“If Jesus were here today, he wouldn’t be riding around on a donkey. He’d be taking a plane, he’d be using the media.” The person of Jesus according to Joel Osteen.
The gospel according to John says “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:10-11). Advent is primarily about God’s humility. Specifically the humility of Jesus who is God made flesh. Osteen a American preacher believes if Jesus were alive in our day he would be a media personality. He would be a person of glory. The reality is he chose to come in a time where media did not exists. Even the records of his life are questioned. The gospels are often attacked with straw men arguments that they do not give a strictly historical perspective of Jesus. The writers particularly John wanted to present the theological Jesus who was the historical Jesus. They were biased. They also happened to be true.
In the gospel of John, he summarize that the incarnation of Jesus was purposefully not very spectacular. He was in the world… and the world did not recognize him.” Why? He was humility personified. Paul will later build upon this theme that Christians should be humble. See Philippians 2:5-9.
Advent is first suppose to make us remember that the Lion of Judah humbled himself to become the Lamb of God on our behalf. His entrance wasn’t meant to be spectacular. When Jesus entered humanity he did it through a nobody peasant girl that most people assumed was a fornicator (biblical term for slut). They rode on the vehicle of peasants, a donkey as they made their way to the place where Jesus would be born. A filthy barn. The one common element in all the gospels summed up well in John 1:10-11 is Jesus was humility personified. He says of himself “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). The mindset of Jesus was one wrapped around the concept of personal humility before God and men. In Luke 5:50-52 it tells us that the boy Jesus confounded his own parents. Yet when they told him what to do he obeyed! He was humble before them. The payoff was that he grew “in favor with both God and man.”
In our modern context we need to ask how do we strive to be perceived. How do we present ourselves? Are we seeking to be humble people? Are we striving to be more flashy and get glory from the culture or do we desire to be like Jesus striving for daily humility in our lives?
The advent story tells us that the Lion of Judah was the humble Lamb of God. The good news for us is the humble Lamb wins (see Revelation 5).