What did Jesus give up in the Incarnation? What was He "emptied"
of? Two very important Greek words in the Christ hymn help answer those questions.
The first word is morphe, translated "form." Morphe occurs only
twice in the entire New Testament, both times in Philippians 2. The first
reference is in verse 6, referring to the preexistent Christ; and the second
is in verse 7, referring to the incarnated Jesus. In very early Greek writings
morphe always signified a form that truly and fully expressed the being that
underlies it. "This word could never be used to describe a wolf in sheep's
clothing, for the outward appearance would not at all conform to what the
creature really was in itself."1 Morphe is always more than meets the
eye. So the Incarnation is also more than what can be seen. "The form
of God," therefore, may be understood as the essential nature and character
of God.
The second word is harpagmon, translated as "something to be exploited"
(v. 6). This is the only appearance of the word in the New Testament and the
Greek version of the Old Testament (Septuagint). It is a very difficult word
to understand, as evidenced by the many different renderings of it. Some have
suggested its literal meaning is "a snatching after," "an aggressive
action," or "a thing to be clutched and held on to."
But it is important to remember that Paul is talking here about an attitude--a
mind-set. Thus when the hymn says that Christ "did not regard equality
with God harpagmon," it intends to say that He did not at all believe
His equality with God gave Him the right to snatch, to grasp, to acquire everything
for himself. Rather quite the contrary: "Jesus saw God-likeness essentially
as giving and spending oneself out."2
It is important to note that the grammar structure at the beginning of verse
6--"who being in the form of God"--is often misleadingly translated
as "who though he was in the form of God." It should, however, on
the basis of the context more correctly be translated in a causative way:
"Precisely because [Christ] was in the form of God, he reckoned equality
with God not as a matter of getting but of giving."3 God's love is not
motivated by what He will receive from us, but by what He can give of himself.4
Nowhere does this text indicate that Christ emptied himself of His deity.
Rather He was expressing himself as God to us. The Incarnation was the fullest
expression of God's nature. The very essence of God's love is not to take
in--it is to pour out. Hawthorne helps us grasp this in summary: "Thus
when the hymn mentions the self-emptying act of Christ, it does not put the
emphasis on what he gave up, but rather on what he added to himself--'the
form of a servant,' 'the likeness of man.' It implies that at the Incarnation
Christ became more than God, if this is conceivable, not less than God."5
This mystery of God's redemptive work in Jesus Christ is beyond our comprehension
to grasp. The most comprehensive word we have in our language to describe
it is love.
Christ's self-sacrificing attitude, His fundamental attitude toward sharing,
giving, and serving is nothing more than the truest expression of God's character.
Therefore, the need is not merely to imitate Christ. Rather, by its very nature
it is an appeal reminding the church that such a life of self-giving is in
reality the outworking of the life of the Spirit of Christ within us.
In the spirit of Paul's fondness for hymns, God's answer can be summed up
in a single verse of Charles Wesley's "And Can It Be?"
He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace!
Emptied himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free!
For, O my God, it found out me!
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
The true mark of life in the Spirit is agape. Just as Jesus Christ was willingly
poured out for others, so we who share in the nature of Christ love others
as God has first loved us. We follow Christ's example only because we know
that through faith in Christ we may also experience the fullness of His Spirit.
It is only in that fullness of His love we are empowered to live a life marked
by unselfish love.
(For a complete manuscript of this sermon, go to www.preachersmagazine.org.)
Most people in our congregations do not quarrel with the truth that God is
love. The questions arise in how the nature of that love is expressed. Our
conversations, Bible studies, and prayers betray a misunderstanding of the
difference between sentimental love and sacrificial love. This sermon provides
the preacher opportunity to clarify the distinctions.
Thomas Long states that the preacher's task is not to replicate the biblical
text but to regenerate the impact of some portion of that text. In this sense
the biblical text is like a stone tossed into a pond. Its immediate impact
is felt where it falls--the historical situation into which it originally
landed--but this impact creates ripples that flow in time across the surface.
The task of preaching is not merely to recover the text's original breaking
of the surface but to express what happens when one of the ripples sent forth
by that text crosses our spot in the pond.6
Though the word "love" is not explicitly mentioned in this passage,
the entirety of the Christ hymn drips with the love of God. Helping your congregation
experience again what Paul's congregation must have felt in first hearing
this read is a daunting task. Explaining God's love in a technical way will
not do. But there is no higher calling of a preacher of the good news of Jesus
Christ than to evoke through the mystery of Word and Spirit the mammoth love
of God.
Take the time to reflect on some personal experiences where you have been
overwhelmed by the love of God. Ask yourself why they were significant. What
contributed to their impact? Then search for ways to express those same dynamics
in the mood of the sermon. One teacher of homiletics advises students, as
a step in exegesis, to imagine appropriate music for the biblical text. Trying
to decide between a flute and a trombone can go a long way toward determining
the text's mood. This sermon is a ballad that draws its hearers into the arms
of God.
The Incarnation is a love story. The close of this message would be an ideal
opportunity to invite those who are not believers into a relationship with
Jesus Christ.
_______________
1. Hawthorne, Themes, 67.
2. C. F. D. Moule, "The Manhood of Jesus in the New Testament,"
in Christ, Faith, and History, ed. S. W. Sykes and J. P. Clayton (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1976), 97.
3. Ibid.
4. Hawthorne, Commentary, 85-87.
5. Hawthorne, Themes, 72.
6. Thomas Long, Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible (Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1989), 127.
