March 1, 2015 at 12:01pm
"...mallon kreisson | to de..." - Excerpt of Philippians 1:23-24 in Greek, which means "...far better | nevertheless..."
The Apostle Paul mentioned here that to depart and be with Christ is far better than to live in this world, but the real dilemma is not that of whether to live in this world or to live in heaven; but to serve Christ in this world (and in the context of Philippians 1, to meet the needs of the fellow believers in Philippi) or to be with Him. But as how Matthew Henry in his commentary put, "those who have most reason to desire to depart, should be willing to remain in the world as long as God has any work for them to do". Therefore, Paul has put aside his personal desire for the more important and necessary item: the needs of the people in Philippi, and to continue living for Christ. While acknowledging the personal "mallon kreisson", there is still the "anankaioteron (more necessary)" to be addressed, hence the "to de".
No guesses on who is Paul's inspiration though. Look no further than the following chapter in Philippians, where the Lord Jesus Christ, "being in the form of God...made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:6-8). I suppose that the "mallon kreisson" would be His heavenly throne, but the "anankaioteron" would be the salvation of all mankind. And thus, he is the ultimate example of putting others' interests ahead of His own like "the form of a servant".
And that this act of ultimate humility was the "kreittosin thysias" - the better sacrifices (Hebrews 9:23), which was "ananke" - necessary (Hebrews 9:23).
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