Why Did Christ Come in Such a Humble and Lowly Way?

And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (Luke 2:7 NIV)

We expect that royalty, future kings and queens, will be born in suitably luxurious places, such as palaces or the best-equipped hospitals. Their birth is widely celebrated because of their status. But the birth of the Son of God could not have been more different.

Why did Christ come in such a humble and lowly way?

Jesus was a descendant of the line of David through his mother Mary; his adopted father Joseph was descended from David through a different son. However, by this time the line of David did not have any special prestige. Joseph was a humble carpenter, and while we don’t know about Mary’s family, they were probably of similar social standing. This loss of social standing is why Isaiah said that the Messiah would be a “shoot from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). As descendants of David, their ancestral home was Bethlehem (Luke 2:4), but they lived in Nazareth, an area not held in high regard. Even Philip said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

It’s difficult to think of a person more humble, vulnerable, and lowly than a newborn. The Second Person of the Trinity could have entered creation as the Angel of the Lord, as he did at various times recorded in the Old Testament, but he chose a much more humble way, being born of a virgin.

Veiled Glory

It is impossible for us to fully comprehend the condescension that the Incarnation involved. Jesus shared the Father’s glory before the world was created (John 17:5) and was the One through whom the Father created the world (John 1:3). In Isaiah 6, Isaiah recorded a vision of God’s glory, and John said that Isaiah actually saw Jesus’s glory (John 12:41). When John saw the glorified Christ recorded in Revelation, he fell down as if dead. Yet even though Jesus was supremely powerful, wise, and glorious, he came to earth as a weak infant, born to a poor family, and lived a sinless human life during which he would grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man.

Paul described Christ’s attitude in the Incarnation in this way:

[W]ho, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. (Philippians 2:6–9)

Why did Jesus come in this way? First, to carry out God’s plan of salvation. If Jesus always manifested his glory during his human life and ministry, the Jewish leaders and Romans would not have been able to conspire together to kill him, and Jesus’ death and resurrection was necessary for our salvation. Second, God wanted people to come to Jesus in faith, not simply cower as a result of seeing an overt display of his power. Jesus, when not confronting the hypocritical religious rulers, also exemplified this tender pattern during his earthly ministry when he did such things as wash his disciples’ feet (John 13) and when he said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29).

Even in Death

Jesus’ humility was also exemplified in his death. Crucifixion was a supremely shameful death, reserved for the worst criminals in the Roman empire.

We can never really imitate Christ’s humility because it involved things that pertain to his deity. But if Jesus humbled himself to such an extent for our salvation, we should respond by similarly not regarding any status we may have as more important than serving God and furthering the spread of the gospel. As Jesus said, “A servant is not above his master” (Matthew 10:24). The apostles, who personally witnessed Jesus’ humility, responded by giving their whole lives for the gospel, and tradition tells us that most of them were martyred for their witness. We can imitate them in being similarly dedicated to spreading the message of our glorious Savior who humbled himself so that we can be saved when we call on him.

Thank Jesus for humbling himself by coming to earth as a human for our salvation.