Friday, August 15, 2008

Phil 2, 11 Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

(Phil 2, 11) Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
[11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(CCC 461) Taking up St. John's expression, "The Word became flesh", (Jn 1:14). The Church calls "Incarnation" the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. In a hymn cited by St. Paul, the Church sings the mystery of the Incarnation: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:5-8; cf. LH, Saturday, Canticle at Evening Prayer). (CCC 449) By attributing to Jesus the divine title "Lord", the first confessions of the Church's faith affirm from the beginning that the power, honour and glory due to God the Father are due also to Jesus, because "he was in the form of God" (Cf. Acts 2:34 - 36; Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13; Rev 5:13; Phil 2:6), and the Father manifested the sovereignty of Jesus by raising him from the dead and exalting him into his glory (Cf. Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:9-11). (CCC 2812) Finally, in Jesus the name of the Holy God is revealed and given to us, in the flesh, as Savior, revealed by what he is, by his word, and by his sacrifice (Cf. Mt 1:21; Lk 1:31; Jn 8:28; 17:8; 17:17-19). This is the heart of his priestly prayer: "Holy Father… for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth" (Jn 17:11, 19). Because he "sanctifies" his own name, Jesus reveals to us the name of the Father (Cf. Ezek 20:39; 36:20-21; Jn 17:6). At the end of Christ's Passover, the Father gives him the name that is above all names: "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:9-11).

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