From the
Loftiest to the Lowliest BY PAUL V. HARRISON
Louis XIV was born at 11:20 AM, September 5, 1638, to Anne of Austria, Queen of France, and her husband, King Louis XIII. After two decades of childless marriage, Anne’s pregnancy was celebrated far and wide. Historian John Wolf wrote that as the news of the boy’s birth spread, “the rattle of muskets, the booming of cannons, the ringing of church bells, the chanting of Te Deums, the offering of masses in thanksgiving, the bonfires and fireworks, the singing, drinking, and dancing in the streets with free wine for the people, all testified to the joy and excitement of the kingdom.” It has often been with royalty that pomp and circumstance attend them, but when the Apostle Paul wanted to impress us with an illustration of humility, he pointed to a different kind of king—King Jesus. He wrote: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:5–7), literally “made Himself nothing.” He could not have been greater: He was “in very nature God.” One could not become lowlier: He “made himself nothing.” The loftiest became the lowliest. And note the wording: this lowliness of Christ didn’t just happen. He “made himself nothing.” This was his intention, His plan, a most unusual plan for royalty. This lowliness was especially in evidence at Jesus’ birth. Joseph and Mary, an obscure and poor couple, were not people of position and authority. Jewish blood flowed in their veins, and Jews lived under the heel of the Roman
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government. In the eyes of the world, to the little extent they were noticed at all, Mary and Joseph were “little” people. God knew them. Almost no one else did. Yet they were selected to play the role of Jesus’ parents. The location of Jesus’ birth wasn’t much to speak of. About six miles south and a bit west of Jerusalem, Bethlehem was no capital city or thriving metropolis. The prophet Micah referred to it as “small among the clans of Judah” (Micah 5:2). Some scholars have estimated its population at a few hundred, so we rightly sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” If the city of Jesus’ birth is surprising, the specific place is even more so. Luke 2:7 states: “she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Some city folk need to be educated a bit on mangers. A manger is an animal’s feeding trough. This, of course, means little Jesus was born in a stall, a place for livestock, and instead of being laid in a clean bassinet, he rested where sheep and goats and the like found and ate their food. We should also note the first recorded visitors to the makeshift delivery room were shepherds. Not kings or
