The Life of Humiliation Which Jesus Led from His Birth!

Christmas Novena – Day 4

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Humiliation was another misfortune that the Divinity had to endure within incarnation. 

‘The child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger’ was a choice that Jesus made, and he was comfortable with it. 

Though Jesus embraced lowliness and poverty willingly, others had problems with it. Jesus was looked down upon for being a carpenter’s son. 

Humiliation has been part of Jesus’ life since his birth.

It was inseparable from the crib to the cross.

Herod sought to kill Jesus. The people of his hometown rejected him. Peter denied him three times. Judas betrayed him.

He was reviled for being the friend of tax collectors and sinners. When he became popular, he was put down as a drunkard. His rivals undermine his authority to work miracles by attributing them to his partnership with devils. 

The chief of all humiliations came when Jesus was put to death on the cross like a criminal.

Referring to Jesus’ crucifixion, St. Bernard of Clairvaux said, ‘The noblest of all is treated as the vilest of all.’

The incarnation of God falsifies the theory of ‘Divine Impassibility’ – God’s incapacity for suffering. 

Christmas declares Jesus’ voluntary initiative to suffer what has been so long endured by humanity. 

The depth of humiliation that Jesus suffers reveals the depth of his love for humanity. 

Child Jesus is divine love in human form. Come, let us adore Him!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar