waxing

Moon phase, waxing gibbous 70%.

Starting way too early (sunrise is three and a half hours in today, Friday's, future, and, waking and rising at midnight I've been here three hours already and should be asleep with the rest of the western world, but it speaks promisingly and happily of a long morning nap to begin as Friday dawns), I'm thinking to comment on the second reading, our Epistle Reading, for day after tomorrow, Palm Sunday: the Sunday of the Passion.

Sitting here Bay Side with a clear view outside, where it's 62° and 68° inside and I'm wearing my heavy, thick blue bathrobe and a lap blanket. Reasonably awake at the moment, but if drowse comes I'll go back to bed and so be it.

Still and all, to rise so early is a blessing to be alive and alert and enjoy my Time of life. Not to wander too far before getting to my comment, but I remember, from 17 October 2010 to 24 January 2011, when the cardiologists had prognosed me two to five months to live, I took advantage of every waking moment to appreciate life and my Time in it; and that awareness strikes again when I find myself unexpectedly awake.

Just after midnight this Friday morning, a mug of decaf coffee with whipped cream squirted deep into it, and a long hack at Sunday's sermon. Palm Sunday: the Sunday of the Passion, so whatever I say needs to be mindful that the gospel reading is sufficient unto itself and almost insufferably long.

Anyway, the Epistle Reading for Sunday is the famous and beloved Christ Hymn in Paul's letter to the Philippians:

The Second Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

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.

In critical scholarship, this has been thoroughly analyzed over the centuries, and nothing I say is new, everything comes from others. I'll try to do it in points, briefly. Some points are not necessarily compatible with other points, which in fact is part of the fun of discussing this passage in a group setting.

1. the hymn may or may not be Paul's composition, Paul may have quoted an existing hymn or faith statement.

2. Paul asserts a high Christology, that Jesus was in the form of God but lowered himself to become human.

2. No, it is not a Christological assertion at all, it is simply the conclusion of a passage in which Paul, pointing out the humility of Christ, says we also should be humble like Christ.

3. Paul compares and contrasts the first Adam with Jesus Christ the Second Adam. The first Adam tried to be like God, the Second Adam humbled himself as a human; the first Adam was disobedient to God, the Second Adam was obedient to God; God punished the first Adam, God exalted the Second Adam.

4. Paul says Jesus started out in the image of God as all humans were created (Genesis 1:26f) in the likeness of God, but Jesus was so obedient to God, even giving himself up to death on the cross, that as from the Resurrection forward (not from all eternity), God exalted him to be divine.

See, scholars' comments differ on Paul's Christ Hymn; they are different, and they are not compatible. Christian Church orthodoxy was resolved in the Nicene Creed, which, standing on the Gospel according to John, holds a high Christology that Christ is the Logos (Word of Creation), God from all eternity.

You may accept what the ancient Church Fathers decided, or you may think and decide for yourself.

RSF&PTL