“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means “God with us.”
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:18-25)
If God had hired a 21st Century marketing firm to design a campaign to start a world-wide movement, can you imagine the awkwardness of the plan to the ears of the firm?
God: We are looking for an impoverished, oppressed, lower-class sort of neighborhood for our Messiah to arrive in. It would be fantastic if He could start out with His reputation of being conceived illegitimately even though His parents are distant relatives of King David.
Marketing Firm: OK … <long pause> It seems like it will be hard to get traction for your Messiah’s movement if people think He is simply the result of some teenage girl’s misfortune.
God: We have had a special star planned 500 years in advance, which will bring some Persian’s King-makers to Bethlehem where our Messiah is to be born.
Marketing Firm: Good … this is good! We can leverage this event and get out a press release which will bring all the leaders around the Mediterranean to celebrate His birth! We’ll reserve the Bethlehem Hilton, and He can have the biggest room …
God: Actually, we had planned for shepherds to get the honor of meeting our Messiah first. They’ll play an important part later in His story. We have a census planned that will bring His parents to Bethlehem, and the rooms are already booked, so He will be born in a cattle cave on the edge of town.
Marketing Firm: <silence>
The story of Jesus’s birth is absurd to modern ears! If you have time to read Matthew 2 and Luke 2, try reading it from the perspective of our Marketing Firm! The God of the Universe could have come to this earth in whatever form or way He chose. WHY did He come shrouded in poverty and ill repute?! This seems to our eyes and ears such a strange way to draw mankind back into a loving relationship with its Creator!
The Apostle Paul marveled at the same enigma when he penned these words to the Philippian believers:
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
There is a world of Heaven-sent wisdom in Paul’s words! Jesus made Himself nothing! God wanted to start His Kingdom movement from the lowliest of starting points. There are several counterintuitive answers that begin to jump off the page, but Paul gives perhaps one of the greatest answers as to why in Verse 5: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
Jesus made Himself nothing to instill a character trait in His followers that would have never been possible otherwise! Jesus left the inconceivable riches of Heaven to rescue poor sinners. When Jesus told His disciples, “As the Father sent Me, so send I you,” (John 20:21) this simple command reverberated massive implications to His followers. God expects, implores and commands us to treasure the least of these! AND, He expects us to do it the way He did it. Not with a load of fanfare and earthly self-glorifying optics, but rather to also make ourselves of no reputation.
Jesus started a Kingdom movement of humble disciples whose reward is not found on earth but is preserved in Heaven. We don’t work for the praise of men, but for the approval of Heaven. Consider again Paul’s very first phrase in the previous passage: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Our Lord did not start a movement of prideful religious effort that glorifies itself every time it shows up to “do good.” Instead, we’re encouraged to take on His mindset as we love the least of these for His glory. (Matthew 5:16) Jesus’s humble and scandalous beginning was always God’s plan, because He planned on crushing our pride with His example before He sent us to live out the Gospel of the Kingdom!
Think about “the least of these” in your sphere of influence (where you work, shop or frequent). Ask the Holy Spirit to bring them to mind, even if you don’t know their names. Write down their name and/or description, and write out a prayer of blessing and ministry over each of them.