God’s Word for You
Philippians 2:11 The exaltation
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, March 16, 2026
11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The “and” here (καὶ) connects this with verse 10; the same people who bow their knees to Christ also confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and this gives glory to God the Father.
There is a question as to whether “confess” is “should confess” or “will confess,” due to a division of the manuscript witnesses of the Greek text. It does not affect our understanding of the doctrine.
To “confess” in this case is not to admit as if a hostile witness in a human court, but to confess in a positive sense, to proclaim, exclaim, and preach. “Where there is adoration and worship of Jesus, there also will be confession, in fact, worship in itself is already confession” (Wenzel). If someone feels very strongly about the “every” in the verse (πᾶσα in verse 11, πᾶν in verse 10) meaning every possible, existing tounge (and knee), then I will not press the point further, but I think that believers are meant here in particular. I do not see the condemned or Satan giving glory to God with believing hearts either before or after the judgment.
The ultimate end or point of the exaltation of Jesus is the glory of God the Father. Just as the salvation of mankind gives God glory (1 Chronicles 16:35; Psalm 106:47), so also the exaltation of Christ brings him glory.
It would be good to recall the steps of Jesus’ humiliation and exaltation before we move on to the next part of Paul’s letter. This is familiar to us all, so I will be brief.
“And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.” When Luther explained the second article in his Large Catechism, this was the only part of the article that he concentrated on, summing up the whole thing and all of our Christian faith in these words. He said, “What does it mean to be a Lord? It means that he has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all evil. Before this I had no Lord and King but was captive under the power of the devil. I was condemned to death and entangled in sin and blindness.”
“He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” All of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit were involved in the conception of the Son of God in Mary’s womb. The most mysterious of all is perhaps that the Holy Spirit, who is so completely without body and is only a spirit that we cannot even picture him in any form at all, was the one who placed the Son in the womb of Christ’s mother with no human father involved in any way. This gives glory to God in every way.
“Born of the Virgin Mary.” Here the humanity of Jesus is on display, since what is more human an act than the birth of a bawling, helpless baby? Mary put her faith in him even before he was conceived, and was there even at his death (John 19:26).
“Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” All of these steps of his humiliation came tumbling one after another on Good Friday, so that his torture at the hands of the Romans led to his being nailed to the cross. He died, actually, physically, and humanly, just six hours after the crucifixion began. And his burial put a seal on his death; he did not faint or swoon. He died.
“He descended into hell.” 1 Peter 3:18-19 and Colossians 2:15 proclaim this, done by Jesus in his physical body before he left the tomb, not to suffer, but to proclaim his victory to the spirits in the prison of hell, “triumphing over them by the cross,” as Paul says.
“The third day he rose again from the dead.” The resurrection of Christ is the first fruits of our resurrection. But didn’t others like Lazarus rise from the dead? Those people, raised by Elijah, Elisha, Peter, Paul, and by Jesus himself, did not remain living, but died again. They await the resurrection on the Last Day along with Adam and Moses and all mankind. But Christ rose and remains living, just as we will when he calls us out of our graves on judgment day.
“He ascended into heaven.” The Gospels and the book of Acts all teach that Jesus left the earth in his physical body and rose into the sky through the clouds. We are shown from this that he was not rejected, but was received by his Father as the conquering hero who accomplished what he was sent to do (Ephesians 4:7-10).
“He is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.” He took his place in heaven first of all to assure us that we, too, have a place in heaven, and second of all, to take his place interceding with the Father on our behalf to forgive us for his sake (Romans 8:34).
“From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.” The last part of Christ’s work on our behalf is the return to judgment, which will happen on the last day. He will separate mankind as easily as a shepherd separates sheep from goats (Matthew 25:32), or a fisherman separates good fish from bad (Matthew 13:48). He will bring all of us who had faith in him to our eternal place at his side in heaven.
All of this is to the glory of God the Father. All of this is for the benefit of mankind, all of his holy Christian Church. All of this means that we who put our faith in him are forgiven, that we have a place in heaven guaranteed, and we will live with him in peace and joy for all eternity.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.