John Calvin Commentary Philippians 2:9

"Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name;" — Philippians 2:9 (ASV)

Therefore God has highly exalted. By adding consolation, he shows that abasement, to which the human mind is averse, is in the highest degree desirable. There is no one, it is true, who will not acknowledge that it is a reasonable thing that is required from us when we are exhorted to imitate Christ. This consideration, however, stirs us up to imitate him more cheerfully when we learn that nothing is more advantageous for us than to be conformed to his image.

Now, that all are happy who, along with Christ, voluntarily humble themselves, he shows by his example; for from the most abject condition, he was exalted to the highest elevation. Therefore, everyone who humbles himself will in like manner be exalted. Who would now be reluctant to exercise humility, by means of which the glory of the heavenly kingdom is attained?

This passage has given sophists an opportunity, or rather they have seized upon it, to allege that Christ merited first for himself, and afterwards for others. Now, in the first place, even if what they alleged were not false, it would still be proper to avoid such profane speculations as obscure the grace of Christ—imagining that he came for any other reason than for our salvation.

Who does not see that this is a suggestion of Satan—that Christ suffered upon the cross so that he might acquire for himself, by the merit of his work, what he did not already possess? For it is the design of the Holy Spirit that we should, in the death of Christ, see, taste, ponder, feel, and recognize nothing but God’s unmixed goodness, and the love of Christ towards us, which was so great and inestimable that, disregarding himself, he devoted himself and his life for our sakes.

In every instance in which the Scriptures speak of the death of Christ, they assign to us its benefits and its significance—that through it we are redeemed, reconciled to God, restored to righteousness, cleansed from our pollutions, life is obtained for us, and the gate of life opened.

Who, then, would deny that it is at the instigation of Satan that these individuals maintain, on the other hand, that the chief part of the benefit is in Christ himself—that regard for himself took precedence over his regard for us—that he merited glory for himself before he merited salvation for us?

Furthermore, I deny the truth of what they allege, and I maintain that Paul’s words are impiously perverted to establish their falsehood. For it is clear that the expression 'for this cause' here denotes a consequence rather than a reason, because otherwise it would follow that a man could merit divine honors and acquire the very throne of God—which is not merely absurd, but even dreadful to mention.

For what exaltation of Christ does the Apostle speak of here? It is that everything God, through the prophet Isaiah, exclusively claims for himself may be accomplished in him. Hence, the glory of God and the majesty—so uniquely his that it cannot be transferred to any other—would be the reward of a man’s work!

Again, if they should insist on the wording, disregarding the resulting absurdity, the reply is simple: he has been given to us by the Father in such a manner that his whole life is like a mirror set before us.

Just as a mirror, though it has splendor, does not have it for itself but so that it may be advantageous and useful to others, so Christ did not seek or receive anything for himself, but everything for us. For what need, I ask, did he, who was the equal of the Father, have of a new exaltation? Let pious readers, then, learn to detest the Sorbonnic sophists with their perverted speculations.

Has given him a name. Name here is used to mean dignity—a manner of expression that is very common in all languages: “Jacet sine nomine truncus; He lies a headless nameless carcass.” This mode of expression, however, is especially common in Scripture.

Therefore, the meaning is that supreme power was given to Christ, and he was placed in the highest rank of honor, so that no dignity found either in heaven or on earth is equal to his. From this it follows that it is a divine name. This, too, he explains by quoting the words of Isaiah, where the Prophet, when discussing the propagation of the worship of God throughout the whole world, introduces God speaking as follows:

I live: every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will swear to me, and so on (Isaiah 45:23).

Now, it is certain that adoration is meant here, which belongs uniquely to God alone. I am aware that some philosophize subtly about the name Jesus, as if it were derived from the ineffable name Jehovah. However, I find no solidity in the reason they advance.

As for me, I take no pleasure in empty subtleties, and it is dangerous to trifle in a matter of such importance. Besides, who does not see that it is a forced and anything but genuine exposition, when Paul speaks of Christ’s whole dignity, to restrict his meaning to two syllables—as if anyone were to examine attentively the letters of the word Alexander to find in them the greatness of the name that Alexander acquired for himself? Therefore, their subtlety lacks substance, and the contrivance is foreign to Paul’s intention.

But worse than ridiculous is the conduct of the Sorbonnic sophists, who infer from the passage before us that we should bow the knee whenever the name of Jesus is pronounced, as if it were a magic word with all virtue contained in its sound. Paul, on the other hand, speaks of the honor that is to be given to the Son of God—not to mere syllables.