“Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
If his suffering and death were the whole story of Jesus, he might be a man to be pitied more than anything else—a man who had his 15 minutes of fame, but who otherwise lived in relative obscurity, a victim of the political establishment of his time, too weak and too ignorant to speak up and fight the system, a lonely and pathetic figure instead of an inspiration. But the humility of Jesus makes up just one side of the story and just one part of the hymn that Paul cites here in Philippians. While the first half of the hymn spotlights Jesus’ humility, the last half of the hymn is all about his glory.
God highly honored Jesus with a name greater than all other names, which would cause everyone to bow before him and confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord” (v. 11). Jesus was not only a man of humble circumstances who died a lowly death. He was not only a good teacher long ago. He was and is Jesus Christ, the Lord of everyone and everything. The glory of God that he had given up to become a human being still belongs to him and is revealed once more.
Reflect:
Re-read Philippians 2:5–11. How is Jesus’ glory revealed in and through the Cross?
Pray:
As you reflect on the meaning of Good Friday and look ahead to Easter Sunday, use the words of Philippians 2:5–11 to guide your own time of worship.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
A Christian reconciliation group in Israel and Palestine warned that war would come. Now the war threatens their relevance.العربيةFrançais
Eastern Orthodox poet Scott Cairns reflects on his new collection, his journey of faith, and poetry’s capacity to apprehend inexhaustible realities.
