“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped — the Carmen Christi begins with Christ's preincarnate status: morphē theou (form/nature of God) asserts full divine nature. Harpazō (snatch, grasp) is the disputed term: does Christ not seize equality or not regard it as something to seize? The latter (supported by harpagmos, 'thing to be grasped') suggests he possessed equality but did not exploit it. This inversion is radical: power is not clutched but released. Christ's voluntary self-limitation becomes the paradigm for Christian humility.
Church Fathers on Philippians 2:5
Our Lord Jesus Christ, when exhorting His disciples to great actions, places before them Himself, and the Father, and the Prophets, as examples; as when He says, “For thus they did unto the Prophets which were before you” Matthew 5:12; Luke 6:23; and again, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” John 15:20; and, “Learn of me, for I am meek” Matthew 11:29; and again, “Be merciful, as your Father which is in heaven is merciful.” Luke 6:36 This too the blessed…
Read all 2 entries in the readerNicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!