Shame in Philippians

This is post 4 of 4 in a series on the emotions in Philippians. It looks forward to the publication of Isaac Blois’ new book in the LNTS series with Bloomsbury T&T Clark: The Role of Emotions in Philippians: Discerning Affections. Join us in this post as Dr. Blois discussions the emotion of shame as it is set forth in Philippians:

The apostle Paul was no stranger to shame, experiencing an influx of the emotion during his incarceration and prospective Roman trial. But through appealing to the Christological and theological framework surrounding this experience, the apostle reframed the shameful associations attached to it. While shame meant one thing in the context of Roman incarceration, for Paul shame had quite different significations. ^[1]See Craig S. Wansink, Chained in Christ: The Experience and Rhetoric of Paul’s Imprisonments, JSNTSupp 130 (Sheffield : Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), 142: “Paul refuses to let any of the … Continue reading Drawing on his Jewish theological heritage, the apostle to the Gentiles adeptly repositions his social situation, one of purported shame, into a paradoxical experience of glory.

In what follows, I will investigate the inherent emotional nature of the apostle’s engagement with shame. My contention is that Paul draws on his self-perceived prophetic calling in order to interpret his present shameful experience in the Roman honorific realm, discovering in the paradoxical experience of Isaiah’s servant figure a model for the simultaneous experience of humiliation and exaltation. This is a model that Paul sees played out in the career of Christ, and it is one that the apostle himself, in his role as proclamatory servant of Christ, presents as being played out in his own emotional and social experience. Ultimately, it is the resurrection of Christ and the apostle’s own participation in that death and resurrection which enable Paul to make the audacious claim—even while experiencing the deepest levels of degradation imaginable—that he is “not ashamed.”

Shame as an Emotion

First, we must recognize the appropriateness of interpreting shame in its emotional aspect. Lazarus describes shame as being “generated by a failure to live up to an ego-ideal. We feel disgraced or humiliated, especially in the eyes of someone whose opinion is of great importance to us.” ^[2]Richard S. Lazarus, Emotion and Adaptation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 241. Viewing shame in this way, Lazarus draws together both the internal and the external aspects involved in the affect of shame: the ideal that has been fallen short of is an internalized one, and yet the disgrace generated by such a failure occurs within a public arena, before the eyes of the other. Sartre, in his seminal treatment of shame, emphasizes this looming presence of the other in the experience of shame, going so far as to claim that “[t]he experience of my gesture as vulgar is to borrow the other’s judgment of it.” ^[3]Quoted by Rom Harré, “Embarrassment: A Conceptual Analysis,” in Shyness and Embarrassment: Perspectives from Social Psychology, ed. W. R. Crozier (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), … Continue reading Thus, the emotion of shame arises from the twin sources of the ideals one holds and the judgment of one’s society, or at least the community in which one is embedded and with which one identifies.

The modern perspective on shame resonates with how this emotion was perceived in the ancient world. Aristotle defines shame as “a pain or disturbance concerning those evils, either present, past, or future, which appear to contribute to bad reputation” (Rhet. 2.6 1383b12-13). As Konstan explains, “There are thus [for Aristotle] three elements that together prompt the emotion of shame: a particular act…; the fault of character that is revealed by the act…; and the disgrace or loss of esteem before the community at large.” ^[4]Konstan, Emotions, 101.

Aristotle’s definition, however, remains ambivalent about the time sequence onto which this emotion is latched. Other ancient philosophers were more precise on this, clarifying that it was against future evils that the blush of shamed offered protection. We thus find the Stoics envisioning a good version of shame, αἰδώς, a sort of watchfulness. ^[5]Rachana Kamtekar, “ΑΙΔΩΣ in Epictetus,” CP 93 (1998), 136-160, 137, comes to this conclusion in his analysis of Diogenes Laertes 7.116. Hence, there were two versions of shame for the Greeks, with the one who has the first and more negative version of shame (αἰσχύνη) hiding on account of a past action committed, whereas the one who has the second, positive version of shame (αἰδώς) fears to fall into some forthcoming disrepute. ^[6]On this see Kamtekar, “ΑΙΔΩΣ in Epictetus,” 141.

