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Now understand this: we find in Christ, according to His Godhead,
two kinds of humility.
The first kind is this: that He willed to become man, and took
upon Himself that very nature which had been banished and cursed
to the bottom of hell, and willed to become one with it according
to His personality; so that now any man, either good or evil, can
say: Christ, the Son of God, is my brother.
The second kind of humility according to His Godhead consists in
this; that He chose a poor maiden, and not a king's daughter, for
His mother, so that a poor maiden should be the mother of God, who
is Lord of heaven and earth and all creatures.
And further, we can say of all the works of humility which Christ
ever wrought, that they were wrought by God Himself.
Now let us take the humility which was in Christ according to His
manhood and through the grace and the gifts of God. In this
humility His soul with all its powers bowed down in reverence and
adoration before the most high might of the Father; for a bowed
down heart is a humble heart. And therefore He wrought all His
works for the praise and for the honour of His Father, and never
and in nothing sought His own glory according to His humanity.
He was humble and subject to the old law, and to the commandments,
and also to custom whenever such was right. And that is why He was
circumcised, and taken into the temple, and redeemed in the
customary way; and He paid His tribute money to Caesar like any
other Jew. And He was humble and subject to His mother and to the
lord Joseph; and that is why He served them with true reverence
according to all their needs. He chose poor and outcast people for
His comrades, to live with, and wherewith to convert the world:
these were the Apostles. And He was lowly and meek among them and
among all other men. And He was ever ready for all men in whatever
inward or outward need they might be: as if he were the servant of
all the world.
This is the first point which we find in Christ our Bridegroom.
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