- Proverbs 4:23
- Jeremiah 17: 9-10
- Matthew 15:19
- Matthew 6:21
- Exodus 20: 4-5
- Galatians 5:24
- Revelation 3:20
- John 3:16
In this, the true devotion to the Heart of Jesus is concretized: to know God and to know ourselves, and to look to Jesus and to come to him », says Saint Josemaría in this homily on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
To better understand why the Apostle Paul wrote the words we read in our passage, we must understand the immediate context of it. It is in him that we can see how Paul directly attacks a group of Judaizers who wanted to divert the genuine love that the Philippians had for the Lord Jesus. Verse 2 of this chapter makes the problem clear. Paul confronts them and calls them: dogs, bad workers and mutilators of the body. In the distant context of our passage, we can also note that Paul has presented us with testimonies of men who love and do not love Christ. In Chapter 1: 14-15 we notice two groups: those who preach Christ out of envy and what they do by new will. In chapter 2: 19-20 we have the example of Timothy's delivery, in chapter 2:21 we observe those who seek their own. In 2: 25-30 the example of Epaphroditus, in 3: 2 the Judaizers and in our passage the example of Paul.
We notice that without reservation, Paul has given himself the task of presenting us with evidences of men who could or did not love Christ completely, and his desire was to lead the Philippians to consider the lives of these men, notice the call to follow the example of these men in chapter 3:17. Paul's concern was evident because he deeply loved the Church he had founded on his second missionary journey. That church that was located in the important city of Philippi, a city that had a distinguished title of Roman colony. Philippi, being located on the banks of Via Ignacia, an important means of communication, was a strategic point of commerce in the Empire. It is to the Church located in this city that Paul presents the evidences of a heart that completely loves Christ, his own heart.
In the first verse of our passage, Paul goes back to us at the same time when on the road to Damascus he was called by Christ, when he decided between his life and the one Christ offered him. On that occasion he could only say "Lord, what do you want me to do?" If we notice in verse 7, Paul is emphatic when he says "But how many things were for my gain". Actually, the list Paul had mentioned in verses 5 and 6 was at one time considered important. But Paul expresses that "they were", in the original text, we translate this word from the Greek verb εἰμί, this is a verb that is in the imperfect tense, indicative, third person plural, that does not speak of a continuous real action in the past that it had its end in the past. Paul had continually valued those things as valuable, as they all gave him a higher standard of living, wealth, position, power, important friendships, and assured him of a fabulous future, and it could not possibly be madness to say that he had renounced the highest position in life. Israel, be High Priest. Paul had the opportunity to analyze the love of Christ and made the decision to follow him and leave behind his past. Note his statement, "I have estimated them as losses for the love of Christ," the verb to estimate, comes from the Greek verb ἡγέομαι that could be translated as: I consider, I think convenient, I think, I estimate. Being this in the perfect time, of the indicative first person singular, it expresses us an action carried out in the past but that affects the present. Pablo had considered the two options he had to live and made the decision to leave what he loved so much for the love of someone more superior, Christ.
This was directly related to the Philippians who had had to leave everything to follow Christ, their friends, family, suffer the rejection of society and instead had won persecutions and threats. Pablo is interested to see his example and remain standing.
Paul moves us from his past to his present. This analyzes his current situation as a prisoner, everything he had suffered for Christ, sees his chains, examines his health, notices his loneliness and his condition, but he can still affirm "And certainly, I still estimate all things as lost" the verb esteem in the Greek it is found in the present tense, indicative, first singular person that expresses a present and continuous action. Second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, I could affirm I love you Lord, my love has not changed. It had been many years since that encounter on the road to Damascus, Paul could remember all the sufferings, all the trials and tribulations that had happened but I could still say, I still love you Lord. No doubt to make his statement more profound, Paul uses the adverb "even", which gives more strength to his statement. All this could only be explained for one reason Paul longed for a deeper relationship with Christ every day. He did everything "for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord" Walvoord comments in this passage: "The expression" excellence "refers to what is located above; therefore, greatly surpassing that with which it is compared. The knowledge of Jesus Christ that he mentions indicates personal knowledge, experimental knowledge as opposed to the theoretical "Paul longs deeply to know Christ more and more, to spend time with him, and his prisons are not enough obstacles to impede him. Paul remains firm for the love of Christ. The present of the apostle was from his Lord.
Paul is trying to encourage the Philippians to stand firm in the love of Christ, this is the call he makes to them in chapter 4: 1 "be firm", because despite the present situations that could be happening, more the pressures of the Judaizers, they could continue to seek and love Christ with all their hearts.