Shame in the Greco-Roman World

This emotional characteristic for the experience of shame played an important role in guiding first-century Roman society. As Barton quips: “[m]ore than death or dead failure, more than defilement, the Roman feared irremediable dishonor.” ^[7]Carlin Barton, Roman Honor: The Fire in Their Bones (London: University of California Press, 2001), 245. Discussing how shame functioned within the system of Hellenistic and Roman patronage, deSilva describes how “Irrevocable dishonor, and with it exclusion from future patronage, threatened those who might fail to show gratitude to their patron or benefactors.” ^[8]David A. deSilva, “Paul, Honor, and Shame,” in Paul in the Greco-Roman World: Volume II, ed. J. Paul Sampley (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2016), 26-47, 30. Hence, the dishonor arising from failing to follow through on one’s duties as a client not only entailed social approbation, but also carried severe economic consequences.

Harrison lays out the parameters of “the traditional Roman quest for gloria,” within which the danger of shame is inextricably linked. ^[9]James R. Harrison, “Paul and the Roman Ideal of Glory in the Epistle to the Romans,” in The Letter to the Romans, ed. Udo Schnelle, BETL (Leuven: Leuven University Press/Uitgenerij Peeters, … Continue reading Thus, we find even the Roman emperor led to make decisions solely to avoid personal disgrace (“his fear of ill repute (ἀδοξίαν) among them…led him to take every risk with boldness,” Plutarch, Ti. Gracch. 12). ^[10]Quoted in Joseph H. Hellerman, Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi: Carmen Christi as Cursus Pudorum, SNTS 132 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 43. Cicero, who was arguably entrenched within this quest for gloria himself, sums up the powerful sway that shame could wield within Roman society:

It must be noticed how much more energetically people fly from what is
evil than they pursue what is good. Neither indeed do they seek after
what is honourable so much as they try to avoid what is disgraceful
(turpia).

(Part. or. 26.91-92) ^[11]Part of this quote is also from Hellerman, Reconstructing Honor, 43-44.

Hence, as Lendon summarizes, “Roman society was to a great degree a shame culture,” with many standing “in awe of bad reputation” to such an extent that concern for being “found out” constituted “the main bulwark of morality.” ^[12]Jon Lendon, Empire of Honour: The Art of Government in the Roman World (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), 41. Lendon draws here on Pliny, Ep. 3.20.8-9.

Deliverance from Shame within Israel’s Scriptures

Not only does Paul, as apostle to the Gentiles, negotiate his ministry within these shame-dynamics established by the pagan society in which he ministered; he also deftly reframes the meaning of shame by way of connecting his own experience back to that of his Jewish, prophetic heritage. Turning to the Scriptures that formed Paul’s perspective, we find a rich source field for how to understand and explain the experience of shame.

The language of shame recurs repeatedly throughout Israel’s Scriptures, with a spike in occurrences at both the Psalms and the prophetic literature. ^[13]Cf. Johanna Stiebert, “Shame and the Body in Psalms and Lamentations of the Hebrew Bible and in Thanksgiving Hymns from Qumran,” OTE 20 (2007), 798-829, 810 n. 28, who argues that “[t]he … Continue reading Common amid the Psalter is the prayer of the righteous that they would “not be put to shame.” Often, such a plea for deliverance from social degradation is based on Israel’s covenant relationship with YHWH. God’s people are able to appeal to their dependence upon YHWH in order to avert shame (Pss 22:6; 25:2, 20; 31:2, 18; 71:1). ^[14]So with Johanna Stiebert, The Construction of Shame in the Hebrew Bible: The Prophetic Contribution, JSOTSupp 346 (New York: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002), 163. Another important aspect of such prayers is their depiction of the supplicant’s position within a triangular framework, with the individual praying for deliverance from shame by asking God to remove their humiliation before the eyes of onlookers. ^[15]See W. Dennis Tucker, Jr., “Is Shame a Matter of Patronage in the Communal Laments” JSOT 31 (2007), 464-480, 468. These prayers for the removal of shame frequently surface within laments, about which Avrahami explains: “the meaning of בושׁ [in the psalter] has to do with the experience of a disconnection between experience and reality. בושׁ is avoided when reality matches expectations.” ^[16]Yael Avrahami, “בושׁ in the Psalms—Shame or Disappointment?” JSOT 34 (2010), 295-313, 308. Cf. Daniel Wu, Honor, Shame, and Guilt: Social-Scientific Approaches to the Book of Ezekiel, … Continue reading

