Every Knee Will Bow
The hymn at the heart of Philippians ends with the name above every name.
Philippians 2:9-11NIV
Philippians 2:9-11. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
On a Sunday it is right to end the reading here, at the high point. The hymn Paul quotes, or perhaps composes, traces a path downward, from the form of God to the form of a servant to death on a cross, and then it turns. Therefore God exalted him. The exaltation is not a reversal of the humility but its consequence. The one who went lowest has been given the highest place.
Every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Every tongue will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. That is the future of the universe, and it is fixed. You will bow either way. The only question the verse leaves open is whether you will bow gladly, today, in worship, or reluctantly, later, in acknowledgment. Sunday is for gladly.
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