The Foolishness of God

I’ve been reading several short devotionals for Advent recently, and the common theme that seems to pervade them all is Jesus’ humble entrance, his poverty, and his sacrifice. Sometimes when I think of everything that Jesus did in his lifetime, it doesn’t surprise me as much as it should because I just think that he was God on a mission. But the more I ponder, the more I remember, he really was fully human. How tempting would it have been to make his earthly father proud by taking over the trade and being a successful carpenter. At 30 years old, when he began his public ministry, Jesus probably had mastered every skill of the trade and probably had grown a sizable customer base by then. He could’ve built himself a life of comfort. He was probably at the peak of his physical strength and could have started a family like everyone else his age. Of all the people he could have chosen to spend his life with in ministry, however, he chose people who had no education or wealth, who couldn’t have even made him look better in public or have attracted influential people to join him.

Makes me wonder about myself. I don’t regard myself with even half as much humility and lowliness as Jesus did. When I’m 30, I’ll hopefully have finished my PhD. Imagine if I left my profession then and chose to associate with the least educated in my society, befriending them, living with them, teaching and serving them without pay, without amassing earthly comforts, without even the opportunity to make my parents and professors proud. I’m not saying that that is the only noble way to live. It would be foolishness by every worldly measure. But what if God were to call me to that after I graduated? Maybe that’s a little bit like what Jesus did.

How much more obvious can it be to even the most casual observer that Jesus was not out to make an impression on anyone? 

"Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?...For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men...But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." 
~1 Cor 1:20, 25, 27-29