Turning from the Psalms to the prophets, the experience of shame takes on an historical aspect in Israel’s experience of exile. From the outset, Israel’s covenantal relationship with God was set within the framework of honor and shame. The laws of Deuteronomy culminate with the promise offered to Israel, should they obey, that God would “set them high above all the nations, in praise, in fame, and in honor” (Deut 26:19). This honorific promise finds its shadow side in the warning that, in response to disobedience, Israel would be made into “a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where YHWH will drive you” (Deut 28:37). This warning of dishonor arising from disobedience finds its most poignant manifestation in the threat of exile. ^[17]On this, see Isaac D. Blois, “Formulas for (Dis)Honorable Installation in Deuteronomy 26:19 and 28:37: The Honorific Implications of Israel’s Covenant (Un)Faithfulness,” CBQ 82 (2020), 381-406.

The situation of exile thus becomes for the prophetic outlook the locus classicus for Israel’s experience of shame. ^[18]Seebass, “בושׁ,” TDOT, 53: “the great prophets used this root [viz. בושׁ] in speaking of the catastrophe [in exile] of their people before God.” And this shame of exile is one that Israel’s leaders accept as appropriate in light of her people’s rebellious sinfulness. Hence, Daniel prays amid the exiles living in Babylon, “Righteousness is on your side, O Lord, but open shame (בשת הפנים || αἰσχύνη τοῦ προσώπου), as at this day, falls on us…because we have sinned against you” (Dan 9:7-8).

The prophets of Israel do not only lament over the shame that has fallen on them in exile, however; they also reach beyond it into a future in which God promises to take away their shame and restore their honor among the nations. Isaiah is foremost among these voices of hope for Israel’s eschatological vindication, in which the people’s former shame will be overturned, replaced with a glory that is recognized by all nations. Hence, we hear Isaiah declare that “those who wait for [YHWH] will not be put to shame” (Isa 49:23). Instead of shame, Isaiah holds forth glory as the heritage awaiting Israel once God arrives on the scene to bring about their salvation. ^[19]Stiebert, Construction of Shame, 105: “Only Yhwh can preserve from shame ([Isa] 45.17, 24-25). In the latter chapters [viz. of Isaiah] shame is only referred to in the context of being erased … Continue reading Thus, Isaiah asserts that “all those who are incensed against [YHWH] shall come to him and be ashamed (ויבשׁו || αἰσχυνθήσονται),” whereas, in contrast, “in YHWH all the offspring of Israel shall triumph and glory (ויתהללו || ἐνδοξασθήσονται)” (Isa 45:24-25). There is thus a juxtaposition of these two disparate future fates: the prospect of shame for the “incensed” and rebellious ones versus the hope of triumph and glory for faithful Israel. Hence, once God steps in to vindicate his people, shame will be reserved exclusively for those who set themselves up as the enemies of God and of his faithful ones.

This straightforward promise of glory for God’s faithful ones but shame for his enemies becomes more complicated, however, in the complex career of the Isaianic servant figure. The national hope for Israel coalesces in the person of the servant, who willingly assumes the people’s mantle of shame, with the result that, ultimately, he experiences the reversal of that shame and the reception of glory. In the third servant song, we hear the first-person lamentation of the servant, decrying his humiliation at the hands of the community, but ultimately expressing his assurance of divine aid.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn
backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to
those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult (ἀπὸ
αἰσχύνης) and spitting. The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not
been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I
shall not be put to shame (ἔγνων ὅτι οὐ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶ); he who
vindicates me is near.

(Isa 50:5-8)

This confidence of God ensuring that the shame heaped upon the servant does not stick to him is later matched in the fourth servant song, where a promise of divine vindication and exaltation is held forth for the faithful sufferer after his having undergone such shame.

His appearance was dishonored (ἄτιμον) and forsaken among the sons of
men…; he was dishonored (ἠτιμάσθη) and was not esteemed… His
judgment was taken away in humiliation (ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει)… [T]he
Lord is willing to remove him from the difficulty of his soul, to show
him the light.

