Christ who in eternity rested motherless upon the Father’s bosom and in time rested fatherless upon a woman’s bosom, clasping the Ancient of Days who had become the Infant of Days. What deep descent
from the heights of glory to the depths of shame
from the wonders of heaven to the wickedness of earth
from exaltation to humiliation from the throne to the tree
from dignity to debasement from worship to wrath
from the halls of heaven to the nails of earth
from the coronation to the curse
from the glory place to the gory place!
In Bethlehem, humility and glory in their extremes were joined. Born in a stable! Cradled in a cattle trough! Wrapped in swaddling clothes of poverty! No room for Him who made all rooms! No place for Him who made and knows all places! Oh, deep humiliation of the Creator—born of the creature! But in His descent was the dawn of mercy. Because we cannot ascend to Him, He descends to us.
R. G. Lee (1886-1978)
