Every knee should bow
Philippians 2:9-11 - Being on bent knee and acknowledging verbally in prayer or worship that Jesus Christ is Lord shows complete submission to Jesus in word and in action.
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:9-11 NIV
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Today’s verses should be very familiar to most Christians. They come from Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, which describes Jesus (in the words of David Guzik of Enduring Word) as “the ultimate example of exaltation after humility”. Verse 9 begins with the words “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place”; the original Koine Greek uses the word ὑπερυψόω (hyperypsoō) for “to the highest place”, defined as “exalt to the highest rank and power, raise to supreme majesty”. God has placed Jesus in the place of supreme majesty!
God also gave Jesus “the name that is above every name”. Guzik explains this as follows:
This goes beyond giving Jesus the Divine name Yahweh. When we consider the Hebrew concept of the name, it also implies that God declares that Jesus has a character and person above all.
i. This verse, with its clear statement of Jesus’ deity, is powerful ammunition against those who deny the deity of Jesus Christ. There is no higher name than Yahweh, and Jesus has that name.
As I noted in my last devotional, “In the culture of the time, a name was representative of a person’s character and reputation.” There is no higher name than Yahweh (YHWH - the covenant name of the God of Israel), Jesus has that name, and therefore He has a character and reputation above all others.
Verses 10 and 11 express the need for humanity to recognize the supreme authority of Jesus and say “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord”. Back in my dark days of unbelief, I bristled at these words - no way was I going to get on my knees to what I felt was an imaginary entity. Thank You, God, that You waited for me to come to my senses, accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and humbly kneel in obedience to You!
More on “the name of Jesus”… Paul is pointing back to the words of God as written by the prophet Isaiah - “By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.” (Isaiah 45:23). In Isaiah, it is to YHWH that all knees will bow, all tongues will confess. In Philippians, it is Jesus — demonstrating that Jesus is YHWH.
Enduring Word points out that all beings will eventually confess that Jesus Christ is Lord:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow: Not only is Jesus exalted by the Father, but the whole world is brought into submission to the Son.
i. “Paul does not imply by this a universal salvation, but means that every personal being will ultimately confess Christ’s lordship, either with joyful faith or with resentment and despair.” (Kent)
Where will all of these beings be? “In heaven and on earth and under the earth”. Paul is showing that all of creation — past, present, and future — will recognize the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. This includes those alive on the Day of Judgement, those who were believers and were raised by the power of Christ, and even (in the words of Bible commentator John Poole) “devils, and wicked souls.”
What comes after “every knee should bow”? “And every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord”. Being on bent knee and acknowledging verbally in prayer or worship that Jesus Christ is Lord shows complete submission to Jesus in word and in action. I’ll conclude with Enduring Word’s clarification of what this means:
From this we can say that there is a sense in which Jesus returned to heaven with more than He had than when He left heaven. Not only did He return with His humanity still added to his deity (although a resurrected humanity), He also returned with the recognition planted among men of who He was and the worship He deserved – something unknown until the Incarnation and the full revelation of His person and work.
i. “He has always (in Paul’s view) shared in the Divine nature. But it is only as the result of His Incarnation, Atonement, Resurrection and Exaltation that He appears to men as on an equality with God, that He is worshipped by them in the way in which Jehovah is worshipped.” (Kennedy)
ii. “He might have used the miraculous powers inherent in His Divine nature in such a way as to compel men, without further ado, to worship Him as God. Instead of that He was willing to attain this high dignity by the path of humiliation, suffering and death.” (Kennedy)
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank You that You have given us Your creation, our God-given consciences, and Your inspired Scriptures to make Yourself known to mankind. Please use me to share the good news of Christ so that many more may hear, understand, and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, to Your glory. I pray this in Jesus’s name, AMEN.