Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss crucifixion, suffering, obedience, and solidarity in Philippians 2:5-11. The text is appointed for the Liturgy of the Passion (Palm Sunday), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Even Death on a Cross (Liturgy of the Passion)
Voiceover Voice:
But on the other hand, thinking about Jesus Christ who is really by those who suffer and who gives them strength. That’s something that gives some power of this text.
Helena Martin:
This is Chapter, Verse, and Season: a lectionary podcast from Yale Bible Study. Join us each week as two Yale Divinity School professors look at an upcoming text from the Revised Common Lectionary.
This episode, we have Volker Leppin, Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology, and Vasileios Marinis, Associate Professor of Christian Art and Architecture.
They’re discussing Philippians 2:5-11, which is appointed for the Liturgy of the Passion on Palm Sunday in Year A. Here’s the text.
[Philippians 2:5-11]
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God exalted him even more highly
and gave him the name
that is above every other name,
so that at the name given to 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.
Volker Leppin:
Reading this text, I stumbled over the first verse which is verse five in chapter two. Having the same mind in me that was in Christ Jesus, that is really hard to follow this. And I try to help me with the tradition of making a distinction of sacrament and example in Jesus Christ, which would say that the sacrament is what Jesus Christ gives us. And that is the foundation for everything we can do, as Augustine or Martin Luther had said. And then only on this basis we could just try to take him as an example and to follow him. But at the end, reading the rest of the texts, I think no one of us will be able to.
Vasileios Marinis:
Yes, that’s quite true. Orthodox commentators have interpreted this passage as indicating the two natures of Christ. The form of God in verse six and the form of slave in verse seven. Though
it’s not entirely clear whether the word “form,”, which is morphe in Greek, indicates here nature as most orthodox interpreters would have taken it, or something like visible appearance. And both are possible. But I think that verse 2:5 is an encouragement or Paul encourages the Philippians to think the way Christ thinks or to act the way Christ acts.
Volker Leppin:
Which would lead further to the next verse, “even death on a cross.” That’s something that shaped Western spirituality deeply. I have in mind all those sculptures and paintings of Jesus Christ really suffering. You see his blood. And I think meditating this idea of death on a cross helps us understand what it means that God came to us at the deepest point. And seeing him suffering again lets us ask, how could we follow him in this without making suffering something holy? That’s something our tradition has made, saying, yeah, just suffering you will be near to Christ. And they said to those who were already suffering. That was obviously a misuse of this.
But on the other hand, thinking about Jesus Christ, who is really by those who suffer and who gives them strength. That’s something that gives some power of this text.
Vasileios Marinis:
Yes. I think that what Paul stresses here is not exactly the suffering, but how Jesus willingly went to the cross as an act of obedience. Even though he had the power not to. And I think, this is one of the important aspects of this chapter.
It’s quite interesting because the word “cross” in chapter, in verse eight rather, sort of localizes the passage in space and time. It gives us an anchor. This is not just an abstract cosmology, sorry, doxology rather. And crucifixion was a truly horrible punishment and a public display of shame. But I don’t think Paul is encouraging us to do that, but rather to be obedient and humble even though we don’t have to.
Volker Leppin:
And then it comes after this point in time. I totally agree. That’s fascinating to think about that. That was really a moment at the cross, at Golgotha, then it comes. God exalted him. That’s again, something that gives hope in this violent story of Christ dying of the cross. And it makes us think, is it that what we expect from imitating Jesus Christ? Following his mind. Do we want to be exalted? Obviously not, because the name that it’s given to him is above every other name. So, at the end, we should be those who try to follow Jesus Christ, but who are on our knees before him and who know he will remain above us. We never will reach what he has done.
Vasileios Marinis:
Yes. And in fact, it’s not that Jesus was simply exalted, but he was super exalted. Exypsoménos. The Greek is quite interesting here. But again, I don’t think this has to be taken literally in step by step. I think the encouragement to imitation is more an encouragement to perform acts of obedience to God. And, well, if there is a reward at the end, all the better.
Volker Leppin:
Being obedient to God in the way of humbling ourselves, that looking at the history of Christianity that took so different shapes. Nowadays, we would say, yeah, maybe it is kind of going to those who are at the limits of our society. That was a totally different thing now. Although facets of Christian history, when it was more like following eschastic rules. And it is a question to us in this modern, rich, western world compared to the other parts of the global Christianity.
Vasileios Marinis:
Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s especially applicable to rich, western countries. And it’s a good passage to keep in mind.
Volker Leppin:
And to keep in mind whenever we think about Jesus Christ. If you think more about this exalted one or about this humbled one, who is at the cross. My own tradition, the Lutheran tradition, is heavily concentrated on Jesus Christ at the cross. We sometimes tend to forget that after Good Friday, there still would come Easter, which is more the exalting part. But there’s something true in this concentrating on the cross because I think that’s what makes Jesus Christ so particular in comparison or also to our other understanding of what God is.
Vasileios Marinis:
Yeah, absolutely. I think that crucifixion has lost its power to shock these days because while we see crucifixions very often in churches and we’ve been hearing about crucifixion and Jesus crucified and so on. It was a truly shocking way, and terrible and extraordinary way of dying. And it was meant to also publicly shame the person who was crucified. So, it’s good to not focus on how terrible crucifixion would have been in Roman times, but perhaps to ponder how Jesus willingly accepted to go down that route.
Helena Martin:
Thanks for listening. And thank you, Professors Leppin and Marinis, for your insight on Philippians.
The transcript of this episode and lots more Bible study resources are at YaleBibleStudy.org.
Chapter, Verse, and Season is a production of the Center for Continuing Education at Yale Divinity School. It’s produced by: Creator and Managing Editor, Joel Baden; Production Manager, Kelly Morrissey; Associate Producer, Aidan Stoddart; and I’m your Host and Executive Producer, Helena Martin. Mixing on today’s episode, and our theme music, are by Calvin Linderman.
We’ll be back with another conversation from Chapter, Verse, and Season.
Book of the Bible:
Philippians
Subjects:
PaulPhilippians
Guests
Text
New Revised Standard Version Bible
Copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Credits
Host and Executive Producer: Helena Martin
Production Manager: Kelly Morrissey
Creator and Managing Editor: Joel Baden
Assistant Producer: Aidan Stoddart
Music: Calvin Linderman
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