Last week, we looked at the poverty of Jesus. Not only was the Son of God born a Jew during one of the most difficult eras to be a Jew, he was raised by an impoverished family in a village only known for being unremarkable. Jesus was born to a poor family within an oppressed people, and by our every modern measure of remarkableness, he shouldn’t have made a blip on the radar of human history.

And yet, here we are:
A poor Jew from Nazareth changed all of human history because,
in addition to being a poor Jew from Nazareth,
he also happened to be the Son of God,
the second person of the Trinity,
the incarnate Word and messiah,
sent to earth to live among his creation
—to become “of this world”—,
and, by his life, death, and resurrection,
redeem it.

That’s the amazing love of Jesus.
If God had wanted the messiah to rule like the earthly kings,
Jesus could have.
If God had wanted the messiah to fight as some apocalyptic general,
Jesus could have.
If God had wanted the messiah to rub shoulders with influential aristocrats,
Jesus could have.
But Jesus didn’t use armies or wealth or prestige or any of these.
Jesus assumed the lowest station possible.
He was born in a stable.
He washed feet.
He was homeless and jobless.
He slept outside or in the homes of friends.
He focused on the people his culture deemed “undesirable.”
And he preached a message which would topple empires,
which would liberate the oppressed and stir the hearts of the downtrodden.
Jesus was everything the establishment of his day didn’t expect,
and he did all of this out of love for his people.

An invitation lies before us now to be Jesus’s people,
to prioritize the things he prioritized:
hope for the world to come,
peace for the world of today,
joy for the fearful and oppressed,
and above all, love for all.

Looking at the state of the world today,
with its rampant inequality and hunger and hatred and hypocrisy,
how will you respond to Jesus’s invitation?
What would a poor Jew from Nazareth
from whom all love flows
compel you to do?

This series is heavily influenced by Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited. For a deeper dive into the life of Jesus and what it means for people who are suffering, outcast, and downtrodden (not to mention a thoughtful exploration of racism and authoritarianism in the U.S.), I cannot recommend this book enough.