People headed to the Olympics know that, in order to qualify, years and years of many hours per day practice is required. To excel at any sport requires extraordinary effort. Some of us apply this to our jobs or our field of study or our musical development. Excellence is something for which we strive. Now leap with me just a bit and consider what Jesus did for you and me.
Today s second reading says it so beautifully.
Speaking of Christ Jesus, Paul says that he, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. Consider for a minute just what Jesus did. Jesus, the Son of God, infinite in time and space, with power beyond our imaginings this Jesus chose to put aside the glory and power and might that was his in order to become a human being in a finite, mortal body born in a particular time a tiny, helpless baby, confined to a limited space. And Paul continues, And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. Not only did Jesus put aside glory to become a man, he also became so completely human that he died or rather, was killed by crucifixion.