The extraordinary humility displayed in Christ’s birth challenges our human expectations and transforms our understanding of God’s glory. As we continue our Advent study, let’s explore how the humble circumstances of Jesus’ birth establish a pattern of belief, worship, and life that reshapes our Christian walk.
Lex Credendi: The Truth We Believe
Luke’s nativity account deliberately emphasizes the humble circumstances of Christ’s birth: “She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). This wasn’t merely a logistical necessity – it was a theological declaration. The King of kings chose to enter His creation not in a palace but in a feeding trough, not announced to nobles but to shepherds, not in the capital but in tiny Bethlehem.
This humility was intentional. Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor.” The eternal Son’s descent from heaven to earth, from glory to humility, reveals God’s character in a way that confounds human wisdom. As the early church father Gregory of Nazianzus wrote, “He who gives riches becomes poor; for he assumes the poverty of my flesh, that I may assume the riches of his Godhead.”
Lex Orandi: The Truth We Worship
Martin Luther captured this truth in his Christmas hymn “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come,” written for his children:
“From heaven above to earth I come,
To bear good news to every home,
Glad tidings of great joy I bring,
Whereof I now will say and sing.”
The hymn continues with the stark contrast between Christ’s heavenly glory and earthly humility:
“These are the signs which you shall mark:
The swaddling clothes and manger dark;
There you will find the infant laid
By whom the heavens and earth were made.”
This juxtaposition of divine majesty and human lowliness has inspired Christian worship for centuries. The Orthodox Kontakion of the Nativity proclaims: “Today the virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One, and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One.” Our worship, like Christ himself, must embrace both glory and humility.
Lex Vivendi: The Truth We Live
Perhaps no one embodied this incarnational humility more powerfully than St. Francis of Assisi. In 1223, at Greccio, Italy, Francis created the first living nativity scene. His purpose wasn’t mere entertainment but embodied theology – helping people experience the humble reality of Christ’s birth. Thomas of Celano records that Francis “wished to see with bodily eyes the infant who was laid in the manger because there was no room at the inn.”
This same Francis had abandoned wealth and status to serve the poor, discovering that true glory lies in following Christ’s pattern of humility. His famous prayer, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,” flows directly from this incarnational understanding.
Living Christ’s Humility Today
The pattern of Christ’s humility challenges us to:
– Choose the way of humility rather than ascent
– Find dignity in serving rather than being served
– Share the good news with those society overlooks, as God did with the shepherds
– Empty ourselves for the sake of others
This doesn’t mean adopting a false modesty or performative poverty. Instead, it means following Paul’s instruction: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).
The Christmas story reminds us that God’s power is often revealed in unexpected places and through unexpected people. As we prepare our hearts this Advent, we’re called to:
– Worship the Incarnate Christ who chose meekness over power
– Worship in ways that embrace both transcendence and humility
– Live as people who find strength in serving
Meister Eckhart observed, “What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to the Son of God fourteen hundred years ago, and I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my time and in my culture?” This Advent, may we allow Christ’s humility to be born in our beliefs, worship, and daily lives.
Just as the manger held the Messiah, may our humble lives become vessels of divine presence in a world hungry for the gospel. In embracing Christ’s humility, we discover the paradoxical truth that humility is the way to reveal God’s glory and that true greatness lies in serving rather than being served.
Josh Cehulik 