God’s Word for You
Philippians 2:9
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, March 14, 2026
9 Therefore God raised him to the highest height and gave him the name that is above every name,
“Therefore,” following all of the things Christ did in his state of humiliation, up to and including his death, even death on a cross, bearing the guilt of mankind—therefore God has restored his Son to his position in heaven. Now, following his sacrifice, death and resurrection, God has raised him. This is not the resurrection from the dead; that’s taken as a given fact. No, this is the elevation of the Son by the Father. It is his exaltation. August Pieper’s translation of Isaiah 53:11 expresses this:
Therefore will I give him (the) many as his portion,
And the powerful will be divided as his spoil—
Because he gave his life into death
And was numbered with the transgressors,
And had taken upon himself the sin of the many,
Yes, became the Intercessor for the transgressors.
Isaiah’s triumphant point is not that Christ will receive his portion, spoils, or reward following the victory “along with” the many (as most translations of Isaiah 53:11 present it), but “the meaning is that the many whom the Servant redeemed, and to whom he gave salvation as their eternal lot, shall be his portion and inheritance” (Pieper, Isaiah II, p. 455).
Just what is the exaltation of Christ? We should look at it from four aspects or perspectives: (1) Concerning Christ, (2) Concerning the Father and the Holy Spirit, (3) Concerning the faithful, (4) Concerning the damned.
Concerning Christ, or more specifically his humanity, the exaltation is his state since the resurrection from death, in which his human nature now shares with his divine nature the divine majesty which was set aside since his conception, and which he now possesses and uses to the full.
Concerning the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Son “was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19). There he is glorified as is his right: “The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” (Psalm 118:16). This is just as Jesus himself foresaw when he said, “In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64). He has not usurped anything in heaven, but has been exalted by the Father with the complete accord of the Holy Spirit to occupy a position of supreme power and dominion. For it was not the Son who rushed in to seize, but is was the Father himself “when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power, and dominion, and every title that can be given” (Ephesians 1:20-21).
Concerning the faithful, which is his Church of believers, “God appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body” (Ephesians 2:22-23). “The exaltation happened to Christ as something serving the salvation of sinners” (Hoenecke). The “therefore” of our verse (Philippians 2:9) does not give a real consequence from a preceding cause, but is simply the consequence (or a better word might be “sequence”) given by the many prophecies. “You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay” (Psalm 16:10). “It was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:10). Christ did not come into the world and endure his humiliation in order to gain something new for himself, but in order to save sinners. “You came out to deliver your people” (Habakkuk 3:13). “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). “Our Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Concerning the damned, the exaltation of Christ began with his descent into hell to proclaim his victory (1 Peter 3:18-19). The essence of the descent is that our Lord actually and really in his glorified corporeal (that is, physical, real, fleshly body) entered the location (πoῦ) of the damned. He did not do this to preach the gospel to the spirits there for their salvation, nor to bring the pious Old Testament believers out of some sort of limbo into Paradise, for the Gospel accounts counter this false assumption (Luke 16:23; Matthew 17:13; Luke 9:30-31). He did this to proclaim his victory over Satan, sin, death, and the gates of hell, just as the demons feared, for this decree is only the beginning of their eternal torture (Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28; Matthew 8:29).
He fills the highest place in heaven (Psalm 97:9). There is more to say about the stages of the exaltation, but this is enough for our verse. All idolatry and all rejection of the Bible is crushed by this verse and the exaltation of Jesus Christ above every name. His exaltation is the banner of our forgiveness, the seal and signature of God’s own hand on the certificate of our salvation. It is the ceremony in which the victor is given his medal and stands above all others. He alone is our Savior, and our worship and praise is proved right in every way. Like Boaz claiming Ruth as his wife and the property of her family as his possession, Christ’s exaltation exclaims for all to hear: “Today you are witnesses!” (Ruth 4:10). And all respond: “May your bride be blessed, and may you have standing in Ephratha and be famous in Bethlehem” (Ruth 4:11). And be famous in heaven 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.