“One final point may be made in connection with the humanity of Christ: He came into, and shared, our environment. This too, is made plain in John 1:14. He dwelt among us.
This involved the most complete sharing of our experiences on the part of the Son of God, accentuated by the fact that He chose not simply to be born, but to be born in a low condition. Hence the ‘low estate’ of His mother (Luke 1:48).
Hence the manger. Hence the flight into Egypt. Hence Nazareth. Hence the homelessness (Matthew 8:20). Hence the penury which has no money to pay the temple tax (Matthew 17:24) and no place to celebrate the Passover.
Hence the reputed lack of learning and the scorn of the rulers (John 7:48). Hence the notoriety gained through friendship with publicans and sinners.
For the Son of God, the incarnation meant a whole new set of relationships: with His father and mother; with His brothers and sisters; with His disciples; with the scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees; with Roman soldiers and with lepers and prostitutes.
It was within these relationships that He lived His incarnate life, experiencing pain, poverty and temptation; witnessing squalor and brutality; hearing obscenities and profanities and the hopeless cry of the oppressed.
He lived not in sublime detachment or in ascetic isolation, but ‘with us’, as the fellow-man of all men, crowded, busy, harassed, and stressed.
No large estate gave Him space, no financial capital guaranteed His daily bread, no personal staff protected Him from interruptions and no power or influence protected Him from injustice.
He saved us from alongside us.”
–Donald Macleod, The Person of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998), 180.
Sounds like a great book. Thanks for sharing