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For a short letter of only four chapters and
104 verses, Paul's Letter to the Philippians
is amazingly profound. At one level it is a
poignant epistle from a jailed apostle to a
beloved supporting church. At another level
it is contains an exhilarating hymn of
Christ's humility and exaltation, a glimpse
into Paul's intense passion to know Christ,
and a discerning reflection on prayer and
the peace it brings.
The City of Philippi
Philippi was given the high honor of the ius Italicum ("law of Italy"), which meant that it was governed by Roman law, its citizens were Roman citizens, its constitution was modeled after Rome's, its architecture copied Roman styles, its coins bore Roman inscriptions, Latin was widely used, and its citizens wore Roman dress. In spite of a strong Roman influence, the city's religious life was quite diverse. It included monuments reflecting emperor worship, plus Greek gods and their Roman counterparts, especially Jupiter (known in the Greek world as Zeus). The local Thracians worshipped the goddess Artemis, while there were also sanctuaries to Egyptian gods, especially Isis and Serapis, and to the Phrygian Cybele, known as the great Mother-goddess. There was a small Jewish community, but probably not a regular synagogue congregation which would have required ten men. Instead, several women met outside the city on the Sabbath for prayer (Acts 16:13).1 The Church at Philippi
One day they were met by a slave girl who
prophesied from an evil spirit. Finally Paul
turned to her and said to the spirit, "In
the name of Jesus Christ I command you to
come out of her." With their slave girl no
longer able to prophecy, her owners had Paul
and Silas flogged and thrown in prison for
"throwing our city into an uproar by
advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to
accept or practice" (Acts 16:20-21).
After Paul and Silas left, Luke may have stayed on in Philippi.2 Paul kept in touch with the Macedonian churches through Timothy (Acts 19:21-23; Philippians 2:19-20) and visited them twice more, probably during the autumn of 54-55 and again in the spring of 55-56 (Acts 20:1-3). The church at Philippi provided financial and material support several times during Paul's journeys. He bragged to the Corinthians about their generosity: "We want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.... They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will" (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). They shared with Paul a "partnership in the gospel from the first day" (Philippians 1:5). Paul recalls, "In the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need" (4:15-16). The warm Letter to the Philippians is strong evidence to this deep love between the apostle and some of his dearest converts. AuthorPaul's authorship of Philippians was unanimously supported among the Church Fathers and has rarely been challenged in our day. Nearly all scholars accept this as a genuine letter of Paul. Date and Place of Composition
Fortunately, it doesn't matter greatly to the teaching of Philippians which it was. In my exposition, I'll refer to Rome as the place of Paul's captivity, which is the place of composition I deem most likely. OpponentsTheir are several opponents mentioned in Philippians: (1) rival Christian preachers (1:15-18), (2) non-Christians who oppose the Gospel (1:1:27-28; 3:18-19), (3) Euodia and Syntyche, members at Philippi who are feuding with each other (4:2-3), and (4) a group who Paul refers to as "those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh" (3:2). This latter group has spawned a multitude of identifications. It seems pretty clear, however, that these are Judaizers, that is, "Jewish Christian missionaries from outside the congregation who wanted Gentile Christians to become Jews in practice," particularly by having them circumcised.3 Occasion and PurposesPaul's immediate concerns in writing this letter are:
Through the letter, however, Paul does much more than this. He provides the inspiration and encouragement of a friend, mentor, and fellow believer who finds Christ's strength and peace while struggling with opponents, anxiety, physical needs, and fear for his life. To see how a man, an apostle, meets obstacles and overcomes them in Christ, makes this letter very relevant for our day, too. ThemesPaul develops several themes in Philippians -- joy and fellowship among others. RejoicingJoy, the Greek noun chara, "the experience of gladness,"4 "rejoicing, merriness."5 like its verb form, chairō, "rejoice, be merry,"6 is related to the noun charis, "grace, favor," originally, "that which delights."7 Sometimes Christians act as if Christianity were a sorrowful religion. It is not. It is a religion of joy and love. Joy and rejoicing are key and frequent words in Philippians.
For Paul, joy is a key component of the Christian life -- a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and "joy in the faith" (Philippians 1:25). "The kingdom of God is ... righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). This is not just a present joy in the midst of trials, but a joy that will reach its completion in the future Kingdom of God. FellowshipKoinōnia is another keyword in Philippians. "Partnership" (NIV), "sharing" (NRSV), and "fellowship" (KJV) is the Greek noun koinōnia, "close association involving mutual interests and sharing, association, communion, fellowship, close relationship." It is used often to describe relationships with God and with others in the Christian community," as it does here. It sometimes edges into the meaning of "participation, sharing," as in 3:10 "sharing his sufferings" and in the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 10:16).8 Here are its occurrences in Philippians.
Unity and SelflessnessThe Philippians, beloved as they are by Paul, have some bickering and dissention going on. You can see this thread going throughout the short letter, sometimes subtly, by inference, and sometimes head-on.
In ChristOne of the characteristic phrases in Paul -- and, incidentally, John's writings too -- is "in Christ" or "in the Lord," the common Greek prepositional phrase en Christō or en kuriō. Here the preposition en is used to designate a close personal relation in which the object of the preposition is viewed as the control influence. So the preposition en here means, "under the control of, under the influence of, in close association with."9 We see this phrase again and again in Philippians. Paul anchors all of the Christian life in one's relationship to Christ.
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The
letter was written to Christians in the
Macedonian city of Philippi. Its history
goes back to 361 BC, when a number of Greek
settlers took over the obscure Thracian
village of Krenides ("springs"). Philip II
of Macedon, the Father of Alexander the
Great, annexed the whole region in 356 BC
and formally established Philippi as a city
bearing his own name. It was fortified with
an extensive city wall, part of which still
survives. A garrison stationed there made it
a military strong point to guard gold from
the nearby mines, which enriched Philip by
1000 talents of gold each year. 
The
Romans conquered Macedonia in 168-167 BC. In
42 BC, Mark Antony and Octavian defeated the
Roman Republican forces of Brutus and
Cassius (remembered as the assassins of
Julius Caesar). The victors settled many of
their veteran soldiers in Philippi and
established it as a Roman colony, which grew
still more when additional former soldiers
were given land there. 
The
Gospel came to Philippi sometime around 49
to 52 AD. On the Second Missionary Journey,
Paul and Silas were "kept by the Holy Spirit
from preaching the word in the province of
Asia" (Acts 16:6). They tried to go into
Bithynia, "but the Spirit of Jesus would not
allow them" (Acts 16:7). They finally
reached the coast at Troas, where Paul had a
vision of a Macedonian begging him, "Come
over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9).
Paul took this as God's call. 
In
Philippi, Paul and Silas met some women
praying on the Sabbath at the river, led by
Lydia, "a dealer in purple cloth from the
city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of
God" (Acts 16:14). She welcomed Paul's
message, was baptized with her household,
and invited the missionaries and a cluster
of believers into her home, where the tiny
church began to grow.
At
midnight an earthquake opened the prison
doors and the jailer was converted and
baptized with his household in the middle of
the night. At daylight, Paul and Silas were
thrown out of town, but not before a church
had been established. 
But
there's no unanimity on the date and place
of composition. Clearly it was written by
Paul when he was in prison (1:7, 13, 14), a
serious imprisonment (1:20-24, 30; 2:17),
expected to end in a trial that could result
in his death if convicted. In their attempts
to fit this imprisonment into a chronology
of Paul's life, scholars have presented
cogent arguments for each of three possible
locations and dates: