Fr.Peter Stilwell helps us to have a brief overview and clear understanding on the concept of Jesus Christ. He leads us to develope these topics;
1.Introduction
2.The historical record of Jesus and his times
3.From the faith of Jesus to faith in Jesus
4.The Gnostic temptation
5.Great Christological debates
We also have to present the reflection of Christological hymn which I chose the Kenotic Christology in Philippians 2:6-11
In the letter to the Philippians, Paul put the hymn to support his idea which he encourages the Philippians to be humble, self-sacrificing service (Phil 2:1-4). This hymn is not written by Paul but the main concept is related to what he wants to teach the people in Philippi. The hymn, therefore, presents Christ as a perfect example of the one who sacrifice himself for others.
This hymn is also called the Kenotic Christology. We found the word evke,nwsen which is the imperfect indicative active third person singular of the verb keno,w meaning “to empty”. It holds the idea of Christ who gave up himself to become a human in order to fulfill the plan of the Salvation of God.
By taking off his divine form Christ puts in a form of human. He rendered himself to be powerless like a slave who is powerless. I might say that, in the thought of the hymn, unredeemed human existence is essentially slavery, a bondage to spiritual powers, ending in death. But Christ took in human form, lowered himself and was obedient unto death. Truly it is not just an ordinary death but a criminal’s death. This reminds me a song of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53:12.
I was touched by the example of Christ who gave himself up for us in order to free us from sins. The instruction of Paul to the Philippians can be treated as a general instruction for us also. Because of this self-giving love of God so that every knee should bow down and every tongue should confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord!”. Again I found this sentence is reminding me of the idea of monotheistic God of the Israelite. For the word “Lord” is a translation of “kurios” which is a translation of “adonai” in Hebrew for YHWH, the one true God. Jesus did what only God can do. It refers to the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah in Isa 45:23.
The lesson I have learned from this hymn is that humility leads to become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Once Jesus also said like this in Mark 10:15. The point is not only to become the greatest but because we know that the greatest one in the heaven is God. Therefore to become the greatest, in this sense, means to become God-like. Paul has already told the Philippians and yet he would also like to encourage us. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” Paul’s words lead us to the selfless love as a model for Christian imitation.
1.Introduction
2.The historical record of Jesus and his times
3.From the faith of Jesus to faith in Jesus
4.The Gnostic temptation
5.Great Christological debates
We also have to present the reflection of Christological hymn which I chose the Kenotic Christology in Philippians 2:6-11
In the letter to the Philippians, Paul put the hymn to support his idea which he encourages the Philippians to be humble, self-sacrificing service (Phil 2:1-4). This hymn is not written by Paul but the main concept is related to what he wants to teach the people in Philippi. The hymn, therefore, presents Christ as a perfect example of the one who sacrifice himself for others.
This hymn is also called the Kenotic Christology. We found the word evke,nwsen which is the imperfect indicative active third person singular of the verb keno,w meaning “to empty”. It holds the idea of Christ who gave up himself to become a human in order to fulfill the plan of the Salvation of God.
By taking off his divine form Christ puts in a form of human. He rendered himself to be powerless like a slave who is powerless. I might say that, in the thought of the hymn, unredeemed human existence is essentially slavery, a bondage to spiritual powers, ending in death. But Christ took in human form, lowered himself and was obedient unto death. Truly it is not just an ordinary death but a criminal’s death. This reminds me a song of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53:12.
I was touched by the example of Christ who gave himself up for us in order to free us from sins. The instruction of Paul to the Philippians can be treated as a general instruction for us also. Because of this self-giving love of God so that every knee should bow down and every tongue should confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord!”. Again I found this sentence is reminding me of the idea of monotheistic God of the Israelite. For the word “Lord” is a translation of “kurios” which is a translation of “adonai” in Hebrew for YHWH, the one true God. Jesus did what only God can do. It refers to the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah in Isa 45:23.
The lesson I have learned from this hymn is that humility leads to become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Once Jesus also said like this in Mark 10:15. The point is not only to become the greatest but because we know that the greatest one in the heaven is God. Therefore to become the greatest, in this sense, means to become God-like. Paul has already told the Philippians and yet he would also like to encourage us. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” Paul’s words lead us to the selfless love as a model for Christian imitation.
No comments:
Post a Comment