(Isa 53:3, 8, 10-11)

Therefore, in terms of the emotional experience of the servant, we see him undergo humiliation at the hands of the community for the sake of his obedience to the Lord, but because he has divine sanction for this disgrace he does not feel it to be cause for shame. Instead, he looks forward to being extricated in the future from his many difficulties, even allowing the certainty of that future vindication to strengthen his sense of non-shame in the present. As Stiebert explains about the complex emotional state of the servant figure:

in the example of the Servant of Yhwh in Isaiah: though mocked and
degraded, it is said that he is not ultimately shamed. ^[20]Stiebert, Construction of Shame, 168-169. Cf. Lyn Bechtel Huber, “Biblical Experience of Shame/Shaming: The Social Experience of Shame/Shaming in Biblical Israel in Relation to its Use as Religious … Continue reading

Shame in Philippians

Although, strictly speaking, the lexical markers for shame occur only twice in Paul’s letter to the Philippian saints (at 1:20 and 3:19), attending to aspects of shame allows for a fertile analysis of many portions of the letter. Paul’s confidence bookends the section of 1:19-26, by way of the οἶδα verb at 1:19 and the πεποῖθω verb at 1:25; the hope is explicit at 1:20 where Paul speaks of his ἀποκαραδοκίαν and ἐλπίδα. It is no coincidence that Paul begins referring to emotions (hope, joy) that, as we saw in our discussion of the Psalms above, were regularly associated with the non-experience of shame. ^[21]See especially Ps 119:116, where the psalmist pleads that he not be ashamed “from [his] expectation (προσδοκίας),” which emotional term of hope bears close resemblance to the … Continue reading

The apostle’s confidence (οἶδα) about his own forthcoming vindication and acquittal (σωτηρίαν) emerges at Phil 1:20 in a pair of twin expectations, one of them in the negative and the other in the positive, and both having resonance within the field of honor and shame. In the negative, Paul expects that he will not experience shame (ἐν οὐδενὶ αἰσχυνθήσομαι), whereas, in the positive, he expects that Christ will experience magnification (μεγαλυνθήσεται Χριστός). In both cases, the use of the passive verb implies the divine agent, with God being the one who will cause shame to be withheld from the apostle as well as God being the one who will bring about Christ’s glorification through Paul’s body by way of bold testimony at the trial. The setting is explicitly forensic, and “boldness” (παρρησίᾳ) on the part of the apostle serves as a key vehicle (in conjunction with God’s own agency, again, marked by the divine passive verbs) for the humiliation being negated and the magnifying being implemented.

Many scholars have argued for Paul’s explicit self-association, through his declaration that “in nothing will I be put to shame” (ἐν οὐδενὶ αἰσχυνθήσομαι), with the ‘righteous sufferers’ of the Psalms, who similarly could declare, on the basis of an enduring trust in and faithfulness to YHWH, that they would “never be put to shame” (οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ, Ps 34:5). ^[22]So with Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 130-131. Cf. Rinaldo Fabris, Lettera ai Filipessi – Struttura, Commento e Attualizzazione (Bolgna: … Continue reading Kleinknecht offers the most thorough argument along this vein, with his claim that our Philippians passage allows for “a distinct reference to the Traditionsfeld of the suffering righteous one.” ^[23]Karl Theodor Kleinknecht, Der leidende Gerechtfertigt: Die altestamentlich-jüdisch Tradition vom ‘leidenden Gerechten’ und ihre Rezeption bei Paulus, WUNT 2.13 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1984), … Continue reading The apostle’s disavowal of shame follows closely upon the heels of his confident assertion that he knows that his present situation “will turn out for salvation” to his own benefit, directly drawing on the language of assurance that Job uses about himself in his situation of humiliation (cf. Job 13:16). ^[24]On this, see Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 22: “Paul the prisoner tacitly assumes the role of the righteous sufferer, as … Continue reading If Stiebert is correct—and I think she is—to link the non-experience of shame in Job’s case to that of the Isaianic servant, ^[25]See Stiebert, Construction of Shame, 94 n. 16, who argues that Job’s situation is the “prime example” that illustrates the situation of the Servant as depicted in Isa 50:6-7, since, despite his … Continue reading then Paul may be explicitly linking himself into this tradition, reflected mutually in the careers of Job and of the servant figure, in order to show that whatever shame might be perceived to fall upon him externally due to his circumstances as a prisoner, when it comes to his internal state before God he stands blameless and without reproach.

What I have argued above is that closely connected to the motif from the Psalter of the suffering righteous ones who can appropriately look to God to overturn their shame, stands the Isaianic servant, who similarly looks to YHWH amidst his current experience of shame for a reversal of fortunes. While Paul’s disavowal of shame at Phil 1:20 does connect with the overall motif of shame overturned for the suffering righteous in the Psalms, the apostle arrives at that emotional experience by way of reading himself into Isaiah’s narrative of shame overturned for the servant figure.

