0889. Our Lord Became Poor

Our Lord Became Poor

"And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head" (Mat_8:20).

When one has nowhere to lay his head we think of him as unutterably poor. Let us examine into the poverty of Christ–a poverty that includes far more than His lack of physical comforts. What a contrast between Christ's riches with the Father's already discussed, and His poverty among men!

1. Christ was poor in possessions. When Christ was born, neither Mary nor Joseph seemed to have enough money or influence to secure a bed. He was brought up in the home of a carpenter. He Himself followed the carpenter's trade for many years.

Christ, the Preacher, had no place He could call His home. When two of John's disciples said: "Master, where dwellest Thou?" Christ replied, "Come and see?" What did they find? A palace fit for a King? No. They must have found some sequestered spot in the woods, where Christ loved to resort to pray. Christ could not pay His taxes till Peter caught the fish with money in its mouth.

"Our Lord, though rich above,

Yet laid aside His wealth, in love;

Left the bright glories of the skies,

For an estate which men despise."

2. Christ was poor in glory. For many years He lived as an unknown and unheralded person. Thirty years He was among men, and they knew Him not. When He was, at last, made manifest to Israel, for a while He had a large following. Yet, the crowds cared more for His loaves and fishes, for His healings and benefactions, than they cared for Him. The Lord among men, was poor in glory.

3. Christ was poor in praise. Instead of being praised, He was blasphemed. He knew more of disgrace than of honor. He was set at naught. He was maligned, misrepresented, mistreated. Men went about to betray Him. They sought His life. Finally they fell upon Him with all the venom and biting of a heartless reptile. They crowned Him with a crown of thorns. They wagged their heads against Him; they shot out the tongue; they spit upon Him. Yes, He was poor in honor.

4. Christ was poor in physical rest and relief. How often was our Lord wearied in body! Tired and worn, He sat by the well of Samaria. Footsore, He returned from many a tramp of love.

At last, He gave His back to the smiters. His head was pierced by thorns. His back bled from stripes. His hands and His feet were torn with the nails. How He suffered! How He died!

5. Christ was poor in person. Was He not the very manifestation of the Father? Yes. Was He not full of grace and truth? Yes. But men did not reckon Him so. To the unbelieving world He was an impostor and a fraud. A scatterer of false claims. A disturber of the peace.

None could convict Him of sin, and yet they recognized Him not as the sinless One of God. The glory of His Person was veiled. He seemed to have emptied Himself. He was very God of very God, and yet He was reckoned of men as in league with satan and with demons. He had all power, and yet He seemed as one overawed by His enemies. Particularly as the Cross drew near, did He seem divested of all that matchless glory of person and of power that had marked His earlier manifestations. At last He hung in ignominy and shame, as one from whom men hide their faces. For our sakes He had become poor.

6. Christ was poor in His separation from God. This was only true on Calvary's Cross. Throughout the earthly journey, God had been His constant guide. Together They had trod the weary way. He and the Father were one. Now, as He suffered on the Cross, God made Him sin for us, and from Him God hid His face. Oh, the unutterable poverty of the Lord, voiced in the cry: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR