Excursus

“… The classic passage is Philippians 2:6-11, which is at the same time one of the most important and most difficult Pauline passages to exegete. The main statements are: Christ pre-existed in the morphe of God. He did not consider equality with God a harpagmon. He emptied himself. He took upon him the morphe of a slave, and was born in the likeness of human beings. In the schema of humans, he humbled himself in obedience to death on the cross. Therefore God has exalted him by elevating him to the status of Lord over all creation.

"We have already discussed the meaning of his elevation and Lordship, and found that it refers to a rank or status of absolute sovereign in God’s redemptive purpose that Christ had not previously enjoyed. In this connection, the discussion of the force of hyper in the term ‘exalted him’ (hyperhypsosen) is not important; it does not matter whether it means ‘he did more than exalt him,’ or ‘he raised him to the loftiest height.’ The meaning of the word is expounded in the following words. Christ was elevated to the role of the Father himself.

"The difficult questions are: What is morphe theou? Is it the divine essence – deity; or is it the mode of existence – God’s glory? Is morphe theou something Christ possessed, while he did not possess equality with God? Or is morphe theou to be identified with equality with God? Harpagmon can be either active or passive in meaning, but the active meaning, designating an act of seizing something, i.e., an act of robbery, is unlikely. If the word is to be understood in the passive meaning, referring to seized, two possibilities remain: something not possessed that is seized (res rapienda), or something possessed that is held fast to (res rapta). Between these two it is difficult to decide.

"Another important question is, Of what did Christ empty himself? Of the morphe theou? If so, did he empty himself of his deity, as the classic kenotic theory holds, or the mode of the divine existence – his glory? Or, if morphe theou is equality with God, did he empty himself of equality with God?

"The two most probable interpretations of the passage hinge on the rendering of harpagmon. If it is understood to designate res rapta, the probable meaning will be: Christ existed in the form and glory of God; but he did not consider this state of equality with God something to be forcibly retained but emptied himself of it by taking the form of a slave.

"The other interpretation understands harpagmon as res rapienda. He existed in the form and glory of God, but he did not possess equality of status with God. Yet he did not consider this equality a thing to be forcibly seized; instead, he poured himself out by taking the form of a slave and by humbling himself even unto death. Wherefore God has exalted him and made him equal with himself by bestowing on him his own name, Lord, that all creatures should worship the exalted Christ as they worship God himself.

"It is very difficult on an objective exegetical basis to decide between these two renderings. Perhaps a point of departure may be taken from the fact that the text does not say that Christ emptied himself of anything. The self-emptying is qualified by the following participle: morphen doulou labon – ‘by taking the form of a slave.’ The text does not say that he emptied of the morphe theou or of equality. From other references we know that Paul regards Jesus incarnate as the embodiment of deity (Col 1:19). All that the text states is that ‘he emptied himself by taking something else to himself, namely, the manner of being, the nature or form of a servant or slave.’ By becoming human, by entering a path of humiliation that led to death, the divine Son of God emptied himself.

"A second guideline may be found from the implicit comparison between Christ and Adam. The heart of the Adamic temptation was to grasp for equality with God (Gen. 3:5: ‘You will be like God’). Adam attempted to seize equality with God; Christ did not. By contrast, Christ chose the way of self-emptying rather than self-aggrandizement. For these two reasons the second rendition is to be preferred.” (Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament [William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI , Revised edition 1993], IV. Paul, 31. The Person of Christ, Jesus as Son of God, pp. 459-461; underline emphasis ours)

“The clue to the meaning of Jesus as God’s Son can be found in the fact that his mission includes bringing others into the status of children of God, and this is clearly a matter of relationship. God sent his Son that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters (Gal. 4:5). However, Jesus’ sonship is unique. He is God’s own Son (Rom. 8:3, 31), the Son of his love (Col. 1:13). Jesus’ sonship postulates a relationship that is independent of any historical experience that seems to involve ‘a community of nature between the Father and Son.’

"That Paul believed that Jesus was not only a man in history but also a divine person is clear from a number references. He regards him as one who pre-existed before his earthly career and even as active with the Father in creation. ‘There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist’ (1 Cor. 8:6). He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the one in whom and for whom all things were created, and the one in whom all things together (Col. 1:15-17). ‘Firstborn’ (prototokos) can have two meanings; temporal priority, or sovereignty of position. David, the youngest of eight sons, was to be made the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth (Ps. 89:27). Since Paul says nothing about the generation of the pre-existent Son, and since Christ himself is the one by whom creation itself came into existence, the second meaning, the status of primogeniture, appears to be Paul’s meaning. Christ is both the head over creation and the agent of creation. His creative activity includes not only the physical cosmos but all orders of spiritual beings, things both visible and invisible.

