I just want to spend a few moments in this article considering Christ in contrast.
Matthew 2v1: "... there came wise man from the east to Jerusalem."
Matthew 2v6: "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my people Israel."
Luke 2v2: "... and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."
Lets start by looking at His birth. The wise men came to Jerusalem, they expected "the King of the Jews" to be born in Jerusalem, no doubt in the ruler's palace. Yet it was not there they found Him, but down in Bethlehem, "the least among the princes of Juda". Not in a palace did they find the King but in a manager for there wasn't even room in an inn for "the King of the Jews."
John 3v17: "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be Saved."
Can you imagine the scene in Heaven. God looking down on the world, seeing how far man had gone away from Him. He could have acted in righteous anger and destroyed the earth with fire, but instead, He sent His Son not to condemn it but to save it.
Matthew 8v20: "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."
What a contrast we have here. The animals, whether they be the foxes on land or the birds in the air, have their places of rest but "the Son of man", our Saviour, had nowhere to lay His head to rest. We might complain about the homes we live in but let us for a moment consider our Saviour, the great God of Heaven and Earth, whilst here on this Earth had nowhere to lay His head.
Mark 10v45: "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."
The kings of this world expect people to serve them, yet our Lord when He came to this earth did not come to be served but to serve. Kings expect people to be ready to die for them, yet our Lord died for us!
Luke 23v34: "Then said Jesus, Father forgive them: for they know not what they do ..."
I wonder what the angels thought as they looked down from Heaven and saw man put the Son of God on a cross to crucify Him. Did they tremble in fear of how God will react to His Son being crucified? Yet Jesus' words on the cross were not Father look at what they are doing to me send your judgement now. No our Saviour's merciful words were "Father forgive them."
Luke 23v35: And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He be Christ the chosen of God.
What the rulers here did not realise was that Christ was on that cross to save us. If He had come down from that cross and saved Himself then we would still be lost. But thank God that Christ did not save Himself but there on the cross He was saving us! All He has asked in return is that we trust in Him for our Salvation.
We have looked at just a few of the verses in the Bible that show us Christ in contrast with what the world expects. Before I close this article I just want to ask one question is there a contrast between the world and us?
| 