Final thoughts on Philippians (chapter 4)
“…my beloved brothers, my joy and crown…take care of
those women who struggled with me in the gospel…” (Phil. 4.1, 3). We have already examined the tension in Paul’s
letter to the Philippians between his frustration at being constrained by his
imprisonment, on the one hand, and his detachment and joyful “resignation” to
the will of God regarding his fate, on the other. There is another paradox in this letter – on
the one hand, Paul seems to be full of joy and exhorts his readers to “Rejoice…always!”
(4.4); on the other hand, Paul acknowledges that the Christians of Philippi are
engaged in a struggle against those who would silence them (1.27-30). The French have an expression – “la joie de
combat”; i.e. the joy of the battle. There
is indeed much joy to be had in struggling for a common cause together with likeminded
people (cf. 4.14-16). Hence Paul’s
repeated request for the Philippians to be “of one mind” (4.2; cf. 1.27; 2.1-4).
Paul calls
the disciples of Philippi his “joy and crown” (4.1). Throughout the letter, the apostle has been reminding
the Philippians of the “day of Jesus Christ”, i.e. the final judgment (1.6, 10;
2.14-16). As he wraps up his letter,
Paul states that “The Lord is near” (4.5).
Paul rejoices that on “the day”, his efforts to evangelize and disciple
the Philippians will be “crowned”, and they will be able to rejoice together after
having received a favourable verdict from their Lord and Judge.
As he
prepares to sign off, Paul exhorts the Philippians to not be anxious about anything,
but rather to ask God to supply their needs and promises them the “peace of God
that surpasses understanding” (4.6-7; cf. 2 Tim. 2.4). The apostle then instructs his disciples to
ponder those things that are “true, grand, right, pure, lovely, and of good
repute”. He then reminds them one last
time to put into practice “those things that they learned and received and
heard and saw in him” (4.8-9). As
ever, Paul is the Philippians’ exemplar of a joyful, faithful, resilient and
holy Christian. Paul closes his letter
by expressing his gratitude to the Philippians for the practical provision that
they had made for his needs during his time in prison, all the while insisting
that he has learned contentment and self-sufficiency, regardless of the
situation in which he finds himself (4.10-20).
In this
letter, Paul is sending “a dispatch” to his comrades in the good fight of faith
(cf. 1 Tim. 6.12; 2 Tim. 4.7-8). The final
victory is guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (cf. Phil.
3.20-21). In the meantime, the battle
rages on – and the Philippians have received the honour of suffering for their
risen Lord (1.29; cf. 3.10-11). The
message of Paul’s letter to the Christians of Philippi can be summed up thus –
Rejoice, carry on the struggle, be united and humble, full of grateful confidence
in God, who will provide for your every need (4.19).
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