” “He was a fine example,” “The idea of Jesus is what matters.” Like Athanasius, we must boldly defend the glory of Christ. We must also teach these things to our children, who are growing up in a world that is fine with a phantom Christ, Christ as a mere man, or Christ as a funny, religious sage. In the spirit of Deuteronomy 6, as you sit down, walk, and lie down, teach your kids about the person and work of Jesus.
B. (:8) Humbling in Action –
Christ’s Obedience Was Absolute and Humiliating
- Action of Humbling Himself
“And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself”
Dennis Johnson: Yet the Christ who is everlastingly, ever-livingly divine became a mortal man. He added to his infinite, unchangeable deity our limited and mutable humanity, mysteriously uniting these two natures in his one person. That was the very purpose for which God the Son became our human brother, veiling his divine glory behind a slave’s rags and human flesh, torn by Rome’s cruel lash. It was the Father’s plan, the necessary route to the redemption of his wayward children. So Christ “humbled himself” and became “obedient to the point of death.” His self-humbling defines the humility of mind that will enable the Philippians to count others more significant than themselves (Phil. 2:3). His obedience sets the pace for their ongoing obedience to the will of God (2:12). But his humility and obedience to death did more than set a noble example. As the Lamb of God, by his blood he “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). As Isaiah said in the famous Servant song, “upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).
Grant Osborne: It is important to note the absolute contrast between the deep humility of Jesus depicted in this hymn and the arrogance Paul describes in verse 2. Against the backdrop of people filled with “vain conceit” and the desire for glory, Christ surrendered his glory and “made himself nothing.” The polar opposite of being consumed by “selfish ambition,” Jesus made himself a slave to serve every created being. Whereas people’s natural tendency is to focus on their own desires, Jesus thought only of others and their needs. They wanted it all, and Jesus died for them! There could be no greater model of humility in the history of this world.
- Absolute Extent of His Obedience
“by becoming obedient to the point of death,”
“up to the point of” — not obedient to death, for He remained the Master of all and willingly yielded up His spirit
substitutionary atonement for sin
John MacArthur: The Father did not force death upon the Son. It was the Father’s will, but it was the Son’s will always to perfectly obey the Father. He had a free choice. Had He not had a choice, He could not have been obedient. “No one has taken [My life] away from Me,” He said, “but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:18). He was commanded by the Father, but not compelled. As love incarnate, He became the perfect example of the truth He Himself had declared: “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
- Abject Humiliation of His Death
“even death on a cross.”
R. Kent Hughes: The humblest man who ever lived is Christ himself, the God-man. Think of it:
- He was eternally humble in Heaven: “though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (v. 6).
- He was astonishingly self-humbling in the incarnation: “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (v. 7).
- He was infinitely self-humbling in his death: “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v. 8).
John Calvin: Even this was great humility—that from being Lord he became a servant; but [Paul] says that he went farther than this, because, while he was not only immortal, but the Lord of life and death, he nevertheless became obedient to his Father, even so far as to endure death. This was extreme abasement, especially when we take into view the kind of death … For by dying in this manner, he was not only covered with ignominy in the sight of God, but was also accursed in the sight of God.
John MacArthur: Crucifixion is perhaps the most cruel, excruciatingly painful, and shameful form of execution ever conceived. It was originally devised by the ancient Persians or Phoenicians and later perfected by the Romans. It was reserved for slaves, the lowest of criminals, and enemies of the state. No Roman citizen could be crucified, no matter how egregious his crime. In his book The Life of Christ, Frederick Farrar describes crucifixion as follows:
A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly—dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, shame, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of intended wounds—all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. . . . The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish. (Vol. 2 [New York: E. P. Dutton, 1877], 403–4)
Frank Thielman: Summary of vv. 6-8: Paul has described Christ’s deity in terms of his selfless denial of his rights. This selfless denial entailed two steps, making himself nothing (or emptying himself) by becoming a human being and a slave, and humbling himself by becoming obedient to the point of suffering a slave’s death, death on the cross.
