Philippians – Even if I am to be poured out as a drinkoffering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith
12/12/22 08:02
With the use of ‘even if’ translators may suggest that Paul is thinking about the possibility to be sentenced to death. But that may be too strong. ‘If indeed’ is a common rendering as well (‘Yea, if’, KJV) and suggests a more general interpretation of possible suffering, like the imprisonment Paul is undergoing right now. It is a situation he ‘indeed’ knows about. The use of the present passive indicative tense is in favour of this interpretation. A future tense would have been more likely for an unknown outcome. In 2 Timothy 4:6 Paul uses the same expression when he is in prison as well (again?) and is expecting to die soon, so there it does not refer to the death sentence itself.
Paul is describing the possibility that he suffers ‘at the sacrificial offering of your faith’. This may refer to their gift to Paul, as to say, ‘If your gift does not result in my life becoming easier than it is now …’ This interpretation flows quite naturally from the thought of running or labouring in vain in the previous sentence. But a broader meaning of ‘the sacrificial offering of your faith’ is also possible and is more likely. It may have a similar intention as ‘your partnership in the gospel’ in 1:5. The emphasis lies on the mutuality. If there is mutual hardship Paul is glad and rejoices with them and he says they should do the same, be glad and rejoice with him.
Because the emphasis lies on mutuality an application of the passage should best come from there. Having Paul as an example, we can ask ourselves how strong our connection with fellow Christians in other places is. Do we ‘yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus’? Can we say about other Christians, ‘I hold you in my heart’? What is important to know in this matter is that this affectionate love is rooted in the love of and the love for Christ and the gospel. This is true also for the – even more difficult – love for each other among the Philippians themselves. Euodia and Synteche may never have become best friends, but that is not what was expected of them. They were asked to at least ‘agree in the Lord’. Following Christ in His ‘emptying’ of Himself, they could love each other even beyond friendship. Labouring side by side for a common purpose, indeed, for a common Lord and Saviour, is what unites Christians on a practical level. The unity they already have in principle, as children of God in the Spirit, is kept, treasured, worked out, will grow and abound (1:9).
Paul is describing the possibility that he suffers ‘at the sacrificial offering of your faith’. This may refer to their gift to Paul, as to say, ‘If your gift does not result in my life becoming easier than it is now …’ This interpretation flows quite naturally from the thought of running or labouring in vain in the previous sentence. But a broader meaning of ‘the sacrificial offering of your faith’ is also possible and is more likely. It may have a similar intention as ‘your partnership in the gospel’ in 1:5. The emphasis lies on the mutuality. If there is mutual hardship Paul is glad and rejoices with them and he says they should do the same, be glad and rejoice with him.
Because the emphasis lies on mutuality an application of the passage should best come from there. Having Paul as an example, we can ask ourselves how strong our connection with fellow Christians in other places is. Do we ‘yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus’? Can we say about other Christians, ‘I hold you in my heart’? What is important to know in this matter is that this affectionate love is rooted in the love of and the love for Christ and the gospel. This is true also for the – even more difficult – love for each other among the Philippians themselves. Euodia and Synteche may never have become best friends, but that is not what was expected of them. They were asked to at least ‘agree in the Lord’. Following Christ in His ‘emptying’ of Himself, they could love each other even beyond friendship. Labouring side by side for a common purpose, indeed, for a common Lord and Saviour, is what unites Christians on a practical level. The unity they already have in principle, as children of God in the Spirit, is kept, treasured, worked out, will grow and abound (1:9).