Paul is notorious for drawing richly on the Isaianic material for elucidating his own apostolic ministry. ^[26]Jeffrey W. Aernie, Is Paul also among the Prophets?: An Examination of the Relationship between Paul and the Old Testament Prophetic Tradition in 2 Corinthians, LNTS 467 (London: T&T Clark, … Continue reading He does so, primarily, in order to make sense of the Lord whom he proclaims throughout his ministry, interpreting Christ’s trajectory of first shame ^[27]While Paul does not use the specific vocabulary of shame (αἰσχύνη) when describing Jesus’s death, the implications of social shame are unavoidable. Cf. Joseph H. Hellerman, “The … Continue reading then glory as bringing to fulfillment that which was promised about the servant in the latter portion of Isaiah. This Christological reading of the Isaianic servant comes to the fore at the famous Christ hymn of 2:5-11, where the apostle arguably draws language from Isaiah in order to describe both the downward arc of Jesus’s humiliation (cf. ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει in Isa 53:8 with ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν in Phil 2:6, ^[28]Peter Doble, “‘Vile Bodies’ or Transformed Persons? Philippians 3.21 in Context,” JSNT 86 (2002), 3-27, 11, who discusses Jesus’s death on a cross as one “which in a Roman colony would … Continue reading and εἰς θάνατον in Isa 53:12 with μέχρι θανάτου in Phil 2:8) and the upward transformation towards exaltation (cf. the clear allusion to Isa 45:24 in Phil 2:10-11). ^[29]See Florian Wilk, Die Bedeutung des Jesajabuches für Paulus, FRLANT 179 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998), 323-325. It is this Isaianic narrative of shame turned to glory, or, more specifically, of current shame housed in the midst of an overall movement toward glorification, that provides the hermeneutical framework for Paul’s understanding of the Christ event.

But the analytic power that comes from Paul’s reading of the servant story does not deplete itself in explicating Jesus’s experience with shame; it continues to pay out richly in Paul’s understanding both of his own experience of shame, ^[30]Lucien Cerfaux, “St Paul et le ‘Serviteur de Dieu’ d’Isaïe,” in Miscellanea biblica et orientalia, ed. R. P. Athanasio Miller, SAPT 27-28 (Rome: Herder, 1951), 351-365, 362, explains on … Continue reading in his role as the servant of Christ, and in the experience of shame facing down all the saints at Philippi. ^[31]Pitta, Filippesi, 97, astutely points out that the Scriptural backdrop for the language of αἰσχύνομαι as coming from the psalms “well illustrates the motives of honor and dishonor that … Continue reading He states outright that Christ has become his “life” (1:21), and he expresses a deep yearning for unconstrained solidarity with Christ (“I want to know him…” 3:10-11). It is no surprise, then, that Paul turns to the same Isaianic narrative of shame transformed to glory that is expressed in the servant songs when grappling with the ups and downs of his own vocational labors. Paul does this in his undeniable allusion to Isa 49:4 at Phil 2:16, where the eschatological reward that Paul hopes for on the day of Christ corresponds to the divine “reward” offered to the Isaianic servant despite his contemporaneous experience of pain and toil. ^[32]On this, see my Mutual Boasting in Philippians: The Ethical Function of Shared Honor in its Biblical and Greco-Roman Context, LNTS 627 (London: Bloomsbury, 2020), 145-150. But, whereas in that case Paul is tapping into the positive glory held forth as a recompense for the servant’s ministry, in Phil 1:20 the apostle recurs to the servant’s confident denial of the shame that is wrongly attached to his ministry. Hence, despite the servant experiencing external shame, he yet knows that “I shall not be ashamed” (Isa 50:7). This is precisely the experience of Paul, who similarly faces what would undoubtedly be viewed as shameful circumstances within Roman culture, and yet he knows that he “will not be ashamed” (Phil 1:20). ^[33]On the probability of a “literary allusion to Isa 50:7” at Phil 1:20, see David McAuley, Paul’s Covert Use of Scripture: Intertextuality and Rhetorical Situation in Philippians 2:10-16 (Eugene: … Continue reading