II. (:9-11) THE PATTERN FOR BEING EXALTED BY GOD IS JESUS CHRIST
Frank Thielman: But what about verses 9–11? How does a description of Christ’s exaltation provide an example for the Philippians to follow? This passage is probably best understood as a pointer, again through Christ’s example, to the Philippians’ own future if they remain faithful. Just as God exalted Christ to the highest place in response to his obedience, so the Philippians, if they remain steadfast in the faith through enduring persecution and seeking unity with one another, will be glorified. This thought is consistent with Paul’s emphasis in 1:9–11 on the eschatological goal of the Philippians’ sanctification. There Paul prays that the Philippians “may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that [they] may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” It is also consistent with his statement in 3:21 that those who follow Paul’s example rather than the example of the “enemies of the cross of Christ” will experience the transformation of their “lowly bodies [lit., body of humility] so that they will be like [Christ’s] glorious body” (3:21). As with Christ Jesus in 2:9–11, their faithfulness amid hardship and their humble obedience will one day be transformed into glorification.
A. (:9) Ultimate Exaltation – [Past Exaltation]
God has Exalted Christ to the Position of Absolute Supremacy
“Therefore also God highly exalted Him,
and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name“
George Hunsinger: The importance of the word “therefore” (dio) should not be overlooked. It is another sign that soteriology is at stake in what has gone before (2:6–8). Why indeed would Christ “empty himself,” why would he assume the incognito form of a slave, why would he so humble himself in extremis, why would he be so obedient even to the point of death on a cross? The word “therefore” suggests that this course of action is not undertaken for its own sake. It enacts the good of others. Christ puts the interests of others ahead of his own, and he does so at cost to himself. He subjects himself to a form of extreme degradation so that others might be delivered from theirs.
John MacArthur: Christ’s exaltation was thus fourfold: resurrection, ascension, coronation, and intercession. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. There He was seated on the throne of God to intercede as High Priest of His people. He sympathizes with us (Heb. 4:15); who is “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Heb. 7:26); and “always lives to make intercession for [believers]” (Heb. 7:25). Just as the descent of Christ into humiliation was in steps (He was in the form of God but willing to let that go; humbled Himself; became a servant; was made in the likeness of men; was found in fashion as a man; and was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross [Phil. 2:5-8]), so His resurrection, ascension, coronation, and intercession show the steps of His exaltation by God.
Tony Merida: It was his lordship and Messiahship—his messianic lordship—that was bestowed on him at his exaltation. Not that he wasn’t Messiah and Lord before his resurrection. He was. But he had not fulfilled the mission of Messiah until he had died for our sin and risen again. And therefore, before his death and resurrection, the lordship of Christ over the world had not been brought to full actuality. The rebel forces were yet undefeated, and the power of darkness held the world in its grip. In order to be acclaimed Messiah and Lord, the Son of God had to come, defeat the enemy, and lead his people out of bondage in triumph over sin and Satan and death. And that he did on Good Friday and Easter.
Grant Osborne: To clarify the meaning of Christ’s exaltation, the next line adds that at this event God “gave him the name that is above every name.” This shows the extent of his glorified status, signifying sovereign control over all creation. Adam’s naming of the animals in Genesis 2:20 represented his dominion over the animal world. So here, the hymn proclaims Jesus’ dominion over the cosmos, as expressed in Colossians 1:15–16 (“firstborn over all creation”; “all things have been created through him and for him”). In Philippi—a Roman garrison city that celebrated its close relationship to Caesar as Lord—it was a powerful (and quite dangerous) witness to declare that Christ Jesus, not Caesar, was the true Lord.
The consensus view is that the “name” given to Jesus is “LORD” (a common substitute for “Yahweh,” in order to avoid uttering the divine name). This alludes to Isaiah 45:23–24: “Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength.’ ” Yahweh had conferred on Jesus his own covenant name, as recognized in the “I AM” sayings of John 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19, echoing the “I AM” of Isaiah 43:10; 47:8, 10.6 This is both a name and a title, indicating that Jesus is a member of the Triune Godhead named “Yahweh,” as well as Lord of all creation. The Suffering Servant is now proclaimed to be the sovereign Lord.
