wanted was completely overlooked because he was merely a caretaker for the sheep. The lowliness of place and people about Bethlehem’s manger sets off in bold relief the spirit of humility that marked the coming of the Lord JesUs to take upon Him self our humanity. The Apostle Paul continues his description of this self-humbling on the part of our Lord when he states that though Christ was in the form of God, with all the attributes of Deity, He regarded not His exalted place something to be grasped for Him self ; but rather that He “ emptied himself.” He took the semblance of a servant. God the Son, alway in the bosom of the Father, and ever His greatest delight and joy, stooped from the height of Heaven to the depth of eayth’s degradation. Can we understand something — anything — of the reality of the self-humbling of our Saviour, so that we too may have that same attitude of mind? The magni tude of that humbling staggers human imagination. One is reminded of the reflections of a native of India, who had sought in vain in the religions available to him for the reality which his soul desired. He had been reared in Hinduism, but had found no hope therein; he had embraced Buddhism, but had discovered in it no balm for his sin-sick soul. He heard of Christianity, and set himself to study its basic tenets. When he came to the doctrine of the Christians that the Lord Jesus Christ was “ very God of very God,” of the substance of the Father from all eternity, and then •He humbled Himself to take upon Him our humanity, apart from our sin, the Indian was indignant. How was it possible that the human mind could imagine such an abhorrent thought, that God would come to the level of sinful man and be one like us! With disgust he turned from his study of Christianity to search in other fields for food for his soul. One day as he was walking in his garden he came upon a large .ant hill, and paused to observe those little living symbols of industry and frugality. He noticed that his shadow seemed to cause them some consterna tion. When he retired a few steps, they immediately resumed their activity. He began thus to reason within himself: “ I wish I could convey to those little ants that I am a man, that I have kindly feelings toward them, that in my regard for life I would not injure one of them. How could I bring to them such a concept, so that they would look upon my shadow as a source of comfort rather than of apprehension? They are only vaguely conscious of my presence, but at the same time are afraid of me. I think I see how I could make myself known to them. If I, with all the faculties of a man, could divest myself of a human form and take upon me the form of an ant, to talk with them as ants seem to be able to converse one with another, to explain to them that the great shadow which suddenly falls upon them is that of a man, who regards life as a sacred thing, and who would not, if it were possible, so much as step upon one of them, in that way I am sure that I could make them understand who I am and how I feel toward them.” Suddenly a startling realization burst upon him: “Why, that is exactly the position of the Christians. They realize that we human beings cannot comprehend God. We sense His shadow and are afraid of Him. They teach us that God took upon Himself a human form and walked among us, was one of us; and in that manner He could reveal to us the truth of God.” From that ant hill, the Indian philosopher turned away as a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Would it be humbling to us to divest ourselves of our human forms to become ants in some woodland? It was
a step far greater for the Lord Jesus Christ to go from Heaven’s glory to earth’s sorrow. Herein is the true spirit of Christmas: lowliness of heart toward others and circumstances, after the fashion of that mind which was in our Saviour. The descent of the Lord Jesus from the zenith of Heaven to the nadir of mankind did not constitute the totality of this emptying process by which He became our Saviour. Within the realm of mankind there are gradations of social standing. Granted that the degree of humiliation from eternity to time is one of infinite degree, and that among mankind the differences are relatively small, nevertheless, there would have been a difference for our Lord had He assumed the status of a sovereign rather than that of a servant. However, in true humility, He chose neither the exalted place nor the ease of affluence; on the contrary, He took the place of poverty and of toil. As a lad, and as a young man. He knew the weariness o f physical toil, the exactness of the carpenter’s trade, the common lot of the artisan. He “ took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” This two-fold humiliation did not exhaust the low liness and graciousness of spirit of Him who said of Himself that He was “meek and lowly in heart.” He stooped not only from Heaven to earth, and upon earth to the place of a servant, but “being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” It would seem that humbling Himself—“ to taste of death,” as the Scrip tures state, would be deemed sufficient degradation for our salvation. But He stooped lower — to crucifixion, the criminals’ death. We moderns, to whom the cross has become the sym bol of the source of our salvation, can little understand the horror and shame of crucifixion. Death by the cross was the most horrible, the most dreaded and shameful punishment of antiquity. It was a method so hideous and inhuman that it was never to be mentioned in polite society. Cicero declared that the word crucifixion should never 'enter the thoughts, the eyes or the ears of a Roman citizen. By Roman law, no Roman citizen, how ever depraved or diabolical, was to be crucified. It con stituted the consummation of human sadism, the most terrible torture to be devised in man’s inhumanity to man. We shudder at the thought of death by electrocu tion or by hanging; and if by chance we know of some one whose son has paid for sin in that fashion, we feel unspeakable compassion for him. We read in contempo rary literature of the contempt expressed by Romans and Greeks for those who would worship anyone who had been crucified. Yet it was being “ obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” that marked the mind that was in our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that He might become our Saviour. The question then remains, how are we to show forth the genuine Christmas spirit — this lowliness of mind that brought our Lord from the loftiness of Heaven to the low level of the cross? Every day, not only on Christ mas alone, we may witness by word and deed, from the depths of our hearts, that we are content with any places He gives us, with any service or lack of service He assigns, with any duty or drudgery He chooses for us. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is to be done “ through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3). By such humility, welling up from our hearts because of Christ’s living out His life within us, we can show forth day by day the merits of Him who was meek and lowly of heart. Only in this way shall we be able to express the true Christmas spirit.
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DECEMBER, 1965
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