The fact that Paul chooses to deny shame, rather than to affirm honor, lets us know that he is aware of how bad his situation must look to outside observers. This is why he is at pains to reframe his circumstances so as to interpret them in line with Christ’s new trajectory toward honor and glory. This reframing tactic within Paul’s rhetoric resurfaces in Paul’s second use of the αἰσχ- root, when he is critiquing the enemies of the cross at the end of Philippians 3. Whereas in Paul’s own case as a faithful minister of the gospel of Christ, the prospect of experiencing shame at the final judgment was off the table, for those enemies of Christ their “destiny is a shameful doxa.” ^[34]So with Mikko Sivonen, “The Doxa Motif in Paul: A Narrative Approach to the Vindication of the Glory of God through Christ” (Ph.D. Diss., University of Helsinki, 2018), 165. Sivonen reiterates … Continue reading Gnilka situates this future prospect of shame within the schema of the final judgment, at which time for their opposition to Christ’s cross these enemies “will be put to shame.” ^[35]Joachim Gnilka, Der Philipperbrief (Freiburg: Herder, 1968), 205: by means of αἰσχύνη Paul expresses “die Erfahrung des Gerichtes Gottes.” The shame of the opponents is heightened by the reversal which Paul describes, a paradoxical experience which is both a present reality and a looming certainty in the future. On the one hand, these opponents presently possess a “glory [which is] in their shame” (Phil 3:19); on the other hand, the believing saints currently possess a “body of humiliation” which will be “transformed” to be like Christ’s “glorious body” at the time of their Savior’s return (Phil 3:21). ^[36]Te-Li Lau, Defending Shame: Its Formative Power in Paul’s Letters (Ada, MI: Baker Academic, 2020), 136, is helpful on this point: “The community’s desire for Christ to return and honor them, … Continue reading At this time, all will be resurrected, some to everlasting joy and glory and others to face a judgment in which they receive eternal shame (so with Dan 12:2-3, to which Paul alludes at Phil 2:15 by his depiction of the faithful Philippians “shining like stars in the world”). ^[37]James Ware, “‘The Word of Life’: Resurrection and Mission in Philippians,” in Paul as Missionary: Identity, Activity, Theology, and Practice, ed. Trevor J. Burke and Brian S. Rosner, LNTS 420 … Continue reading It is thus Paul’s steady hope that all believers, and himself among them, will participate in the glorious resurrection of Jesus that furnishes the basis from which he can declare confidently that present shame will be overturned. ^[38]Hellerman’s comment, in “The Humiliation of Christ,” 433, is apt: “Paul envisioned the Christian ἐκκλησία as a social environment in which behaviors and attitudes deemed repulsive by … Continue reading In contrast, those currently posturing themselves against the beleaguered community of Christ will find themselves in the unsettling and ultimately damning situation of being clothed with only shame.

Conclusion

The apostle Paul was deeply concerned, as were the prophets of Israel before him, about the prospect of shame for God’s faithful ones. Ultimately, he was confident, however, that shame was an emotion reserved exclusively for those who “separated themselves” (Isa 45:24 LXX) from God and from his righteousness displayed in the faithful work of Christ. ^[39]As James R. Harrison, “Paul and Ancient Civic Ethics” in Paul’s Greco-Roman Context, ed. Cilliers Breytenbach (Leuven; Paris; Bristol, CT: Peeters, 2015), 75-118, 76, succinctly states: Paul … Continue reading Paul’s assurance that shame would not be the last word for himself and for his believing brothers and sisters did not, however, mean that all shame would be avoided in this present age. Since all those “in Christ” will undergo the same emotional course already run by their Savior, believers too could expect to face shameful suffering, though with a sure hope that it would ultimately be reversed, just as Jesus saw the reversal of his honorific fortunes through his glorious resurrection and exaltation at the hands of his Father. In this way, though shame stands at the forefront of the present experience for believers, resurrection presents the final emotional determiner, with eternal joy replacing the present short-lived shame. By situating himself and his fellow converts to Christ within this paradoxical, prophetic stream of hope, Paul positions himself within the
sphere of the servants of the Servant. His joy in the present despite ongoing shame was a flag planted in the enemy’s territory, claiming victory amidst apparent defeat. It was an act of defiance in the face of a host of would-be ἀντικείμενοι (attackers), audaciously declaring that the crucified Jesus has been raised to the highest position of prominence, and that all those who willingly partake in their Lord’s humiliating degradation will assuredly share in his glorious exaltation.