B. (:10-11) Universal Submission and Confession – [Future Exaltation]
The Lordship of Jesus Christ Will Ultimately Be Recognized by Universal Submission to the Glory of God
(cf. Is. 45:23)
- Conduct of Worship – Universal Submission
“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth“
Robert H. Mounce: The totality of created rational beings will pay due homage
Gordon Fee: The whole created order shall give him obeisance. The “bowing of the knee” is a common idiom for doing homage, sometimes in prayer, but always in recognition of the authority of the god or person to whom one is offering such obeisance. The significance of Paul’s using the language of Isaiah in this way lies with his substituting “at the name of Jesus” for the “to me” of Isa 45:23, which refers to Yahweh, the God of Israel. In this stirring oracle (Isa 45:18–24a) Yahweh is declared to be God alone, over all that he has created and thus over all other gods and nations. And he is Israel’s savior, whom they can thus fully trust. In vv. 22–24a Yahweh, while offering salvation to all but receiving obeisance in any case, declares that “to me every knee shall bow.” Paul now asserts that through Christ’s resurrection and at his ascension God has transferred this right to obeisance to the Son; he is the Lord to whom every knee shall eventually bow. There is in this language no hint that those who bow are acknowledging his salvation; on the contrary they will bow to his sovereignty at the End, even if they are not now yielding to it.
Gordon Zerbe: The close correlation of every knee bending and every tongue acclaiming—two aspects of one action—confirms that confessing is tantamount to declaring loyalty or making a pledge of allegiance.
- Confession of Lordship
“and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father“
Implications for Gospel Invitations: no separation between Jesus as Savior and Jesus as Lord. You must receive Him for who He truly is – which includes His inherent Lordship.
John MacArthur: The lordship of Jesus Christ is a crucial issue. Many in our day seem to believe they can accept the work of Christ on the cross apart from worshiping Him as King. Nearly 100 years ago Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote, “I cannot conceive it possible for anyone truly to receive Christ as Saviour and yet not to receive him as Lord. One of the first instincts of a redeemed soul is to fall at the feet of the Saviour, and gratefully and adoringly to cry, ‘Blessed Master, bought with thy precious blood, I own that I am thine,–thine only, thine wholly, thine for ever. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ A man who is really saved by grace does not need to be told that he is under solemn obligations to serve Christ; the new life within him tells him that. Instead of regarding it as a burden, he gladly surrenders himself–body, soul, and spirit, to the Lord who has redeemed him, reckoning this to be his reasonable service” (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 56 [Pasadena, Tex.: Pilgrim Publications, 1979], p. 617). Take a moment now to acknowledge the lordship of Christ in your own life–it is only your reasonable service to do so.
Application: If each one would set aside self in the same way and humble himself, the church would achieve true unity and be effective in its proclamation of the gospel.
R. Kent Hughes: Confession with the tongue is the spoken counterpart to bowing the knee. So Paul concludes, “and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (v. 11). Remarkably, the threefold declaration “Jesus Christ is Lord” is apostolic shorthand for the gospel (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:5; cf. Romans 10:9).
- First, “Jesus” (meaning “the Lord saves”), the name given to the Son of God at his incarnation, signifies that the Lord’s salvation came when Jesus was born. This is why Simeon swept baby Jesus into his arms and declared, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:29, 30).
- Second, the title “Christ” (meaning “the Anointed,” “the Messiah”) speaks of his being the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy—“that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4).
- Third, “Lord” is here understood to represent the divine name Yahweh, which is a public declaration of his sovereignty—“I am the LORD, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:5, 6, 18; cf. 45:14, 22).
This gospel triad, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” is what we confess today when we gather for worship and confession. That is a shadow and anticipation of what will be ultimately offered by all the universe. Soon every tongue of every rational being in all creation will confess that Jesus Messiah is Yahweh! Every believing heart will cry it at the top of its lungs in voice and song, and we, with the angels, will do it over and over for all eternity. Every unbelieving heart will confess it too, in dismal submission and despair.
William Hendrikson: He who stood condemned in relation to the divine law (because of the sin of the world which rested on him) has exchanged this penal for the righteous relation to the law. He who was poor has become rich. He who was rejected has been accepted (Rev. 12:5, 10). He who learned obedience has entered upon the actual administration of the power and authority committed to him.
As king, having by his death, resurrection, and ascension achieved and displayed his triumph over his enemies, he now holds in his hands the reins of the universe, and rules all things in the interest of his church (Eph. 1:22, 23). As prophet he through his Spirit leads his own in all the truth. And as priest (High-priest according to the order of Melchizedek) he, on the basis of his accomplished atonement, not only intercedes but actually lives forever to make intercession for those who draw near to God through him (Heb. 7:25).