Reflecting on Philippians - Philippians 1:21

Paul is so committed to Jesus and to following the Jesus’ way that he identifies that as amounting to life itself. That is all that he wants. It is not only his priority; it is the totality of his engagement with life and the world. Nothing can get in the way. Death will take him to a deeper, closer experience of Christ, and so that, which would normally be seen in negative terms, is to be viewed positively. Paul, as we have noted, is in prison at the time of writing this letter. Prison will end either in freedom or in death. Paul here asserts that he is not concerned as to which. If he is freed, he will be in a better position to proclaim the gospel of Christ than is the case from the restrictions of imprisonment. However, should he be put to death, that will take him closer to Christ. For Paul it is a win-win situation. As Dennis Hamm (Philippians) puts it: “either by his continuing to live and then to carry out his ministry, or by his martyrdom for the sake of Christ, Paul’s faith enables him to understand the prospects of his imprisonment as a win-win situation.” Putting it another way, Paul is content that God has all things in hand. I wonder how easily and how often we place that kind of confidence in God. I wonder how central is following the Jesus way to how we live out our lives. What Paul sometimes calls ‘life in Christ’ has so transformed him that the thing that matters is his relationship with Jesus. Death will not terminate that relationship: it will just change it, and so Paul is able to utter the words of this verse: for to me life is Christ, and death is gain.