Read Philippians 2:10

The Context in Which the Name is Bestowed Upon Jesus⤒🔗

The exaltation bestowed upon the Lord Jesus is the exaltation bestowed upon Him in His capacity as the Servant of the LORD: His exaltation is the fulfillment of God’s promise to His Servant recorded in Isaiah 52:13-15.

Furthermore, our Lord’s exaltation is bestowed upon Him in His incarnate state, in His state as the Son of God become flesh. As the eternal Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, the supreme position of exaltation belonged to Him by rights (Phil. 2:6a). In His prayer just prior to going to the cross, the Lord Jesus prayed, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world was created” (Jn. 17:5).

Thus, it is important to understand that Philippians 2:9-11 is speaking about the Son of God in His incarnate state as Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, and is speaking about the exaltation God the Father bestowed upon Him in that state and in His capacity as the Servant of the LORD. Bearing this in mind, we are told that God highly exalted Jesus Christ by bestowing upon Him the name that is above every name.

The Name that is Bestowed Upon Jesus←⤒🔗

What does this passage teach us about this name? It is a definite, specific name, it is “the name,” the name known to the people of God. It is the name “that is above every name;” i.e. the name of supreme honor and supreme authority. The possession of this name causes universal homage and worship; it is precisely because this name has been bestowed upon Jesus that every knee shall bow before Him (Phil. 2:10).

The name is not the name “Jesus.” The phrase, “at the name of Jesus,” has led some people to wrongly assume that “Jesus” is the name of honor being referred to in this passage. But such is not the case.

“Jesus” is the name the eternal Son of God already possessed as the result of His incarnation; “Jesus” is actually the name He assumed in His humiliation. As we learn from the Gospel of Matthew, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name ‘Jesus,’ because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). When verse ten speaks about “the name of Jesus,” it does not mean, “the name that is Jesus;” rather, it means, “the name that belongs to Jesus,” “the name that has been bestowed upon Jesus.”

What is the Name that has been bestowed upon the Son of God in His incarnate state as Jesus of Nazareth in reward for His total obedience to God the Father? Upon Jesus is bestowed the Name before which “every knee should bow.” In Isaiah 45:23, the LORD declares, “unto me every knee shall bow.” The name bestowed upon Jesus is none other than the name of LORD, (the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament JEHOVAH); note Acts 2:36, “Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

The Result of the Name Being Bestowed Upon Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God←⤒🔗

The result of Christ’s exaltation, the result of the divine, pre-eminent name being bestowed upon Him in His incarnate state as Jesus the Messiah, the result of every knee bowing before Him and every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is LORD, the result of all this brings glory to God the Father.

This is the case because the exaltation of Christ is nothing less than the vindication of God’s character. By the exaltation of Christ, God the Father proves Himself to be absolutely truthful. As mentioned previously (Isaiah 53:10-12; cp., also, Acts 2:22-28), the exaltation of Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to His faithful servant. The exaltation of Christ is also the fulfillment of God’s promise to the man who honors Him, (see 1 Sam. 2:30b and Acts 2:22-28).

Furthermore, by the exaltation of Christ, God proves Himself to be the God whose nature is self-giving love. He demonstrates that He does not withhold any good thing from the one who submits to Him and faithfully serves Him. He graciously bestows His very own Name upon His faithful servant. To bestow His own divine Name upon someone means to receive that person into His fellowship and allow that person to share in His sovereign rule. That divine, pre-eminent Name bestowed upon Jesus Christ means that Christ, in His capacity as the Incarnate Messiah and Savior of God’s people, together with all who are united to Him by faith, are received into the divine fellowship of God and are made to share in the sovereign rule of God. The Lord Jesus testifies to all who believe in Him: “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Rev. 3:21).