Someone wrote me:
“Hello Harry.
There is a misunderstanding.
Some of my brothers believe that the “kneeling” in Philippians 2:10 only means . literally “kneeling down on your knees during prayer” and nothing else. Is that correct?
Let us see what the verse tells us.
Philippians 2:9-11
⁹For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
To see the context in which this is written I also included verses 9 and 11.
In the verses before this we see our Lord Jesus pictured in his lowly human life. And in this life, the two natures of the Christ; His divine nature, and His human nature.
Jesus Who in the form of man was also partaking in the Divine nature, as the eternal and only-begotten Son of God.
In Philippians 2:6-7 we read
⁶Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ⁷But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
In His human nature He became like us, in all things except sin.
He came down, from the glory He had with the Father, even before the world was, to this lonely and lowly position of his own will.
The Christ not just took the likeness, or form of a man, upon Him, but He took one in a very low state; He did not appear in splendour. He was not born in a palace.
His whole life was a life of poverty and suffering.
Isaiah 53:2-4
²For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. ³He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. ⁴Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But the lowest step was the way He died on a cross, exposed to public hatred and scorn.
Isaiah 53:5-12
⁵But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His The kneeling in Philippians 2:10 we are healed. ⁶All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. ⁷He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. ⁸By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? ⁹His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. ¹⁰But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. ¹¹As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. ¹²Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
The exaltation of Jesus was in the union with the Divine.
To the name of Jesus, not just the sound of the word, but the authority of our Lord, all should pay solemn homage, and they will.
To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord is to the glory of the Father,
Philippians 2:11
… every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is to the glory of God the Father, for it is His will, that all men should honour the Son in the same way as they honour Him.
John 5:21-24
²¹For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. ²²For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, ²³so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
Now we know this background let us go back to the question.
“Is kneeling down in Philippians 2:10 no more than
just kneeling on your knees during prayer?”
I believe there is more involved than just that.
For those who loved Jesus and followed Him, it includes a deep honoring of their Lord, and for those who hated and ignored Him, it includes surrendering to him, which does not mean that their hearts changed, or that their hatred turned into love.
We have seen this day such enormous motives to self-denying love.
Now ask yourself the question:
▪︎ Where do I stand?
▪︎ Do I love and obey the Son of God?
Internet: harryschoemaker.nl
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