December 24 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

2 Corinthians 8:9

Devotional

Christ, who was rich, became poor. To be poor is painful. It is not easy to be poor. But to become poor from a state of wealth is even more difficult. That can easily happen here on earth among people. That is, however, no comparison to what happened to Christ. The poverty He took upon Himself is beyond our understanding. He could say, “The earth and its fullness is Mine,” but He was born in a stable. He was born in poverty. He, who bore the world with a mighty arm, had to be carried in the arms of His mother as a helpless child. The Son of God became poor—so poor that there was no room for Him anywhere. There was no room for Him to be born. Later on He said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20).

Christ became poor in glory. There was no luster and no majesty when He was born in a stall for animals. He was laid in a manger—a feeding trough for animals. That was the first dwelling He received on this earth; that is how it all started. He was wrapped in clothes to cover the shame of His nakedness, for He became just as any other child of Adam. Sin was imputed to Him.

Christ was born poor, and although He received clothes when He was born, later on His clothes would be taken from Him—Roman soldiers cast lots for them. He became so poor that as He was hanging on the cross, “we hid as it were our faces from him” (Isa. 53:3). Christ, the Son of God, became so poor that He had no rights left with God the Father—no rights whatsoever. His last piece of clothing was given to the heathen.

He was also poor in honor. From His birth on, Christ was despised and persecuted. He was a wanted man. As soon as He was born, Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt with Him. In His life the enemies of God wanted Him killed, and finally He was cast out of this world.

Christ was also poor in power. He used to dwell in the heavens; He only had to command and it would happen. He who had power over all things in heaven and earth was finally nailed to the cross as the weakest One, but that is why He came into this world. He became poor in God; that was His deepest poverty. God the Father would forsake Him and let His enemies strip Him and scourge Him, and then nail Him to a cross.

Christ was poor, for He had to pay the debts of all His people. He was poor, for He was covered with their guilt. He was, therefore, on this earth, a poor Christ, a poor Jesus, a poor child. Finally, He would be so poor that there would be no place for Him either in heaven or on earth. Forsaken of God and of men, He became poor. He became as poor as the poorest of sinners, and in this way He would be the Savior of sinners.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.