The humility of Christ (3)

The lowliness and humility of Christ also became visible in the different stages of His life. We should never forget that He was the eternal Son of God who willingly chose all the stations of His earthly life.

His genealogy

If we had the choice to choose a genealogy into which we would be born what would have been our choice? What kind of persons we would like to be identified with? Most probably many of us would choose great and significant persons that have done great things in human history. Not so with the Lord. If you read Christ’s genealogy in Matthew 1 you will see that 4 women are mentioned. This is already unusual for jewish customs because normally only men are mentioned there. But what is even more striking is what kind of women are mentioned there. They were no heroes of faith like Rebecca or Sarah. But instead the Bible mentions in 3 of their lives the sin of fornication. One of them was a prostitute and the fourth one didn’t even belong to the people of Israel having no right at all to be part of this genealogy. The genealogy of Christ is a practical illustration of what we read in 1 Corinthians 1:28 where it says: “The ignoble things of the world, and the despised, has God chosen.” Their names are: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and the wife of Uraiah.

Christ willingly choose to be indentified with these women in His genealogy. That shows us His lowly mind.

We are exhorted in the New Testament not to mind high things, but to go along with the lowly (Rom 12:16).

His birthtown

If we had the choice to pick a city in which we would be born what would have been our choice? Probably some would have chosen Jerusalem which is quite a famous city. But the Lord of glory chose differently. Instead of aiming to be connected to great and famous things He chose to be born in Bethlehem. The prophet Micah says: “(And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come forth unto me who is to be Ruler in Israel: whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity.)” (Micah 5:2) The king of Israel and the eternal God is not born in a palace but is put in a manger in Bethlehem because there was no room for Him in the inn.

His family

If we could choose the family into which we would be born we would probably choose a famous and wealthy one. Not so with the Lord Jesus. He chose to be born into a poor family. Joseph and Mary even didn’t have enough money to bring a sheep for the days of Mary’s cleansing after the birth. Instaed they had to bring two turtle-doves - something that was allowed only for poor people (Lev 12:7.8 ; Lk 2:22-24).

The town where He grew up

What was the town in which Christ grew up? It wasn’t a place with a good reputation. The town was called Nazareth situated in Galilee - a region of which the Scribes said: “Search and look, that no prophet arises out of Galilee” (John 7:52). But it seems that Nazareth was even worse than this because Nathanael said: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46) That was the place where Christ grew up. Later He was called Jesus, the Nazareen. A title that shows us how despised He was in the eyes of men. He was truly identified with the ignoble and despised things of the world.

Are we willing to follow his example or do we seek to be identified with the things that have a good reputation and put us in a good light in the eyes of the world? In the prophet Jeremiah God says: “And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not” (Jer 45:5).

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5).

J.P.S.

Article series: The humility of Christ