Philippians 2:10 - In the presence of Royalty

’in order that in the Name of Jesus every knee should bend, of [ones] upon heaven and upon earth and under-the-earth...’

-bending the knee is what someone does when they enter the presence of royalty.  the action could be merely out of respect without necessarily indicating an attitude of subservience, particularly if the person doing the bending doesn’t belong to that country.  but paul here pretty much covers all possible knees.  this is again speaking to outcome, to result, to purpose.  the outcome of Jesus being hyper-hyped and given the hyper Name - the purpose for that - is so that every person who has ever lived will somehow, someday bow before Him and acquiesce to the truth that He is King.

-now some commentators are wont to point out that paul here says ‘IN the Name of Jesus’ as opposed to ‘AT the Name’ as it is rendered in most translations, which indicates that most translators are forcing an interpretation onto the text.  the use of ‘AT the Name of Jesus’ fits more naturally with the picture of a literal event, that certain future day when Christ returns for judgment and every person whether they have trusted in Christ or not will be forced to show their acknowledgment that Jesus truly is King, the One True and only King of the universe.  however, what is not likely being described here is some future event where all the living and the dead will be gathered into a massive crowd and then at some point some being utters the word ‘Jesus’ as if by introduction and then every person, whether saved or unsaved, bends their knee simultaneously.

-however, it does suggest an interesting question for each of us today: what do you do when you hear the name, ‘Jesus’?  what runs through your mind?  is there a kneeling of the mind, of your heart and soul at the mention of the Name of Jesus?

-some then suggest that rather than picturing a one-time future event, that paul instead is describing an environment of willing prayer, that every knee which does freely bend in prayer will do so (only) IN the name of Jesus, depicting the truth that Jesus Christ is the One Mediator between God and man (1tim 2.5).  it is, however, not realistic to conceive that EVERY being will be freely praying to Jesus at some point, which means that this interpretation would require one to limit the scope of what is meant by ‘every knee’.  yes, we know that God would like for every person to come to repentance, to come to that place where they would seek Him and actually pray to Him, where they would freely lower themselves and surrender and submit to Him (2pet 3:9).  but we also know that many people as well as the devil and his rebellious angels will not ever do that (cf rev 12.7, mt 25.41, rev 20.10, rev 20.14-15).  

-some commentators refer to is 45.23, where God declares the future reality of universal submission, and paul here uses similar language, so that we are basically looking at a reiteration of that prophetic statement.  the language is also very consistent with the scene of universal worship of the Lamb depicted in rev 5.13 (cf ps 103.22).

-now it is the NAME of Jesus under consideration in this verse.  of course, the Name of Jesus already had total power and sovereignty before He was hyper-hyped (lk 8.26-37, lk 10.17), and simply became more fully so afterwards (jam 4.7, act 3.16, act 16.18, cf heb 2.7-10).  to be sure, for those who follow Jesus, everything they do is tied to His Name (jn 20.31, 1jn 3.23, jn 1.12, 1cor 6.11, act 2.38, mt 18.20, jn 14.13-14, jn 16.24, lk 9.48, col 3.17, jam 5.14, lk 24.47).  but there are of course those who will never freely submit themselves to the Kingship of Jesus.  so then, we are perhaps either talking about a subset of created ones who freely submit and do indeed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, including praying and bowing before Him daily and on into eternity, OR we are talking about a mixed group of willing and unwilling participants who regardless of their predisposition are face-to-face with the King of the universe, the One Who made them and Who in His hand holds their eternal destiny.  either way we are talking about a posture of submission in the presence of royalty, before the King of the universe, a posture which can and should begin both at some point in this life and be continued every moment of every day until i die or until Christ returns.  i have a long way to go...