by Larry Ferrell | January 12, 2018
The story of the cross of Christ is told in each of the four Gospels; the meaning of the cross is the preoccupying theme of the epistles. But the present passage uniquely unfolds the cross as seen through the eyes of the Crucified, and allows us to enter into the mind of Christ. We tread, therefore, on very holy ground indeed. We do well to remember that this privilege is given to us not to satisfy our curiosity but to reform our lives.

If a friend does something which puzzles us, we might ask what it was that he “had in mind” in doing it. It is in this sense that Paul uses the word mind in verse 5. What was it that seemed important to Jesus? What principles did he cherish? What objectives? On what footing were his choices made? The revelation of the mind of Christ is presented here as the story of a great change. It begins with one who was in the form of God (v. 6), that is, one who possessed inwardly and displayed outwardly the very nature of God himself.

It’s plain that verse 6 is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ before incarnation. What a change is expressed in verse 8 when He who was in the form of God became obedient unto death! Wesley put it justly when he wrote: “Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!” Mystery indeed, how it happened we don’t know; that it happened we can be assured. There is great stress on the fact that this change came about by voluntary decision and in this we begin to enter into the “mind of Christ”. Verse 7 says He emptied Himself, and verse 8 says He humbled Himself. In each case the reflective expression points to a personal decision and action.

The great change which we noted here was brought about in two stages. The parallel expressions emptied himself…humbled himself describe the central action in the two divisions of these verses. By the end of verse 7 Paul has traced the course of the Lord Jesus to the point of His birth in the likeness of men; he then takes this as a starting point (verse 8, found in human form) and follows the great downward course to the very point of death on the cross.

This Godward-manward act was undertaken by the will and consent of the Lord Jesus Himself. No-one else did it! This feature, so central to Philippians 2:6-8, must find its root in Isaiah 53, especially verses 7-9, where for the first time in the Old Testament we meet with a consenting sacrifice. All through the long years of animal sacrifice the Lord had driven home the lesson that in the divine purposes there could be a transference of sin and guilt from the head of the guilty to the head of the innocent. Whenever a sinner brought his animal to the altar and laid his hand on the beast’s head the lesson was plain: this stands in my place; this bears my sin. Yet the substitution was incomplete, for the central citadel of sin, the will, was left unrepresented in the uncomprehending, unconsenting animal. Isaiah foresaw that only a perfect Man could be the perfect substitute and that at the heart of this perfection lay a will delighting to do the will of God. This was the mind of Christ. He looked at Himself, at His Father and at us, and for obedience sake and for sinners’ sake He held nothing back.

Philippians 2:5-8 Reflection Questions:
How does it make you feel after studying these verses?
What are some ways you are obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Be the first to comment