Christus de gestalte van God - Phil 2 = Christ The True Form Of God (Phil 2), 1967 - 1988

Philippians 2 was an address given by Paul within the liturgical assembly. The occasion would have been the assembly gathering in the evening to celebrate Vigil, to commemorate the newly-risen Jesus within the koininia, the community of new ways of thinking and behaving. Vigil liturgies consisted of proclaiming the Scriptures, and breaking and sharing bread. An integral part of Vigil celebration was kindling the evening lamps as a sign of the Risen Jesus being present within the assembly. Also integral was the singing by all who had gathered of songs which recalled the promises of the Old Testament now being fulfilled within the Apostolic and Early Church. These songs enshrined the emerging theology of the post-resurrection community, not as dogma but as belief nourished within and by the gathering Paul's writings indicate that he drew on the songs of the community for the many psalms and canticles which he quotes throughout his writings. The place of proclamation of these texts and songs was the liturgical assembly when the community had gathered. Before any clear cycle of feasts had emerged, the community met weekly to recall the resurrection. This would later prove to be the source of the liturgical year, where each feast and season determined by the time of year would reveal the resurrection each time the community assembled. The canticles most expressive of resurrection and the new life of the community were those which sang of the risen Jesus, mostly recorded in Paul. Philippians 2:6-11 draws on the theopoetic imagery of Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12, the Fourth Song of the Suffering Servant. This, the second of three writings of Isaiah, records the despondency of the Jews held captive in Babylonian Exile, whose attitude of resignation brought about their own misery. What was needed was a hero, but the Persian liberator, Cyrus, was still beyond the horizon. Paul identifies the suffering Jesus with the symbolic figure of Isaiah, but with a second, unwrittenn script that in Jesus' case, his suffering sealed his role as liberator too.