Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden.
The king was like no other king. Every statesman trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in a poor village in his kingdom.
How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist-no one dared resist him. But would she love him?
She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know for sure?
If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal.
The king, convinced he could not elevate the maiden without crushing her freedom, resolved to descend to her. Clothed as a beggar, he approached her cottage with a worn cloak fluttering loose about him. This was not just a disguise – the king took on a totally new identity – He had renounced his throne to declare his love and to win hers.
As he quotes portions of this story, BYU professor, Daniel C. Peterson comments:
“The world’s most important acts rarely make the newspapers. Its most truly interesting people seldom appear on magazine covers… Jesus’ birth to an obscure woman in a minor village in a backwater province of the Roman Empire was entirely fitting. The Lord seems to prefer doing things that way…
“If God were to reveal Himself fully and openly, the revelation would overwhelm us and destroy our freedom… The Savior wants us to freely chose to love him, not because He’s powerful or terrifying but because we come to know Him as loveable.
“And we have abundant reason to do that. ’We love him,’ testified one of the ancient apostles who knew him intimately. ‘because he first loved us.’ (1 John 4:19)”
(Link: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700209032/Pure-love-led-Christ-to-descend-the-courts-of-glory.html)
