Maybe the Most Beautiful Passage of the New Testament
A couple weeks ago, I interviewed Brandon Evans on our Kindred Sessions Podcast. For those of you following along in our church planting journey, he has been our number one resource to scholarly literature and an invaluable sounding board for our ideas and brainstorming. In our podcast discussion, he and I talk through a Bible passage in the book of Philippians. Here is a piece of follow-up writing from Brandon and the full podcast video. I was deeply encouraged by our conversation and wanted to share more of Brandon’s thoughts with you all. Enjoy.
-Mike
Philippians 2:6-11 might be the most beautiful passage in the New Testament.
It’s an early Christian hymn, a song repurposed by the Apostle Paul in the context of his letter to the church in Philippi.
This song is Paul’s “master story,” as scholar Michael Gorman puts it. In six poetic verses, the V-shaped story of Jesus is encapsulated:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
To put this in other words:
Jesus, the eternally divine being,
the one with the power to do anything he pleased, acted on our behalf.
He didn’t use his power for his own gain.
He didn’t use it to selfishly indulge.
Instead he stooped down to the lowest rung of humanity.
A rural working class beginning.
An itinerant teacher ministry.
A brutally savage ending.
[This where the twist happens. The song Paul gives us is not a dirge. The song is triumphant.]
Because Jesus did not exploit his power and because he did not selfishly indulge he was brought to the pinnacle of the universe.
He sits as the reigning king of the entire cosmos.
And the world can see its maker.
In this V-shaped story, told through song, we are given a pattern for our lives. Paul says, right before he breaks into the hymn, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Jesus.” Think like Jesus, he urges us. Use what power God has given you for the advantage of others.
This is a simple instruction, but a challenging practice. Yet we see in Jesus’ story the paradoxical nature of God’s power. He is not a powerless or weak God, but a God who displays his power through weakness.
Jesus swooped down to lift us up. And his followers are to do the same for others.
And in this way, the world can finally know its maker.