Be Like Jesus, Be Humble—Lectionary Reflection for Palm/Passion Sunday, Year A (Philippians 2:5-11)

 

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   Philippians 2:5-11 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

  ⁵ Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

  ⁶ who, though he existed in the form of God,
      did not regard equality with God
      as something to be grasped,
  ⁷ but emptied himself,
      taking the form of a slave,
      assuming human likeness.
  And being found in appearance as a human,
  ⁸     he humbled himself
      and became obedient to the point of death—
      even death on a cross.

  ⁹ Therefore God exalted him even more highly
      and gave him the name
      that is above every other name,
  ¹⁰ so that at the name given to Jesus
      every knee should bend,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
  ¹¹ and every tongue should confess
      that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

                  ************************

                  We have reached the end of the Lenten season. Holy Week is about to begin. In the Christian calendar, Holy Week begins with Jesus’ triumphal procession into Jerusalem. We call this Palm Sunday because, according to tradition, the people welcomed him by laying palm branches on the path before him. The reading from Matthew 21:1-11 mentions tree branches, but does not specify palms (it is John’s gospel that specifies palms—John 12:13). In any case, it is tradition to have palms in church on the Sunday before Easter. There is another option for the Sunday prior, especially for churches that do not observe Good Friday, and that is to observe Passion Sunday. Since the Revised Common Lectionary does not provide a second reading for Palm Sunday, I am offering the reading for Passion Sunday, which is Philippians 2:5-11. The appointed gospel reading for Passion Sunday takes us from the trial before Pilate to the death of Jesus on the cross (Matt 27:11-54).

                  The hymn that appears in Paul’s letter to the Philippians offers a powerful statement about Jesus’ identity and his message. It is a word about one who is powerful and yet willing to lay that power aside for the good of others. We read this passage in 2026 during a war that pits the United States and Israel against Iran. In the midst of this war, the US Secretary of Defense (who calls himself Secretary of War) calls on God to bless the American war effort, while the Prime Minister of Israel compared Jesus to Genghis Khan, suggesting that Jesus is irrelevant to the world situation. Apparently, Benjamin Netanyahu was drawing from Will Durant’s view; nonetheless, it is worth noting what the PM had to say: “History proves that, unfortunately and unhappily, Jesus Christ has no advantage over Genghis Khan. Because if you are strong enough, ruthless enough, powerful enough, evil will overcome good. Aggression will overcome moderation.”  This perspective on Jesus’ influence on world history is not new. Jesus’ message of loving one’s neighbor and one’s enemy has long been seen as naïve. That may be true, and yet, as Christians, should we not pay attention to what Jesus says about power? Might we want to consider whether this would be a better world if moderation got the better of aggression? 

                  So, we come to this word from Paul, which most scholars believe is an early Christian hymn that Paul borrowed to convey his understanding of the incarnation, such that while Jesus was in the form of God, he chose not to exploit that identity but chose to become human. Not only did he choose to become human, but he was willing to face death on the cross. While it is true that God exalted him to the position of ruler of the cosmos, the focus is on the willingness of Jesus to humble himself and become like us, sharing our realities and even death. As for death, this was a most humiliating and painful form of execution.  

                  Now, Paul chose to borrow this hymn not only to reflect on the incarnation, but to invite his readers to follow Jesus’ example, and become a servant to others. This word is especially directed to those with power over others. He wrote these words because he was concerned about conflicts taking place in this congregation, which he founded. He wanted them to find unity of purpose. The way to that end involved following Jesus’ example of humility.

                  It is worth noting that Paul writes this letter from a jail cell (Phil. 1:12-17). By mentioning the imperial guard suggests that this letter was written from Rome. However, we cannot know for certain, as this could have been sent by Paul from Caesarea, which was an imperial provincial capital, or elsewhere in the empire. If, however, it was written from Rome, then the date of this letter would be around the years 60-61 CE. Wherever Paul was imprisoned, he is no longer in control of his own life. This is true even if, as he suggests, he was able to share the gospel with the imperial guards (Phil. 1:13) and members of the imperial household (Phil. 4:22). So, in many ways, Paul speaks of Jesus’ humility even as he was experiencing his own moment of subservience and perhaps suffering of some sort.

                  As we return to the reading for Passion Sunday, we must connect it with the larger conversation. Paul is asking that this congregation be united in their love for one another and by being of one mind so that they might not focus on their own interests but on the interests of others. Therefore, in verse 5, which opens the reading, we hear Paul request of them: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). With that request, Paul begins to reflect on Jesus’ incarnation. Likely quoting from a hymn the people used in their worship, he speaks of Jesus being in the form of God, but did not consider his status of equality with God as something to be exploited.

