Condescension

When the Sun condescends to the Earth, it's splendor

Makes the clouds overhead not curtains, but mirrors.

   And so it is with Jesus Christ and us. For condescend, in its technical sense, means "to come down to," or "to descend in order to be with," in which case it denotes not the negative connotation of haughtiness or insult, but the positive aspect of the humility by which someone higher stoops to the level of someone lower (as a parent will with their child, or a teacher with a student) -- which act is almost always for the purpose of raising up the lower. And when the eternal Son and Word of God "became flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1), he shared not only our human nature, but all of the dark clouds of suffering and struggle and temptation which go with it -- and thus transformed them all into manifold mirrors of His glory.

   But that transformation bears a little more explanation:

The fundamental point of the Incarnation, and the fact of our salvation, is that God shared our human nature so that we could share in His divine nature (2 Peter 1); He shared our mortality so that we might share His eternal life (Romans 6). He dwelt in our flesh so that His Spirit might come to dwell in us (and so we might dwell in Him). So our salvation consists in participation in the life of God -- being united in spirit, mind, body (in all we think and feel and are and do) with the Father, in the Son, by Holy Spirit, Who dwells in those who follow and obey Christ (John 14).

   But if our salvation consists in participation in Christ and His works, then we come to know Him more (and thus to walk more fully in it) by being where He is and doing what He does -- and by paying attention to that (to Him), and doing it for His sake (in order to be with Him and please Him). But look at where He has gone! "Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2). "He was in all respects tempted as we are, yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4). 

   The Incarnation itself became a means of displaying the glory of His love and humility, "and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1). The weakness of humanity, the difficulties of obeying the commandments of God in an unjust and unholy society and a fallen world, the rejection and misunderstanding from others, and all of the attendant suffering became the arena in which He demonstrated the glory of His perfect obedience, His absolute holiness -- an obedience made all the more honorable and a holiness which shines all the brighter because they were lived out in a body and world and society which were in many ways opposed to them. In fact, it was exactly that obedience and holiness in that world and society which brought Him to the cross, so that He might also taste death on our behalf. Even the most desperately wicked, unimaginably horrible act in all of history, the crucifixion of the Beloved of the Universe, the murder of God, was made the means of our reconciliation with God.

   So here is the point I had set out to make: From the beginning of time, God's goodness and glory have been displayed in all of the beauty and goodness of Creation, but the suffering and death brought by the fall, considered in themselves, have been meaningless -- a lack of the goodness for which Creation was intended (indeed, the great tragedy of death is that, without the hope of resurrection in Christ, it reduces all persons and life to meaninglessness). But now they have been shared and born for us by God in Christ -- God, whose companionship is eternal life, invincible peace, abounding joy. So now even our sufferings can bring us to God! Those things which had been the punishment for our sin, the reminder of our separation from the life and friendship of God, have been made into means of our union. Because "the Founder of [our] salvation [was] made perfect through suffering" (Hebrews 2), suffering is now, by turning us to repentance, causing us to seek God's strength, testing and strengthening our resolve in obedience, and so on, also able to perfect us -- and in suffering "according to God's will" (1 Peter 4) during our obedience, we are united to Christ, who suffered in like manner.

   Moreover, by making of trials, struggles, suffering, etc. a chance to humble ourselves and obey God as Christ did, we begin to taste and share His victory over sin and suffering and death. Because, by making of them an opportunity to know our Savior more and be more conformed to His likeness, we find ourselves drawn more fully into His fellowship -- a fellowship which is perfect peace and joy and life, and so we begin to see such things as had meant our misery suddenly transformed into opportunities for a greater joy than any earthly thing could ever give, as they unite us to the One Whose joy and love both made and are redeeming the universe (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 4:13; Philippians 3:10-11; Romans 8:16-23). Even death itself (the ultimate exile, the place of our separation from the goodness of God revealed in Creation) has been crushed beneath the heal of the resurrected Christ and made our servant, for we know that even now, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8), since "our lives are hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3), and we look ahead to the day when we will share in the resurrection of Christ, when "He shall transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body, by the power which enables Him even to subject all things to Himself" (Philippians 3), and "we shall appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3), being "made like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 

   And thus Christians have from the beginning been taught to make a mockery of everything that the world fears or treats as a misery -- for since our Savior has gone to the outermost reaches of exile in slavery, rejection, suffering, and death, and has risen in perfect joy, there is no longer anything which can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord (Romans 8:35-39). And therefore all things make for our peace, by being opportunities of sharing (through humble obedience) in that fellowship which leads to that resurrection and is filled with that same perfect joy. 

That which had once hidden the light of God's goodness from us, in the Son's condescension, has suddenly revealed that goodness even more clearly, in a myriad array of textures, colors, and shapes -- in a sparkling dance which we are called to join.

"Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." (Hebrews 13:12-15)

When the Sun condescends to the Earth, its splendor

Makes the clouds overhead not curtains, but mirrors.