Imagine throwing a very expensive, elaborate party at an exclusive restaurant. Everything is first class. You spare no expense.
When you arrive, you see everyone enjoying themselves, but no one acknowledges you. And when you make your way to the buffet, someone even asks who you are and wants to know if you have an invitation.
How would you feel? What would you say?
I’d be angry. And offended. To the person who asked if I’d been invited, I’m pretty sure I’d say, “Excuse me?! Do you have any idea who paid for all this? I should be asking if you were invited!”
Maybe that scenario gives us just the very smallest taste of what it was like for Jesus to come into the world.
Jesus spoke the universe into existence and yet John 1:10 says:
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
Jesus came into the world. We didn’t recognize Him. And yet He didn’t assert His rights as God and demand His own way. He was humble.
Do you understand how the One who spoke the universe into existence is humble? I don’t.
God didn’t choose to humble Himself and become a helpless baby, He became a helpless baby because He’s humble. Jesus experienced life as one of us, felt what it was like to be rejected by those He created and even let us kill Him because that’s what a humble God does.
God hasn’t changed. He’s still humble. He doesn’t demand things be done His way. Sure, He gives us commands, but they’re for our own good and He doesn’t make us obey.
God never forces us to do things His way. Instead, He invites us to seek Him and rewards us when we do (Hebrews 11:6). He first loved us (1 John 4:19) and desires that we love Him in return. When we offend Him, He gives us more grace. When we ignore Him, He waits patiently for us to return.
Somehow, Almighty God is also humble and unassuming. He reveals Himself to us and is then content to wait for us to come to Him. He doesn’t force Himself on us, but lets us choose Him.
If your view of God has ceased to amaze you, maybe this Christmas is a good time to stop and remember the most perplexing of all of God’s attributes. His humility.
Merry Christmas!