In this thread summarizing each book of he New Testament, I come now to the book of Philippians, one of my favorite Pauline epistles since I first started reading the New Testament seriously when I was 17!  The first biblical verse I memorized (apart from the Lord’s Prayer!) was Philippians 1:21:  “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”    I memorized it because it was oh, so short.

But once I did that, I realized I could maybe memorize some other favorites from the NT.  And started doing that.  Philippians was the first book I memorized in its entirety (again, as a teenager).  (It too is short!)

I’ve never tried to summarize it in 50 words, so here’s my first attempt.  If you know it well yourself, give it a shot.  For now, here’s what I’ve come up with:

 

Paul writes the gentile Christians in Philippi from prison (we don’t know where), thanking them for sending much needed funds, urging them to remain joyful in their faith whatever the circumstances, exhorting them to live for others instead of themselves, and warning them against false teachers who promote Christian circumcision.

 

Now I will try to unpack the letter a bit, in a larger Nutshell. 

In 2 Corinthians 11:23 Paul indicates that he had been imprisoned a number of times for his Christian activities.  It’s not that Christianity was declared illegal (that would not happen for another 200 years); he may have been seen simply as a trouble maker who was disrupting the peace.  We aren’t sure what that would have involved.  But Paul is clearly writing Philippians from prison (1:7, 13-14, 17).

Since he speaks of the “imperial guard” (or “praetorium”) readers have often assumed he was imprisoned in Rome at the time, near the end of his life, and that may be right.  But we know of other imprisonments of Paul in both Ephesus (probably referred to in 1 Cor. 15:32) and Caesarea (for two years according to Acts 23-26), and the fact that there are imperial servants there do not require a setting in Rome, since the imperial guards could be found attending provincial governors (and elsewhere) throughout the empire.

This “captivity” setting for the letter makes it all the more remarkable that Paul continuously expressed his joy and urged the Philippians to rejoice, no matter their circumstances.  The words “joy” and “rejoice” occur 15 times in this brief letter.  And the reason for the emotion is clear: The Christians’ knowledge that that Christ was soon to appear to bring them into an eternal glorious existence (Philippians 3:20) should trump any miseries they were experiencing in the meantime.

Paul himself is joyful and not at all bothered (he claims) by his personal circumstances or the possibility even of a death sentence.  As indicated in the verse I quoted above (“to live is Christ, to die is gain”), he sees his current life as entirely devoted to Christ, and if he were to die, so much the better.  If he “departs” he will be “with Christ”; but if he “remains” he will be able to continue to be of service to the Philippians and others of his converts (Philippians 1:21-25).

His current feelings of gratefulness are especially due to a gift the Philippians have sent him, carried by one of their members, Epaphroditus, whom Paul designates as “your apostle” (that is, the “one you have sent”) (Philippians 2:25).  Paul welcomes the material support (prisons as a rule did not even provide food for their inmates), but he insists that he has learned to live in every possible circumstance: he knows how to live with hunger and abundance, to have a lot and nothing (Philippians 4:11-12).  Even so, they are kind to help him out.

He is particularly concerned, though, because Epaphroditus had taken ill on his visit, and nearly died; the Philippians have learned of this and are themselves distraught.  Paul writes in part to assure them that Epaphroditus has recovered and will be returning soon.  Paul is also sending his companion Timothy – whose name is attached to the letter as a co-author – and indicates that he is about the only one he can trust, since most everyone (he is referring to Christians he knows!) is concerned only for “their own interests.” But Timothy is interested in the Philippians’ own welfare.

This issue of being concerned for the needs of others is a prominent theme of the letter, especially in chapter 2, where Paul urges the members of the church not to be selfish, conceited, or eager to advance their own interests, but to have the “mind … that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).  He then explains what he means by citing a poem (that he had earlier composed?  That someone else had written that was in wider circulation?) sometimes called by scholars “the Christ poem.”  In exalted language (usually set in strophes in most English translations) the poem speaks about Christ who was originally – apparently before he came to earth — in the very “form of God,” but did not seek to be “equal with God”; instead he “emptied himself” to become a human, so that he could serve others.  In obedience to God, he died on the cross, and as his reward God “highly exalted him” and bestowed on him his (God’s) own name, so that every living creature would worship him.

Paul insists that the Philippians follow suit.  They should not revel in their exalted positions or seek their own reward; they should serve others, to the death if necessary, and then they will receive a reward from God himself.  I’ll be talking more about this poem in a future post.

In chapter 3, after two chapters of joy and well-wishing, Paul suddenly shifts to a tone of warning.  There are Christian teachers out there that he calls “dogs” and “evil workers” who are urging the Philippians to adopt the ways of Judaism, in particular for the gentile men to become circumcised (Philippians 3:1-4).  Paul clearly is incensed.

This is a similar problem as found in Galatians, as we saw in earlier posts, but it appears the problem is not as severe in Philippi.  Otherwise Paul would have been all over it.  As it is, he calls these other missionaries a few names and points out that he of all people should know about the advantages of Judaism, since he himself was a circumcised member of Israel, born of Hebrews, who followed the teachings of the Pharisees, and in fact – most remarkably – was “blameless” when it came to “the righteousness found in the law” (Philippians 3:4-6).

This is a key passage in Paul’s letters, since (contrary to what many people say about him!) it indicates clearly that he did not find the law a huge burden or impossible to keep.  He followed it “blamelessly.”  That does not mean he is claiming never to have sinned.  Keeping the righteousness of the law without blame in part means following the directions given in the law for returning to God’s good graces after committing sin.  Paul’s main point is that even though he kept the law as God demanded, he later gave it all up for Christ, because that brought not a righteousness “of his “own, from the law” but the righteousness that comes from God to those who have faith in Christ.  It is not self-righteousness, but divine righteousness.

And that is what will lead him to experience the future “resurrection of the dead.”

The issue of being concerned for the interests of others emerges in ch. 4 where Paul urges two women in the church, Euodia and Syntyche, his one-time co-workers in establishing the church, to resolve their differences.

He ends the letter back on a happy note, recalling his close relation with the church and thanking them for the gift they have sent, for which God will reward them in full.