The Messsiah's humility; Philippians 2 day one

For friends outside of New Hope Church, we're collectively reading chapter two of the book of Philippians as an act of adoration to God during Lent. Why? In this letter, and in particular chapter two, Paul gives us a clear picture of what the humility of Jesus looked like, why He had it and what it should do to us. And this my friends is what Lent is all about. We're going to focus on one verse a day. I'll be translating from the Greek Text, so you'll be reading the "Bryan" translation. The result won't be heresy! What you will see, or rather feel, is what the Holy Spirit does with Holy Scripture.

The Greek that the New Testament writers used is highly inflected, that is to say the words have a sense of dimension. Most often there isn' t just a 1:1 ration of translation so much is lost in simply defining the words. Don't worry! This won't be hard! You aren't going to be asked to translate the Greek! But we're going to look at the text as it was meant to be read...in a commoners language, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and breathed of God.

On this first day (or perhaps two) we need to look at the context of this letter. Context is ALWAYS key to understanding the Bible! We can't allow our feelings to dictate what we think the Word of God ought to say! The time, date, place, settings that I will be alluding to are held by tradition to be true. Tradition is not a "stiff upper lip" word, but rather that these beliefs have been tested against Scripture for a very long time and with good use of biblical theology have proven to be true.

Where Paul wrote the letter from is debatable for some; Cessarea, Ephesus or Rome. It is clear that this is one of Paul's "prison letters" (1:2-6) and that is was penned out of the experience of sustained imprisonment. Paul is not just saying "I understand your troubles", he is writing from the heart of the maelstrom. This gives him the authority to speak to Christians under persecution.

He was writing to a group of gathered followers of Jesus who had been meeting to pray, read and study the teachings of Jesus in the influential center of Philippi. Philippi was a powerhouse in terms of influence, and as such so were the residents. It had the special status of being a Roman Colony and carried with it all of the rights and privileges. They were under Roman law for administration and taxes. It had a history of being settled by battle proven and privileged veterans. It was Roman to the core (see Acts 16:20-21). When Paul arrived his original preaching was to a pagan culture. There and found Lydia and other women by a river in prayer (Acts 16). When he left, there was a strong devoted Christian core, most of whom were Gentiles.

This letter was written for a number of reasons; it gave thanks for gifts, explained which brothers were coming and going and why, warned of Jewish legalism, encouraged the community to live bravely and to urge them to live in the unity of the Spirit. The church need to be reminded how to endure, and Paul pointed to the humility of Jesus as the model, source and power.

It's all about living a humble life, a life submitted to God, a life of trust and obedience.
So, as we start out on this study get honest with yourself (God knows anyway). Are you humble like Jesus?
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