                  This word about Jesus’ identity as having the form of God, such that he was equal with God, is an important element of early Christological developments. It is passages like this that provide the foundations for later trinitarian developments. Even though we can’t find an explicit trinitarian statement like the one we encounter at Nicaea and Constantinople in the fourth century, this is one of those passages that required early Christians to find ways of making sense of their monotheism, which they derived from Judaism, and their affirmation of Jesus’ divinity. The hymn suggests Jesus’ pre-existence in some form. In the Gospel of John, the author speaks in the prologue of the Word of God (Logos) becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:1-14). But Paul doesn’t have access to John’s Gospel, nor does he use the language of Logos. So, this is left unresolved. However, we understand this declaration of Jesus’ pre-existence, Paul suggests that Jesus left behind that status and emptied himself (kenosis) of his former status, taking the form of a slave by being born in human likeness. Paul’s audience would understand what being a slave involved, as a large percentage of the population was enslaved. That would have included members of the Philippian congregation.

                  With the movement from pre-existence to existence, we move from one phase of the Christ event to another. The third phase, that of post-existence, involved God’s vindication of Jesus through the resurrection. That word about Jesus’ glorification is offered as a word of hope, but before they could enjoy this hope, they would need to deal with the realities of the moment. Jesus’ kenotic action serves as an example to the people as they walk through this moment of conflict. The word about Jesus’ preexistence serves as the background to his actions while experiencing human life, such that he was willing to humble himself to the point of death on the cross.  Thus, as Karl Barth writes, “this equality of Christ with God is, so to speak, the fixed, ultimate background from which his road sets out to which he returns” [Epistle to the Philippians, p. 61]. Yet, due to his emptying of himself of his status as co-equal with God, what we see in Jesus is not his divinity but his humanity. This is fully expressed in Jesus’ experience of the cross. As Barth writes:

  The death on the cross is indeed only the unfolding of the incarnation. There on Golgotha, the meaning of the incarnation, the meaning of Bethlehem, breaks through and comes into view. And this—he who humbles himself even to death on the cross, he who doubly (i.e., also in his humanity) obscures himself—this is the heavenly Head of his Church! And should it then be possible that anyone in that church seeks his own, does not set the other above himself and so mind the “one thing”? [Barth, Philippians, p. 65].

  As we see from Barth’s interpretation, Paul seeks to connect Jesus’ willingness to face the cross as a reminder to the members of the Philippian congregation that they should not seek power over one another, but instead serve one another so that they might be united in purpose.

                  This is not, of course, the last word about Jesus. The one who pre-existed in the likeness of God and took on human likeness, such that he experienced the fullness of human life, even taking on the role of slave and dying a criminal’s death, would be glorified by God. That is, God would vindicate him by exalting him to the status of ruler of the cosmos. In his exaltation, Jesus would receive the “name above every name,” so that “at the name given to 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. 2:10-11). It is worth noting that Paul made this declaration concerning Jesus’ exaltation while sitting in an imperial prison cell. The Roman emperors demanded that every knee should bend to them, and yet Paul is letting the people know that Jesus, who died on an imperial cross, stood above Caesar. Therefore, Jesus, not Caesar, is Lord. Caesar might have his empire, but he did not rule the cosmos. That role was given to Jesus.

                  So, on this Sunday before Easter, it is worth remembering that the glory of Easter first required the suffering of Good Friday. God does vindicate Jesus, but Jesus was willing to become like us in every way, even suffering death, so that we might also share in his glory. But, unlike some today who seek power for power’s sake, baptizing that effort in Christian language, Paul suggests we take a different path. So, with that in mind, I leave you with this word from the fourth-century theologian and church leader Gregory of Nazianzus, who wrote in one of his Festal Orations:

  Let us become like Christ, since Christ also became like us; let us become gods because of him, since he also because of us became human. He assumed what is worse that he might give what is better. He became poor that we through his poverty might become rich. He took the form of a slave, that we might regain freedom. He descended that we might be lifted up, he was tempted that we might be victorious, he was dishonored to glorify us, he died to save us, he ascended to draw to himself us who lay below in the Fall of sin. Let us give everything, offer everything, to the one who gave himself as a ransom and an exchange for us. But one can give nothing comparable to oneself, understanding the mystery and becoming because of him everything that he became because of us. [Gregory of Nazianzus, Festal Orations, p. 59].