Tuesday 11 September 2018

Philippians 2: drawing out the active dynamic in Jesus' title KYRIOS

Brace yourselves, today's post is actually going to be SHORT!

Let's move on from this "first" instance of Jesus' Cosmic rule we examined in Acts 2 to another. 
One obvious place to turn is Philippians 2, an early Christian hymn cited by the apostle Paul:

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is ΚΥΡΙΟΣ,
    to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 NIVUK

We have already seen in Mark that dynamic and non-systematic options for ΚΥΡΙΟΣ have been really helpful to draw out the multiple layers of meaning and usage of ΚΥΡΙΟΣ. In keeping with our work on Acts 2 (the one God anointed and crowned to rule as KING) and given this appeal to more dynamic translation options alongside the need to retire outdated Lord language, I would prefer the verb “reign” in this instance. Thus, the confession may read:

Jesus Christ reigns, to the glory of God the Father”.

This reign is broad, covering both spheres previously perceived to be held by God alone - the heavenly realm and, within some self-imposed restrictions, the earthly realm as well. In the next post, we can see this fleshed out in some later Pauline vocabulary in Colossians 1.

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Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Limited, a division of Hachette UK.

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