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He would come in all humility and meekness….
He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of Lords. He is God Almighty…..and yet…….
“For
He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of
parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look
upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” Isaiah
53:2
“And speak unto Him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of
hosts, saying, Behold a man whose name is THE BRANCH; and He shall grow
up out of His place…” Zechariah 6:12
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter
of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is
coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and
mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah
9:9
With the above scriptures from the Old Testament in mind, let's jump ahead to the New Testament.....
“And
she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in swaddling
clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in
the inn.” Luke 2:7
“Jesus, knowing that the Father has given all
things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going
back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and
taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin,
and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel
with which He was girded.” John 13:3-6
“Who,
although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God
a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men….”Philippians 2:6-7
“They were saying, Is this
not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does
He say, I have come down out of heaven?” John 6:42
""The
disciples went and did as Jesus instructed and brought the donkey and
the colt and laid their coats on them; and He sat across their
coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road
and others were cutting branches.....The crowds were going ahead of Him
shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He Who comes in the
name of the Lord..." Matthew 21: 6-9
“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
The
arrival of the Messiah was missed, in part, because people were looking
for the arrival of a “KING” and a “MESSIAH”. They were expecting
trumpets and fanfare that you think should herald the arrival of someone
important. They wanted signs of power and might as the world translates
power and might. Also, many Jews believed it would be two messiahs who
would come. They thought one would be the suffering Messiah and the
other would be the Mashiach Nagid, Messiah King. It was hard to imagine
the prophecies could be about just one man because they seemed to
contradict themselves. And yet this was exactly the case. It would be
one Man fulfilling it all!
Jesus came the first time as the suffering Messiah. When He returns it
will be as the Messiah King, the Mashiach Nagid, to reclaim possession
of the earth from His enemies.
When God said, “Your ways are not
My ways,” in Isaiah 55:8, He was not kidding!! When Jesus came the first
time, He entered His creation in the most humble of ways, and spent the
next thirty-three years living the most humble of lives. He came to
live in and amongst the people He created. God the Son, Christ Jesus was fully human, living a
fully human life.
He
did not have the hands of a palace prince. His were the calloused hands
of a servant. Those precious, calloused hands, that would one day be
nail scarred, could build a table, turn over the table of a money
changer, heal the sick, cook fish for His disciples, or bless a small
child. He didn’t come to observe life on earth. He came to live it.
Because of this, He understands sorrow and suffering. He was surrounded
by the injustices of the times He lived in. Our King knows what it means
to be poor, go hungry, be hated, abused, laughed at, tempted, rejected
by family, and the list goes on.
God the Son humbled Himself to enter His creation as a baby, to grow up living a
fully human life. He lived a life without sin, but not without
temptation. He is our perfect High Priest BECAUSE of this.
“Therefore,
since we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a
high priest Who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has
been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:14-15
His
humble life made Him accessible to the people. They could find Him
sitting in a boat, standing on a rock, or sitting on the grass teaching.
Little children could come running up to Him, climb all over Him, and
He loved it!! A blind man could cry out to Him for healing, a leper
could approach Him, or a woman who was ill could touch the hem of His
garment and be healed. By coming in meekness and humility Jesus fulfilled so many prophecies
spoken of Him in the Old Testament. This speaks to the truth…He is Who
He says He is!! He is the Son of God.
I
could go on for hours, but I won’t! Let me just end with this. Isn’t it
incredible that every year we have Christmas set aside for the single
purpose of celebrating our Savior, Christ Jesus?!
It is His coming as a baby to be the Savior of our souls. And yet, how
often during the Christmas season do we actually stop and think about
the WHY of baby Jesus coming? Every day during the Christmas season, and
every other day of the year I want to keep the focus of my life on WHO
truly matters. THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES!!!!
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