“[He] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
Philippians 2:7
Anglican minister Henry Law, 1797-1884:
“Let the greatest king become the lowest beggar; let the richest prince leave his palace for the vilest cell of a loathsome prison—it is as nothing compared to the act of Jesus when He left heaven to put on the rags of our mortality! The Creator of all things appears a creature! The Almighty is a weak babe! The Eternal is a child of time! The Infinite is contracted into the limits of this poor flesh! Is not this the wonder of wonders?…
“When Abraham saw the day of Christ afar off, he rejoiced and was glad. The unborn Baptist could not restrain emotion when the unborn Jesus was brought near…. The multitude of the heavenly host … made heaven’s vault to echo with their praises. Oh, my soul, can you be silent? Do you not hear the angel’s cry, ‘I bring you good tidings of great joy’? Will you not with great joy drink in these tidings: ‘Unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’? Will you not, in aged Simeon’s spirit, clasp Him to the heart of faith, and lift up the hymn of praise?”
“Let the greatest king become the lowest beggar; let the richest prince leave his palace for the vilest cell of a loathsome prison—it is as nothing compared to the act of Jesus when He left heaven to put on the rags of our mortality! The Creator of all things appears a creature! The Almighty is a weak babe! The Eternal is a child of time! The Infinite is contracted into the limits of this poor flesh! Is not this the wonder of wonders?…
“When Abraham saw the day of Christ afar off, he rejoiced and was glad. The unborn Baptist could not restrain emotion when the unborn Jesus was brought near…. The multitude of the heavenly host … made heaven’s vault to echo with their praises. Oh, my soul, can you be silent? Do you not hear the angel’s cry, ‘I bring you good tidings of great joy’? Will you not with great joy drink in these tidings: ‘Unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’? Will you not, in aged Simeon’s spirit, clasp Him to the heart of faith, and lift up the hymn of praise?”
Scripture Focus
Philippians 2:1-11
Insight
“Infant holy, infant lowly,/ for His bed a cattle stall;/ oxen lowing, little knowing/ Christ, the Babe, is Lord of all.” (Polish carol; paraphraser Edith M.G. Reed, 1921)
Bible In A Year
- Ezekiel 43-44
- Proverbs 2
- Philemon