13/04/2024
The Life Jesus Gladly Chose
Zac Poonen | 14th April 2024
Jesus was the only person ever born who had the opportunity to choose the family into which He was to be born. None of us had that choice.
Which family did Jesus choose? An unknown carpenter's family from a place called Nazareth, of which town people said, "Can any good come from there?" (John 1:46). Joseph and Mary were so poor that they could not even afford to offer a lamb as a burnt offering to God (cf. Luke 2:22-24 with Leviticus 12:8).
Further, Jesus was the only person ever born, who could choose exactly where He would be born. Having the opportunity to determine the place of His birth, which place did He choose? A cattle food-box in a lowly stable!
“Jesus always considered Himself as a man to be nothing before His Father”
Notice further, the family-line that Jesus chose for Himself. Four women are named in the family-tree of Jesus, mentioned in Matthew 1:3-6. The first one, Tamar had a son through committing adultery with her father-in-law, Judah. The second one, Rahab, was a well-known pr******te in Jericho. The third one, Ruth, was a descendant of Moab, who was born as a result of Lot committing adultery with his own daughter. The fourth one was Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, with whom David committed adultery.
Why did Jesus choose such a shameful family-line to come through? So that He could identify Himself totally with Adam's fallen race. There we see His humility. He did not desire any pride of family or genealogy.
Jesus identified Himself totally with man. He believed in the essential equality of all human beings, irrespective of race, family, position in life, etc., and became one with the least and lowest in the social strata. He came below all, that He might be the servant of all. It is only the one who gets beneath others who is able to lift them up. And that is how Jesus came.
The Holy Spirit transforms us through the renewal of our mind (Romans 12:2). It is in our thoughts that the seed of true Christ-like humility is sown. It is not by our actions or by our behaviour before others but rather by our thoughts (when we are by ourselves) that we can ascertain whether we are being transformed into Christlikeness in this area or not - our thoughts concerning ourselves and about how we compare with others.
It is only when we are truly small in our own thoughts, that we can genuinely “regard others as more important than us” (Philippians 2:3), and consider ourselves as “the very least of all the saints” (Ephesians 3:8).
Jesus always considered Himself as a man to be nothing before His Father. Therefore, the glory of the Father was manifested through Him in all its fullness.
For thirty years, Jesus submitted to an imperfect foster-father and mother - because this was His Father's will. He knew far more than Joseph and Mary; and was sinless, unlike them. Yet He submitted to them.
It is not easy for man to submit to those who are intellectually or spiritually inferior to him. But genuine humility has no problem here - for one who has truly seen himself as nothing in God's eyes, has no difficulty in submitting to anyone whom God appoints over him.
Jesus chose a fairly unimpressive profession - that of a carpenter. And when He entered into His public ministry, He had no prefixes or suffixes to His name. He was not 'Pastor Jesus.' Much less was He ‘The Reverend Doctor Jesus!’ He never sought nor desired any earthly position or title that would exalt Him above the common people whom He had come to serve.
Because Jesus took this position of nothingness before the Father, He could joyfully submit to anything that the Father ordered for His life and obey all the Father's commandments wholeheartedly.
“He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.” (Philippians 2:8)
Such total obedience to God is the unmistakable mark of genuine humility. There is no clearer test than this.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
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