The King in the Mud

I was talking with a friend about Jesus. As we we were talking, he said, “I can’t understand why Jesus would leave heaven, and come down to a fallen world. Why would he want to leave all that glory, to just come down here and then suffer as he did?”

I know that the answer is Love. Jesus came to the earth, to live a perfect life, as an example for us, and to then pay the price for the wrong that we have done. But I was struggling to show this to my friend, in a way that he could understand.

As I thought about this, a picture came to my mind.

A King and his son were riding their horses through the country, wearing their royal robes. They were all alone when the son’s horse suddenly bolted off into the distance.
The King followed in great haste.
The son’s horse headed to a boggy area, and duly threw the son deep into the mud. The son was in dire peril. He was stuck deep in the mud, in all his royal robes, being pulled under.
The King saw the situation and immediately jumped off his horse, threw his royal robes to the side (it would do no good if he got caught in the mud because of what he was wearing) and waded in to save his son.

So why did the King disrobe and enter the mud so quickly?

Love for his son.
He saw his son and knew that if he didn’t act quickly, then his son would be lost. He considered his son to be more important than his royal robes and how clean he was.

The above picture gives us a glimpse of why the Father sent Jesus to the earth.
He saw us and the deadly peril that we are in.
He saw that we are lost, and without help, that we would be destined to an eternity of suffering.
Hence, He sent His Son to save us, and Jesus was willing to leave the all the glory of heaven, in order to be a rescue line to save us.