HUMILITY

"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons."  Galatians 4:4,5

Jesus' entry into the world in unlikely.  God has planned it from the beginning of time.  Prophets have foretold it.  Angels have announced it.  The Jews have expected it.  A Rescuer is coming, a Messiah, a Savior.  And yet, a baby is not what I would have expected.  A fiery chariot conducting Warrior Jesus to earth would better align with my idea of a Savior.  Not a baby born homeless. 
     If I lived in first century Palestine, I am sad to confess that I would have probably been counted among the Pharisees, the religious leaders among the Jews.  Pharisees were defenders of the Jewish faith.  They were religious and respectable.  They knew the rules, memorized the Scriptures and gave their lives to living righteous lives.  They were looking for the Messiah to come, but they missed him.  
     And so did I for most of my life.  I grew up going to church, learning the Bible and wanting to be that "good girl" that Jesus would be proud to have on His team.  I thought that keeping the rules would make me good and acceptable to God.  I missed what the Pharisees missed.  Jesus didn't come to make good people better.  He didn't come to put stars on the rule-keepers and shake His finger at the rule-breakers.  He didn't come to rub elbows with the respected, prominent, religious  movers-and-shakers.  He  came for the broken and needy.  Religion is about rules;  Jesus is about relationship.  Admit you can't be good enough, admit your best efforts are shot-through with self interest, admit you can't save yourself (and neither can those religious rules) and Jesus is there.
     It's the Gospel of humility and you won't find it in any religion in the world.  No human mind would conjure up a God who comes humble into the world, serving those He had created.  Ponder this:
      Jesus -- Son of God, Creator of the world, Giver of life -- entered the world through a backdoor, as a baby.
       He exchanged His riches for poverty;
       let His glory be wrapped in rags,
       disguised His strength in helplessness,
       obscured His wisdom in infancy,
       sacrified His dignity for dependency,
       and replaced His honor with humility.
Jesus loved the human race so much that He chose to enter into our space, take on our heartache, engage in our struggles, expose our failures and offer His amazing gift of forgiveness and healing.  He could have come as a super-hero. . . but He didn't.  He entered helpless and humble to demonstrate a love that is hard to grasp, a love that could only come from God.

For this is what the high and lofty One says --- He who lives forever, whose name is holy: 
"I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."  Isaiah 57: 15