‘Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.'
Paul includes Timothy in his greeting, presumably because he was with him at the time and was so well known to the Philippians. Note his description of himself and Timothy as ‘slaves of Christ Jesus' (compare Romans 1:1; Jas 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1:1). Nothing delighted him more than to acknowledge his total submission to God, and to recognise the fact that he was bound to Him by a debt that he could not repay. He saw his life as thus wholly yielded to His service. Everything that he had, and every moment that was his, belonged to God, and to God alone (compare Romans 12:1-2).
But the word ‘servant' also translates the Hebrew ebed which in the Old Testament was regularly used of those in an honourable position of service. Thus while an indication of total obedience, it was also a claim to be a special emissary of God. It is interesting to note that while the Old Testament prophet spoke of himself as ‘the servant of YHWH', the New Testament equivalent speaks of himself as ‘the servant of Christ Jesus'. This is unquestionably equating YHWH and Christ Jesus. No Jewish Christian who thought that Jesus Christ was less than God would have spoken in this way.
‘Christ Jesus.' The order of the names is a reminder that ‘Christ' was not just a surname. He was ‘the Messiah Jesus', although to the Gentiles ‘Messiah' meant almost the equivalent of ‘Saviour'. The Gentiles were mainly unaware of the thrill that would come into a Jewish heart at the thought of ‘the Messiah', the ‘Anointed One' promised by God Who would accomplish the deliverance of His people. But they did recognise that the idea of the ‘anointed One' signified someone very important to their salvation.
It is noteworthy that he does not feel it necessary to mention his Apostleship, something which he rarely omitted in his other letters (only so in his letters to Philippi and to the ‘neighbouring' Thessalonians). His relationship with the Macedonian churches was such that it was not necessary. No one in the church at Philippi or at Thessalonika challenged his credentials. And similar authority was conveyed by the idea of being a ‘servant of Christ Jesus'.
The name of the addressees is also significant. He is speaking to ‘ALL', and they are all ‘sanctified ones (saints) in Christ Jesus'. This refers to their status as having been set apart wholly to God, and as being ‘made holy' by Him as His special possession (compare 1 Peter 2:9). They were all His own elect people. They belonged to Him. It does not depict them as ‘painted saints', for he could speak of the unruly Corinthians, in spite of their failings, in the same way (1 Corinthians 1:2). His point was that they were treasured by God and destined for glory.
The description of their leadership as ‘overseers' (episkopoi - originally ‘bishops' were joint overseers of individual churches) and ‘deacons (servants)' reflects the way in which he describes such offices in his letters to Timothy and Titus. There were at this time no monarchical or diocesan bishops. Some churches were watched over by ‘overseers (bishops) and deacons' (following Gentile patterns) and others by ‘elders' (following the Jewish pattern; compare Acts 14:23). Conformity would come later. The word for ‘bishop' (episkopos) means simply ‘an over-seer'. We must not think in terms of ‘bishops' of our own day. Each city and town church had a number of bishops/overseers who watched over their widespread gatherings. But they needed to be ‘apt to teach' (1 Timothy 3:2). Thus they were more than just administrators.
Each city church (which was composed of numbers of groups around the city and its environs, which met together as they could) was independent of all others. Their joint unity was on the basis of shared faith, not on the basis of a hierarchy. There were no extended diocese. That would come much later and would not necessarily be a good thing. In many cases it would put the power in the wrong hands. But God intended His church to work in harmony under the Holy Spirit, not to be directed and controlled by powerful men (compare 3 John 1:9).
The overall greeting emphasises that in Paul's eyes the leadership was to be seen as having no more importance in God's eyes than the whole congregation. One could not see writers in later centuries addressing a church in this way at a time when bishops had been given an importance to which they were not strictly entitled. However, at this time all were seen as being of equal importance to God Who was seen as having no favourites. It is a reminder that their bishops and deacons were genuinely seen as servants of the church and not as its masters.