“It is this pre-existent being, God’s Son, who shared the creative activity of God, whom God sent into the world (Gal. 4:4; Rom. 8:3). This event is reflected in the saying, ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich’ (2 Cor. 8:9)…” (Ibid., 458-459; underline emphasis ours)

"Confession of the Lordship of Christ is not simply an expression of personal devotion, for this personal devotion is itself grounded in a prior fact: the cosmic Lordship of Jesus. In the act of confession, the confessor not only acknowledges a new personal relationship to Christ, she or he also affirms an article of faith, namely, that by virtue of his death and resurrection, Jesus has been exalted to a place of sovereignty over all human beings, both living and dead (Rom. 14:9). One confesses Jesus as Lord because Jesus has in fact been exalted above all other gods and lord, whether real or imagined (1 Cor. 8:5-6).

"This is clearly affirmed in the great christological hymn in Philippians 2:5-11. Whatever the morphe theou (‘form of God’) is, whatever Jesus emptied himself of in the incarnation, one fact is clear in all interpretations of the passage: because of his self-emptying and obedience unto death, something new has been bestowed on him – a new name indicating a new role and status: Kyrios. Before Jesus, now exalted as Lord, the entire universe of sentient beings must bow the knee. God’s creation, hitherto rebellious, will be brought in submission at the feet of God’s exalted one.

"The significance of the title Kyrios is found in the fact that Kyrios is the Greek translation of the tetragrammaton YHWH, the covenant name for God in the Old Testament. The exalted Jesus occupies the role of God himself in ruling over the world. God is pleased to accomplish the restoration of a fallen universe in the person of his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. As it worships Christ as Lord, the world will worship God. (Ibid., Jesus the Lord, p. 456)

“After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. For the Scriptures say, ‘God has put all things under his authority.’ (Of course, when it says ‘all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.) Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself (hypotagesetai) under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.” 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 New Living Translation (NLT)

“However, when everything is subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also subject Himself to [the Father] Who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all [be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life].” Amplified Bible

“After everything has been put under the Son, then he will put himself under God, who had put all things under him. Then God will be the complete ruler over everything.” New Century Version (NCV)

28. Son ... himself ... subject--not as the creatures are, but as a Son voluntarily subordinate to, though co-equal with, the Father. In the mediatorial kingdom, the Son had been, in a manner, distinct from the Father. Now, His kingdom shall merge in the Father's, with whom He is one; not that there is thus any derogation from His honor; for the Father Himself wills "that all should honor the Son, as they honor the Father" (Joh 5:22, 23; Heb 1:6). (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible)

(h) INDIRECT MIDDLE. In the flourishing period of the language this was by far the most frequent usage, but it finally faded before the active and the intensive (reflexive) pronoun or the passive. In 1 Cor. 15:28 hypotagesetai, the passive may bear the middle force (Findlay, Expo. Gr. T, in loco)… (Robertson, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament In light of Historical Research [Broadman Press, Nashville, TN 1934], p. 809)

The translation of the verb as “the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One” is very misleading. It is taken as a passive, whereas the exegesis demands that it should be taken as a middle voice which means that the Lord Jesus Christ at the completion of His mediatorial work subjects Himself to the One who had subjected all things unto Him. It is a voluntary act and not a compulsory subjugation of one person of the Trinity to the other. This is not something which took place while the Lord Jesus was the God-Man on earth, but it is something that will take place in the future when all people will be made subject unto Christ, and then He will finally subject Himself with the finished work of redemption before God the Father. One of the greatest difficulties of the translation of the N.T. lies in discerning when the passive form should be taken with the passive meaning or the middle voice meaning, as, for instance, Jesus Christ “is made subject” or He “subjects Himself.” (Spiros Zodhiates, New American Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible [AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN, 1990], p. 1530; bold and underline emphasis ours)

“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age BUT ALSO IN THE ONE TO COME. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:19-23

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7

“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God.’” Luke 1:30-33

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:10-11

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord AND OF his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.’” Revelation 11:15

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.’ Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.… And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty AND THE LAMB. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the THRONE [singular] of God AND OF THE LAMB through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the THRONE of God AND OF THE LAMB will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 21:1-9, 22-27; 22:1-5

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14

“Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” Mark 14:61b-62

“But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”Acts 7:55-56

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen… Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Revelation 1:7, 12-18

“Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ‘Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.’ So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.” Revelation 14:14-16

This passage is evidently parallel with that in v. 24. The subjection of the Son to the Father here means precisely what is there meant by his delivering up the kingdom to God even the Father. The thing done, and the person who does it, are the same. The subjection here spoken of is not predicated of the eternal Logos, the second person of the Trinity, any more than the kingdom spoken of in v. 24 is the dominion which belongs essentially to Christ as God. As there the word Christ designates the Theanthropos, so does the word Son here designate, not the Logos as such, but the Logos as incarnate. And as the delivery of the kingdom or royal authority over the universe committed to Christ after his resurrection, is consistent at once with his continued dominion as God over all creatures, and with his continued headship over his people; so is the subjection here spoken of consistent with his eternal equality with the Father. It is not the subjection of the Son as Son, but of the Son as Theanthropos of which the apostle here speaks. The doctrine of the true and proper divinity of our Lord is so dearly revealed in Scripture, and is so inwrought into the faith of his people, that such passages as these, though adduced with so much confidence by the impugners of that doctrine, give believers no more trouble than the ascription of the limitations of our nature to God. When the Bible says that God repents, we know that it is consistent with his immutability; and when it says the Son is subject or inferior to the Father, we know that it is consistent with their equality, as certainly as we know that saying that man is immortal is consistent with saying he is mortal. We know that both of the last-mentioned propositions are true: because mortality is predicated of man in one aspect, and immortality in another aspect. In one sense he is mortal, in another sense he is immortal. In like manner we know that the verbally inconsistent propositions, the Son is subject to the Father, and, the Son is equal with the Father, are both true. In one sense he is subject, in another sense he is equal. The son of a king may be the equal of his father in every attribute of his nature, though officially inferior. So the eternal Son of God may be coequal with the Father, though officially subordinate. What difficulty is there in this? What shade does it cast over the full Godhead of our adorable Redeemer? The subordination, however, here spoken of, is not that of the human nature of Christ separately considered, as when he is said to suffer, or to die, or to be ignorant; but it is the official subordination of the incarnate Son to God as God. The words autos ho huios, the Son himself, here designate, as in so many other places, not the second person of the Trinity as such, but that person as clothed in our nature. And the subjection spoken of, is not of the former, but of the latter, i.e. not of the Son as Son, but of the Son as incarnate; and the subjection itself is official and therefore perfectly consistent with equality of nature.

There is another difficulty connected with this verse which it may be well to notice. According to the Scriptures and the creeds of all the great historical churches (Greek, Latin, Lutheran and Reformed), the term Son, as applied to Christ, designates his divine nature. It is a term of nature and not of office. He was from eternity the Son of God. Yet it is of the Son that subjection is here predicated. This is urged as an argument against his eternal sonship. The fact, however, is, that the person of Christ may be designated from one nature, when the predicate belongs either to the opposite nature or to the whole person. That is, he may be called God when what is said of him is true only of his human nature or of his complex person as God and man; and he may be called man, when what is said is true only of his divine nature. Thus he is called the Son of Man when omnipresence and omniscience are ascribed to him; and he is called God, the Son of God, the Lord of glory when he is said to die. These passages do not prove that the human nature of Christ is every where present; or that his divine nature suffered and died. Neither do such expressions as that in the text prove that the Son as such is inferior to the Father, nor that the term Son is not a scriptural designation of his divine nature. The principle here adverted to is so important, and serves to explain so many passages of Scripture, that it will bear to be often repeated.

That God may be all in all. Before the ascension of Christ, God reigned as God; after that event he reigned and still reigns through the Theanthropos; when the end comes, the Theanthropos will deliver up this administrative kingdom, and God again be all in all. Such is the representation of Scripture, and such seems to be the simple meaning of this passage. When our Lord ascended up on high all power in heaven and earth was given to him. It was given to him then, and therefore not possessed before. He is to retain this delegated power in his character of Mediator, God-man, until his enemies are put under his feet. Then he, the God-man, is to deliver it up. And God as God will reign supreme… Paul is speaking simply of the continuance of the mediatorial dominion of Christ over the universe. That dominion was given to him for a specific purpose; when that purpose is accomplished, he will give it up, and God, instead of reigning through Christ, will be recognized as the immediate sovereign of the universe; his co-equal, co-eternal Son, clothed in our nature, being, as the everlasting head of the redeemed, officially subordinate to him. In other words, the whole question, so to speak, is whose hands are to hold the reins of universal dominion. They are now in the hands of Christ; hereafter they are to be in the hands of God as such. The passage does not teach us the design of redemption, but what is to happen when the redemption of God’s people is accomplished. Then the Messianic reign is to cease, and God is to rule supreme over a universe reduced to order, the people of God being saved, and the finally impenitent shut up with Satan and his angels in the prison of despair… (Hodges, An exposition of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 333-336; bold and underline emphasis ours)

"In neither interpretation [of Phil. 2:5-11] is there any intimation that Christ emptied himself of his deity. It is even possible that on rare occasions Paul calls Jesus 'God.' Romans 9:5 literally reads: ‘from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, the one being over all, God blessed forever.' This can be translated by placing God in apposition with Jesus (AV, RV), or a period can be placed before God, making the last three words a doxology (RSV). Admittedly it is not Paul’s style to call Jesus God; but a doxology here does not suit the context, and the style differs from Paul’s frequent doxologies. Paul’s view of the deity of Christ is so high he does everything but designate Christ as God, and it is likely that he actually does so here, although this can be only a tentative decision. Titus 2:13 speaks of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

"While Christ is the Son of God, the agent of creation and redemption, and like the Father himself the object of universal worship, he does not usurp the position of God. It is difficult to deny that Paul does teach a kind final subordination of the Son to the Father (1 Cor. 15:28). If so, it is a subordination of economy and not of deity, of lordship and not of nature.

"While Christ as God’s Son is God incarnate, this does not mean that Paul minimizes Jesus’ humanity…" (Ibid., 461; underline emphasis and brackets within comments ours)