The Christ Hymn

5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited, 
7 but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross. 
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
   and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of 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. (Philippians 2:5-11 NRSV)
The second lesson for Palm Sunday is Paul’s famous and beloved “Christ Hymn,” traditionally regarded prima facie as Paul’s proclamation of the eternal divinity of Christ. To me, this view of the hymn and its evidence of Paul’s high Christology is extremely appealing, notwithstanding that other of genuine Paul seems to confirm Paul’s background as an orthodox monotheist Jew of his day and age. In the 50 to 60 A.D. day and age of Paul’s writing the Church was just getting started and had not yet received the doctrine that the Holy Spirit began to reveal a generation or two later that is so magnificently expressed in the c.a. 90 to 120 A.D. prologue to John’s gospel, the “Hymn to the Word.” This seeming incompatibility within Paul and apparent chronological problem stirs one to wonder and explore.
Not everyone will agree, most may in fact take sharp issue, but the commentary most satisfactory to me is based on Paul’s contrast at 1 Corinthians 15:45ff of the first Adam and the second Adam, with Adam as sinful man and Christ as righteous man.
Reading the “Christ Hymn” as The Lectionary prescribes does very well suit our Palm Sunday: Sunday of the Passion setting, but unfortunately overlooks Paul’s own setting, his context. He is lovingly exhorting the Philippians to think of others instead of themselves, to be always generous and never selfish, and uses Christ as example. Just so verses 1-5: 
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, ...    
While we love the “Christ Hymn” on its own, legitimately to take it theologically one must see Paul’s context. The commentary that most satisfies me says that Paul is again contrasting the behavior of ordinary humans (first Adam) with Christ (second Adam):
First Adam
bearing the image of God
he regarded being like God
as something to use for his own advantage
with vain pretension he asserted himself
and rejected his lot as a servant
he exalted himself
his disobedience led to his death
he was condemned by God
and cast out of paradise.
Second Adam
bearing the image of God
he did not regard being like God
as something to use for his own advantage
he rid himself of vain pretensions
and accepted his lot as a servant
he humbled himself
he was obedient to the death even death by crucifixion
he was exalted by God
and named Lord of all
May God bless your day.
Tom+
Reference: Dewey, Hoover,MGaughy, Schmidt, The Authentic Letters of Paul, p.193ff. Polebridge, 2010