Photo Credit: Graceway Media

Back a couple of weeks ago, toward the very end of the CMA Country Christmas on ABC, Rascal Flatts performed a song I had never heard before. The song was called, “Strange Way to Save the World.” I have to be honest, as I listened to that song I couldn’t help but be moved. Think about it for a minute. What if Jesus, the King of Kings, would have entered the world in the manner He deserved? Consider how different His birth might have been.

1. He might have come from a different place (Lk. 2:1-4). Jerusalem was the holy city; it was the epicenter of Christianity and definitely the kind of place from which a king might come. Nazareth was an obscure, insignificant village, which did not have a good reputation (Jn. 1:46).
2. He might have had different parents (Lk. 2:4-6). There was nothing special about Joseph or Mary. They were common, ordinary people from a common, ordinary place. Neither was from a royal family.
3. He might not have been placed in a manger (Lk. 2:7). Jesus, when He was born, was placed in a manger because there was no room in the inn. A manger is the feeding trough of animals. I would suspect most future kings would not be placed in mangers but in fancy royal cribs within the walls of the palace.
4. He might have had many more people waiting for his birth (Lk. 2:8-16). When royal babies are born everyone is watching and anxiously awaiting the arrival. Remember when the British royal family had their baby earlier this year? When the shepherds arrived they found Mary, Joseph and the baby. There was no media craze. Just a quiet little family.

Yes, it was a strange way to save the world, but it was also the only way. Most kings don’t live anything like the people. Jesus did. Jesus, the King of Kings, entered the world in a humble, ordinary way to show us He understands. That’s why Jesus is able to identify with our struggles (Heb. 4:15). He understands. When you think of it like that, it’s not such a strange way to save the world after all.

Now that’s Something to Think About!