Program / Course 9: Christology and Pneumatology / Lesson 1.3
What you will learn
- Read John 1:1-18, Philippians 2:5-11 and Hebrews 1-2 closely and summarize each.
- Explain what the three passages share and where their emphases differ.
- Define incarnation and describe what the word does and does not claim.
- Identify the main points on which interpreters of these passages disagree.
The big idea
Three New Testament passages sit behind most Christian teaching on the incarnation. John 1 says the Word, who was with God and was God, became flesh. Philippians 2 describes Christ, who was in the form of God, taking the form of a servant and humbling himself to death. Hebrews 1 and 2 describe the Son who upholds the universe and who also shares flesh and blood. Together they say that God’s Son entered human life without ceasing to be who he was. How to explain this is the work of later centuries.
Key terms
- Incarnation
- The Christian teaching that the eternal Son of God took a human nature and became a man, Jesus of Nazareth.
- Prologue
- The opening section of a book. John 1:1-18 is called the Prologue of John’s Gospel.
- Pre-existence
- The idea that the Son existed before his birth in Bethlehem, with God from eternity.
- Kenosis
- From the Greek verb in Philippians 2:7 translated as emptied or made himself of no reputation. It is the name for the theme of Christ’s self-emptying and for theories about what that involved.
- Morphe
- The Greek word for form in Philippians 2:6-7. Its exact sense is debated.
- Christ hymn
- A name for Philippians 2:6-11, which many scholars think was an early poem or hymn that Paul quotes or adapts.
- Exaltation
- The raising of Christ to honor and rule after his suffering, shown in Philippians 2:9-11 and Hebrews 1.
Background
The word incarnation does not appear in the Bible. It comes from Latin, in carne, “in flesh,” and became the church’s label for what several passages describe. The passages come from different authors and settings. John’s Gospel is a narrative that begins with a poem. Philippians is a letter from Paul to a church he loves. Hebrews is a sermon or long letter by an unnamed author, written to Christians under pressure.
Because of these differences, the passages should be read one at a time before they are combined. The tradition has often joined them into one doctrine. Here the aim is to see what each says in its own terms, and then to notice how they fit.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: John 1, the Word became flesh
John begins by echoing Genesis 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him” (John 1:1-3). The Word is distinct from God, “with” God, yet is identified as God. Then comes the central statement: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
The Greek word for dwelt means to pitch a tent, and many readers hear a link to the tabernacle in Exodus, where God lived among Israel. John also says that no one has seen God, but the only Son has made him known (John 1:18). The thought is that the Word reveals God by becoming visible. Scholars debate how much the idea of Logos draws on Greek philosophy and how much on the Jewish idea of God’s Word and Wisdom. Many see both.
Step 2: Philippians 2, the self-emptying
Paul urges the Philippians to have the same mind as Christ Jesus, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7). He then adds that Christ was obedient to death, even death on a cross, and that God has exalted him so that every knee should bow.
Almost every phrase here is debated. Does “in the form of God” mean sharing God’s status or God’s nature? Was equality with God something Christ already had and did not exploit, or something he might have grasped but refused? What is the “emptying”? Many Fathers read it as taking human nature, not giving up divinity. Some nineteenth-century theologians read it as giving up some divine attributes, a view later lessons discuss. A third reading treats the passage mainly as a model of humility, not a doctrine.
Step 3: Hebrews 1 and 2, the Son and the brothers
Hebrews opens by saying that God has spoken by a Son, “whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2). The Son is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,” and upholds all things by his word (Hebrews 1:3). The author then argues that he is higher than the angels.
Chapter 2 turns to the other side. For a little while he was made lower than the angels, tasted death for everyone, and because the children share flesh and blood, he shared in them as well (Hebrews 2:9, 14). He had to be made like his brothers so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest (Hebrews 2:17). The incarnation is given a purpose: to help people and to deal with death.
Step 4: What the three share
All three passages move in the same pattern: one who is with God from the beginning enters human life and then, in Philippians and Hebrews, is lifted up. All three treat the move as an act of love or obedience. None of them says that the Son stopped being the Son.
They also have different emphases. John stresses revelation, Philippians stresses humility and example, Hebrews stresses priesthood and help. A fair summary of the doctrine keeps all three, since taking one alone can distort it.
Step 5: What incarnation does and does not say
The word claims that a divine person took on human nature. It does not say that God changed into a man and stopped being God, and it does not say that a man was promoted to divinity. How both statements can hold together is what the later councils tried to say.
It is also reasonable to ask whether these passages are meant as technical doctrine. Many scholars say they are praise and exhortation first. The creeds later turned their content into precise claims. Seeing this helps explain why the words in the New Testament sometimes feel looser than the councils’ definitions.
- What does it mean that the Word was both with God and was God?
- Why does John use the image of dwelling or tenting?
- How do the three readings of Philippians 2:6-7 differ?
