The Modest King Arrives

Read Luke 2:6-7

Many images come to mind when we think of royalty. Thrones and crowns, extravagant gowns and brilliant jewels, eager servants and admiring crowds. When kings and queens are present, all are aware and red carpets await their imperial footsteps.

Certainly similar pomp would be expected for the arrival of God’s eternal ruler. Yet the Luke narrative demonstrates the great disparity between earthly kings and the King of Kings. This King comes not with a grandiose display of pageantry, but rather stunning humility. His regal throne is a feeding trough covered in livestock mucus and saliva. His royal palace is a filthy and odorous stable, where gold tiling is replaced with animal excrement.

From the moment of his birth, this King came, “not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). This humble housing is but a foreshadow of the most unfitting place for the Creator of the universe— a criminal’s cross. Yet this King would embrace it willingly. At the highest of price, he would purchase an everlasting palatial dwelling place for those least deserving— the very sinners who made his humiliation necessary.

Starter Prayer:
Jesus,
Thank you for your amazing display of humility. Help me to live a life of gratitude for what you did in coming to earth to live, die, and rise again for my salvation. You deserved riches and I deserved rags, but you willingly traded places with me. I am eternally grateful.
Amen.