The boss’s kid …

One of the most incompetent boss’s I’ve ever worked for ran the regional office of a multi-state, family-owned company I was employed by for a short period of time (a long time ago).

Simply put, Phil was not the sharpest person in the office.

In fact, when working with Phil, those of us leading the various departments spent more time trying to talk him out of his bad ideas than we did implementing anything he, as our leader, would suggest. The only thing that made Phil a success, and would a few years later see him promoted to president of the company, was that he hired competent, intelligent people to work for him, and then he relied on their talent and skills in their areas of responsibilities to generate growing success for the company.

How did Phil even get his job as regional manager? And how did he get promoted to company president?

He was the boss’s kid.

His dad owned the company.

Unlike some other great business leaders, Phil didn’t start at the bottom and master every position (or even a few) in the company; he started in a mid position and bounced up rungs on the ladder, finally landing in the top spot.

He could do that because he was the boss’s kid.

He wasn’t, though, an “admired” or overtly respected boss. Everyone respected his position, and him as a person, but we all knew as a leader of that company he was more incompetent than reliable.

You can get away with that if you’re the boss’s kid.

Jesus never considered anything like that.

As the Son of God, if you’re taking the lead in the family business, you could just “say the word” and become a fully grown, brilliant, adult human being.

But in His mission to save humanity, Jesus didn’t skip any steps.

He started at the bottom:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us …” John 1:14a.

Jesus would start at a “bottom” that would require Him to take on flesh by being born a human who experienced birth. He would have to grow up, suffer the trials of being human, and learn from it:

“Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered,” Hebrews 5:8.

He would spend three decades climbing the human ladder, from infant, to child, to adolescent, to adult, gaining the full experience of human life before ever launching his ministry to save the world. The result wasn’t a spoiled boss’s kid, but a Savior who could intimately relate to our sufferings:

“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin,” Hebrews 4:14-15.

That wondrous reality that “the boss’s son” didn’t skip a step is what brought us Christmas.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us …”

Scotty