Wednesday Sunday School - Christ Hymn

 

We have 70°F this morning, maybe 69°F. Sky gray overcast with a lovely cloud cover, fresh morning and a little salty. It's clear that fall has arrived, autumn in the air but not coloring the trees. See, it's our Florida Gulf Coast autumn, without the chill, crisp smell I recall from other adventures and places in life, that in a different age and my younger days carried a hint that someone was burning leaves. As well as Northern Virginia, I've lived in Rhode Island, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania and enjoyed their fall colors; but with delightful springtime, fair summers and these magnificent autumn days come their winters, and I pass. 

A principal winter memory: waking up in the wee dark hours to the scrape of a snowplow totally covering my car that's parked at the curb. I'll have to root through several cars in the lumpy mound to find mine, dig it out, pour hot water on the door lock to unfreeze it, start the car and let the defroster blow on the windshield while I scrape off the ice and snow. Getting shiveringly into my freezing car those bitter cold mornings of thick, heavy, frosty breath is what precipitated my eternal vow: never again complain about an insufferably steamy hot car on the hottest days of Florida summer. A vow I've kept faithfully.

Breakfast is a peanut butter sandwich, one thin sliced-it-myself grainy ww bread, peanut butter custom mixed to taste, ground at Publix, mixed with an off-brand chunky PB contents: peanuts period. Stir in a handful of whole large Virginia peanuts, sprinkle of salt, spread on the right half of the slice of bread, fold over. Second mug of black coffee. 

But the Bible study, or comment. In the same way that I enjoy starting my blogpost with a picture or a reminiscence, Bible authors sometimes open what they have to say with something illustrative, colorful. Genesis with a startling assertion of God in the Beginning that fits Hubble's calculation backing the galaxies' expanding courses into a single point that was the Big Bang (which BTW is still underway). Jeremiah opens with his call story of God knowing and choosing him before he was conceived in the womb. The Gospel according to John starts with a powerful prologue about Logos, the Word of God that, speaking, "יְהִ֣י" ignited Hubble's tiny point into all that is, seen and unseen. 

As with John's prologue, sometimes these vivid illustrations are not original with the author: many NT scholars say the author of the Fourth Gospel inserted (likely as a later addition, seeing that nothing in it shows up again in his gospel) a preexistent poem or hymn (cut out the diversion about John the Baptist, which may be in there to dismiss those claiming JtB was the Messiah, and it's a perfect lyricism). Just so with the Christ Hymn in our Philippians reading for next Sunday. It's a perfect poem that some scholars believe Paul copy-and-pasted into his letter, a poem that may have been sung in worship or recited as a creedal statement. 

In Paul's text, Paul is urging his readers to be humble, as Christ was humble, and he uses the Christ Hymn to illustrate what complete humility looks like. So, that's the context in that part of Paul's letter to the Philippians. I don't think Paul is here making a theological assertion about Christ, but simply using a church hymn to illustrate the humility of Christ that Paul wants his readers to emulate. But going out of his immediate context, the Hymn itself is a theological assertion about Christ; and I think that Paul would not have used this Hymn if he did not agree with its theology. Look at the poem:

Think And Behave Like Christ Did

5 Be thinking this in you, which also was in Christ Jesus— 6 Who, while being in the (μορφῇ θεοῦ) form of God, did not regard the being equal with God a thing-to-be-grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, having taken the (μορφὴν δούλου) form of a slave, having come in the likeness (homoioma, a thing made like something else, a resemblance, not an exact copy) of humans. And having been found as a man in outward appearance (schemati, Christ incarnated into a genuine physical body, which was not an "exact match with typical humanity" because His body was never touched or tainted by sin, not even original sin), 8 He humbled Himself, having become obedient to the point of death— and a death of a cross! 9 Therefore God also highly-exalted (huperupsoseno exalt to the highest place) Him, and granted Him the name above every name 10 in-order-that every knee should bow at the name ofJesus— of heavenly ones and earthly ones and ones under-the-earth— 11 and every tongue should confess-out that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 DLNT)

So here's what I get. That although I've always thought and taught that Paul the monotheistic Jewish Pharisee could not possibly have believed Jesus was divine; that although Paul uses the Christ Hymn not as a theological assertion about Christ but to illustrate the ultimate humility of Jesus that we are to emulate; that Paul nevertheless would not have used a Hymn that he disagreed with its contents.

And the Hymn's christology (view of Christ) is (even if you dislike it because it doesn't fit your preconception) this. That Christ preexisted as a divine being though not equal with God. That God sent him to appear on earth in human form. That the human form that appeared was not completely human, for one thing, because it lacked sin. That Christ was SO obedient to God that God raised him from death and elevated, promoted, him (couldn't be elevated to a place he hadn't been before, could he now?!) to the highest place, rank; now, post-Easter, standing next to God's own self. 

The Hymn does not express a low christology, because "low" christology means he started as a human (and may have remained human). He was not simply resurrected and adopted (Exalted) by God as God's Son because of his remarkable obedience. Rather, the Hymn indicates that he was sent by God from the heavenly realm (i.e., he was Incarnate) as God's subordinate emissary. Upon obedient accomplishment of his mission, he was "highly exalted" (promoted from his standing before he came to earth, not to generalfeldmarschall or archangel, but to equality with God).

In all this, my conclusion. (a) Even though Paul is not using the Christ Hymn for a theological assertion, (b) Paul would not have carelessly used a high christology hymn that did not express his own views about Jesus Christ; therefore (c) writing a quarter century after Easter, Paul accepted the high christology of the hymn he quotes in Philippians chapter 2. (d) This indicates that Paul's christology was higher than I previously thought; and (e) it shows, proves, that a high (Incarnational) christology did not begin late, after Paul, or in later centuries with the Nicene Fathers and others; but developed quite early in the church, contemporary with Paul, possibly even among Jesus' surviving disciples/apostles or whoever was singing the Hymn in worship? 

This point (e) also might be applied to the Gospel according to John: that although John dates maybe 90 to 125 AD?, the Prologue is probably not the evangelist - - call him John even though I think he more likely was Lazarus - -  probably not the evangelist forging new christology but quoting something already in place in the developing church, the recognition of Christ's preexistent (and the Prologue says eternal) divinity as the Logos of God. Far "higher" and more sophisticated than the Christ Hymn in Philippians.

Unfortunately - - and BTW, I'm an old man, thinking wears me out (when I work I work hard, when I sit I sit loose, and when I think I go to sleep), it's nap time, so I'm not going to pursue it this morning - - the words in the Christ Hymn also seem to support an early Docetism (Greek dokein, "seeming") (later declared heresy) that Christ who was divine before coming only took the "form" of a human, "appeared" to be human, but was not totally and completely human. If you want to fight about it, you'll have to wait, because, as I say, I'm going to take a nap.

TW+

Philippians 2:1-13

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God 

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave, 

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself 

and became obedient to the point of death-- 

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name 

that is above every name,

so that at the name of 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.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.