God the Servant?

“For whether [is] greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? [is] not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.” (Lu 22:27 AV)

What a thought!  The Son of God serving lowly man.  I cannot wrap my head around it.  However, I must.  For God to do anything for wicked mankind is astounding.  We have done so much evil.  We have gone the opposite direction from what He requires.  We have not gone another way.  We have gone the opposite way.  If God said to turn left, we would turn right.  If the LORD required us to sit, we would stand.  We wouldn’t do something different.  We would do the exact opposite.  Yet, God in the person of Jesus Christ the Son, came to earth as one of us.  He walked and experienced a human life.  He did so that He might empathize with our plight.  He suffered from hunger, pain, and thirst.  He experienced a limited existence in the manner that He chose to be in one place at a time.  He limited His knowledge in that He learned obedience.  He condescended to men of low estate to dwell among us and be one of us.  But the Son of God went one further.  He did something no one else could do.  He endured temptation, yet without sin.  Then, He suffered the entire wrath of the Father upon Himself at that cross of Calvary.  He was buried in terms of our punishment would demand.  He did all this to serve His creation that would not appreciate the depth of what He did.  He did this for you.  He did this for me.

As I sit here typing, I cannot help but compare a parent with a child.  As that child sits in his highchair and does what toddlers will do, that parent provides a meal, feeds him or her, bathes and changes him or her, and coddles that little one to sleep.  It matters not how that toddler behaves.  He or she could throw food on the floor.  That little bundle of joy could throw a temper tantrum over the type of food served.  He or she could fuss for no other reason that fatigue is the enemy.  That little one will express every discomfort in a way that could curdle milk!  Yet, faithfully and lovingly, that parent serves his or her child as though no transgression has ever occurred.  Mom or day picks the food up.  They wipe the floor. They try again.  They patiently play the airplane game to entice the tike to eat what is good for them.  Even though they hate bathes and scream as they are washed, patently Mom or day cleans baby from head to toe.  Junior is so tired he or she is miserable.  Yet that little one fights sleep.  Rocking back and forth, singing a lullaby, Mom or Dad works and works so their little one can finally have rest.  The thing is, when this love and charity is bestowed, the baby cannot even grasp the pure compassion of his or her parent.  They cannot, as yet, comprehend patience.   All they know is they are not happy and there is one that will make them so.  This parent is a humble servant for a young one who cannot even understand the sacrifice that is made on his or her behalf.

Then a funny thing happens.  That child grows up, gets married, and has children of their own.  For the first time, they understand the sacrifice his or her parent made.  They are moved by the humility their parent or parents exercised just to love on them.  The thing is, we will never be equal to God.  We will never experience what it is like to be the Son of God who humbly served and is serving His creation.  The correct response should be deep gratitude worked out in worship and service.  If we truly understood just how good God is to us and how much He must humble Himself to serve our needs, this truth should radically change our attitude toward Him and others.  What an astounding thought that an eternal and all-powerful God would bother with the likes of me.  WOW!  Then I contemplate just how much I have done or failed to do for Him and it is beyond embarrassing.  There is nothing I can do to undo all that.  Yet, He is still faithful.  May godly sorrow work toward our repentance and may this repentance produce a heart of gratitude!