What did Paul think about Jesus? During the Damascus' encounter, Paul confessed that Jesus was Lord. Did he mean God?
And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." (Acts 9:4-5)
Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles. In his writings, Lord refers both to Jesus and to God. In Corinth, Paul had another vision of the Lord who told him to stay.
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent;
for I am with you, and no man shall attack you to harm you; for I have many people in this city." (Acts 18:9-10).
So, Paul stayed in Corinth for more than one and a half year. Jesus knew a lot of things and was capable of protecting Paul from any perils. Naturally, Jesus must be the God of Paul. It was unimaginable for a Jew to have any God other than Yahweh. But Christians did. For Christians, Jesus is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Jesus is God. This is totally unacceptable for the Jews whose God is one. Therefore, there established a misunderstanding and being the majority, Jews before the Destruction of the Holy Temple would initiate crime cleaning campaigns, which were in fact, directed against Christians.
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
engaged in the same conflict which you saw and now hear to be mine (Philippians 1:29-30).
Therefore, Christians should always be prepared to suffer for the sake of Jesus; to engage in the same conflict which Jesus and Paul had suffered. Of course, God does not suffer. Here, Jesus was truly a man so as to be able to suffer.
Having thus established that for Paul, Jesus was his God. Then, how shall we understand the Humility Hymn recorded in Philippians 2:5-11? Even if Paul did not compose this hymn himself, at least he approved of the theology expressed in the lyrics.
The problem is between form and nature.
though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (Philippians 2:6)
His rhetoric sometimes brings us into difficulties. What did Paul mean when he confessed that Jesus was in the form of God ... Was Jesus not God yet? Logically speaking, the sentence does not deny the possibility that Jesus and God are one in nature.
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11).
It seems that Paul was still unable to elevate the status of Jesus in here. He (or his quotation from somewhere) made a distinction in the use of the word Lord and God (the Father). Nowadays, we are enjoying the fruits the Apostles planted. Generations of Christians have overcome some difficulties of the true identity, the divinity and humanity and nature of Jesus. When we receive the teaching handed down from the Apostles, we are actually standing on their shoulders to bypass a few steps in the development of the theology. Therefore, we shouldn't be too surprised to meet similar incomplete discourses.
My dear Advocate, thank You for giving us St. Paul to guide us on our way. They are wonderful companions on our way home. Bless us Lord and quickly finish us. Amen.
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