In “The Salvific Mission of Christ,” Haleigh shares her exegesis of Philippians 2:5-11 that she submitted for her Greek Exegesis class this semester. Her study provides insight for how we live and become like Christ in this world. Check out Part 1 first.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
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.
Verse five is just the beginning of the depth Paul invites his readers to. This verse acts as a springboard to what having the same mindset of Christ truly means. He reminds the Philippians of the life and salvific mission of Christ, beautifully encompassed in just six verses. He first discusses the duality of Christ, being fully divine as well as fully human, and how the character of Christ is even more profound because of this. Jesus had all authority, and yet actively carried on in his humanity, displaying for us how to live authentic lives as Christians, engulfed in the Spirit. Interestingly enough, this role Christ took on as a servant completely redefined the idea of power and authority in the Greco-Roman world, especially as it relates to the practice of crucifixion.
“It subverts it in the process and replaces crucifixion as the imperial punishment for a disobedient slave with an understanding of crucifixion as a rite de passage from δοῦλος to κύριος based on the utter obedience of the δοῦλος to God (Bryan: 85–86; Oakes 2001). This is a truly extraordinary transformation—one to a truly stellar status, when we consider the meager options for upward social mobility of slaves during their own lifetime in Greco-Roman society” (Smit 20).
Crucifixion was an agent of humiliation and persecution, used to display the authority of the Roman empire and keep the powerless oppressed. The practice of crucifixion showcased what happens to a slave, or simply someone of lower status or wrongdoing, when they are disobedient. However, Jesus completely turns the tables, as He was perfectly obedient to God the Father, and did not deserve such a humiliating and excruciatingly painful death. Verses six, seven and eight exhibit the loving obedience of Jesus, who knew that His act of compliance would be the very thing that invites the humanity He loves so deeply into salvation.
What do we gather from this? How are we to comprehend such a valiant and radical shift in the ordinary system of punishment? Smit suggests that the crucifixion of Christ is a “rite de passage”, in a way, from a humble servant to a mighty Savior and Lord. It was the very system that was meant to bring Him incomprehensible humiliation that was a vessel for God’s ultimate plan for His creation. That is an ultimate flaunt of the authority and dominion of God and bestowed an eternal sense of hope to all believers.
“Nonetheless, they laid claim to worshiping a God… who had raised a person, in whose body Roman imperial power had been inscribed until his death…to new life, thus voiding this imperial power. This led to a peculiar situation in which early Christians had to negotiate the tension between the sociological reality of being a (marginalized) minority and their claim to belonging to the ultimate majority in terms of worshiping the one true God, the creator of heaven and earth” (Smit 12).
This tension that Smit describes, of embracing this new sense of the authority of the Christian God with the place of the Christian in society, was quite a dilemma. When word of resurrection spread, a sense of overwhelming joy and disbelief flooded the minds and hearts of all followers of the Risen King. Although, there was also a sense of reckoning that ignited. Authority belonged to the Roman empire, but now God has ultimately displayed His authority through the crucifixion and resurrection of the Christ.
What does this mean for us? Come back tomorrow and we’ll finish this series out!
Thank you for allowing us to serve and encourage you today. If “The Salvific Mission of Christ” was encouraging or insightful for you in any way, please let us know and consider sharing “The Salvific Mission of Christ” with someone else.
Come back tomorrow to read Part 3 of “The Salvific Mission of Christ.”
Author:
Hello, friends! My name is Haleigh! I am studying Pastoral Ministry at Bethel University. One of the most prominent passions in my life is women’s ministry. I have such a heart for women and helping them see how God created us with such for such an intentional purpose. Read more of my writing here.
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