- What reasons does Hebrews give for the Son sharing flesh and blood?
- Which passage do you find most helpful, and why?
- How would you answer someone who says these passages are praise, not doctrine?
Examples
The Christmas reading from John
Many churches read John 1:1-14 on Christmas Day. In place of a story of shepherds, it states the same event in the language of the beginning of Genesis, which shows how early Christians held the manger and the cosmos in one thought.
A hymn quoted in a letter
If Philippians 2:6-11 is a hymn, as many scholars think, then Paul is quoting words the Philippians already knew. That would mean the church sang about Christ as God’s equal who became a servant within about twenty-five years of the crucifixion. Some scholars question this dating of the hymn, and the point is debated.
Hebrews and the high priest
A modern reader may find the priestly language of Hebrews distant. In the author’s setting, a priest stands between people and God. The argument is that Jesus can do this because he is fully on both sides. (This summary is a paraphrase of the argument in Hebrews 2 and 4.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic teaching reads these passages as showing the Word taking a human nature in the unity of his person. The Catechism cites John 1:14 and Philippians 2 to teach that the Son became truly man without ceasing to be God.
Orthodox
Orthodox writers read the incarnation as the center of salvation, a view often put as God became man so that man might become god by grace, a phrase from Athanasius. John 1 and Hebrews 2 are used often in the liturgy and in the theology of the Fathers.
Protestant
Protestants usually appeal to these passages as the scriptural foundation for the full divinity and humanity of Christ. Reformed theologians have commonly taken Philippians 2 to describe a humbling in condition. Some Lutheran and modern writers discuss real limits on the use of divine attributes.
Critical scholarship
Many historians read the passages in their literary setting, noting that each uses poetic language and Jewish ideas of Wisdom and Word. They disagree about how far each author already thought in terms of a pre-existent divine Son. These are questions of interpretation, not settled results.
Why it matters
The doctrine of the incarnation is the center of Christian faith about Jesus. These three passages are the ones most often quoted when it is explained, argued over, or attacked, so a student who has read them closely can follow the later councils and see where a particular argument is leaning on a particular word.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Incarnation means that God turned into a man.
Correction: Christian teaching holds that the Son took on human nature without ceasing to be God. The change is on the side of humanity, which is joined to the Son. Early church writers were careful on this point.
Misunderstanding: Philippians 2 is a plain statement of the Trinity.
Correction: The passage speaks of Christ’s status and humility. Later theologians drew on it for Trinitarian and Christological teaching, but Paul’s own aim is a call to humility.
Misunderstanding: John’s Logos is simply borrowed from Greek philosophy.
Correction: Greek thought used the word, but the Old Testament and Jewish writings also speak of God’s Word and Wisdom as agents in creation. Scholars debate the proportion, and many say both backgrounds matter.
Knowledge check
What are the three main passages for the incarnation, and what is each known for?
John 1:1-18 states that the Word who was God became flesh and dwelt among people. Philippians 2:5-11 describes Christ taking the form of a servant and being exalted. Hebrews 1 and 2 describes the Son who upholds creation and who shared flesh and blood to help his brothers and sisters. Each has its own emphasis.
What are the main ways of reading the self-emptying in Philippians 2?
One reading says Christ emptied himself by taking a human nature and the role of a servant while remaining God. A second says he gave up some use of divine attributes. A third says the passage is chiefly a model of humility and not a precise statement about natures. The Greek words allow more than one reading.
Why does Hebrews say the Son had to share flesh and blood?
Hebrews 2 says he shared flesh and blood to break the power of death and to become a merciful and faithful high priest. To help human beings, he had to be like them in every respect. The argument ties his humanity to his saving work and not only to his identity.
What does the word incarnation not claim?
It does not claim that God stopped being God, or that a man became divine by merit. The traditional doctrine says a divine person took on a human nature. The later councils worked to find careful language for this union.
Think it through
- Which of the three passages do you think a first-time reader would find hardest, and why?
- How does it change your reading of Philippians 2 to know it may be a hymn?
- What would be lost if only one of the three passages were kept?
- Why might the New Testament use poetry for its most important claims about Jesus?
Independent assignment
Three passages side by side
In your own notebook, write 500 to 700 words. Make three columns, one each for John 1:1-18, Philippians 2:5-11 and Hebrews 1:1-4 with 2:9-18. In each, note who the subject is, what he does, what the purpose is, and one phrase you find hard. Then write a paragraph on what the three have in common. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word Read chapters 1 to 10 for the classic explanation of why the Word became flesh.
- John of Damascus, An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith Read the sections on the incarnation as the East received it.
- Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth Use it for help reading letters and poetry in their setting.
- John 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
- Philippians 2:6 In the form of God.
- Hebrews 1:3 The brightness of his glory and the image of his person.
- Hebrews 2:14 He shared flesh and blood.
- Genesis 1:1 The background for the opening of John.