Typical of biblical narratives, the story of Jesus' birth is just full of markers pointing us to a theme that the author wants us to see—in this case it's his humility. Of course the key is to remember the theology of the incarnation. This is the birth of God, the second person of the Trinity. Otherwise this is just another story of a poor family.
The humility of Jesus is seen in the following events in his story:
- Jesus was born in Bethlehem - In Micah 5:2 Micah prophecies the birthplace of the Messiah to be in Bethlehem says, "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days."
- Jesus was from Nazareth as his hometown - When told of Jesus Nathanael, one of Jesus disciples says, "can anything good come out of Nazareth". (John 1:46)
- Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. These are of course no places for a king. (Luke 2:4-7)
- The angels announce his birth to shepherds. Shepherding was an incredibly boring job that required little skill and garnered even less respect in the culture. Yet these are the folks to whom God chose to announce his Son's birth. (Luke 2:8-20)
- When Jesus is presented at the temple for his purification rites the text only makes mention of Mary bringing two doves or two young pigeons. (Luke 2:24) This was the allowance in the Law of Moses for poor families. Those who could afford it were to bring a lamb. (Lev. 12:8)
All of these suggest that Jesus had what we would call "very humble beginnings." Of course, this wasn't the beginning for Jesus as the Philippians 2 text, which we will look at tomorrow, makes clear.
The rags to riches stories of successful people with humble beginnings are relatively common in our human experience (ie. Steve Jobs starting apple in a garage). The story of Jesus is a whole other story. This is first the reverse of that story. This is the story of someone with power and privilege giving up the rights to use that power and privilege for his own benefit. He gives this up, not just for a short time to connect with his people and get to know their circumstances like a Disney princess would do. He gave up many of his privileges and rights as divinity for his entire lifetime. There could be a prince Harry illustration there but I don't know enough about his circumstances to say. It wasn't until his brutal death and resurrection that his divinity was fully vindicated and his privileges restored. To be glorified in this way he went a long way down the road of humiliating circumstances. This we will pick up tomorrow.
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Reflection
Reflect today on the humility of Jesus in the Christmas story. Give him thanks for coming for everyone, not just the wealthy and the powerful but everyone.