Standing just in view of the steps of the bus that will take him to the infamous Paris Island is an eighteen-year-old young man with his mother, father and younger brother. The Marine band is playing the Marine’s Hymn and the Marine Honor Guard is standing at attention supporting the colors of the United States of America, The Marine Corps, The Veterans of Foreign Wars and the POW/MIA. Each Marine dazzles his little brother with their shiny black shoes, pressed blue uniforms with edges that could cut like a knife, shiny brass buttons and clean white hats, and most are holding their rifles tight to their sides as they look straight ahead without influence from their surroundings. These are the few and the proud, members of the most elite military force on Earth, the toughest men and women to be found anywhere, these are the backbone of our nations defense earning all of the honor of being called Marines.
His mother sheds her silent tears with the realization that her little boy has grown up into a fine young man. His dad stands silently because he knows what his boy is about to face but he also has an elated since of pride in knowing that his young son is going to be a proud marine. His little brother looks up to him in a new way because he knows that when he comes back he will be wearing the uniform just like all the others marching around, he thinks with pride "my brother-the Marine".
He has no problem holding his head high and his back straight, in fact his chest sticks out much further than it normally does. Caught up in the emotion of the moment he recognizes himself as one of the big men marching outside or as the guys in the movies, he sees himself already as the great, honorable and victorious Marine.
Soon the doors on the Greyhound swing shut and slowly they begin to move down the road on to the infamous Paris Island, South Carolina where Marines are made. The bus is full of young men his age, all of which are looking forward with the same dreams of glory and honor like the recruiting officers had convinced them of. Because of their new surroundings they each one are trying to bluff their way to the groups respect by displaying their toughness and wit.
The whole group is fairly well psyched up about the whole idea of being a Marine. Pride is running high as they pass the sign saying, "welcome to Paris Island". The bus comes to a stop and out the window our young recruit can see dozens of painted footprints all in perfect rows. He stares in a shallow state of confusion at the men standing outside the bus dressed in green. His trance is violently broken as the doors of the bus swing open and men rush onto the bus screaming at each recruit they pass ordering them to get off the bus faster and faster. Finally one man looks at our young man nose to nose and screams for him to move when he is told to move. When he doesn’t move quick enough he finds himself being roughly helped out of his seat and off the bus with the man’s fog-horn voice constantly going off with insults in his ear. What could be wrong, he wonders.
When all the men are off the buses the men come screaming at them again ordering them to stand on the footprints that make out their platoon’s formation. Our young man’s feet are not perfectly on the footprints so one of the men "help" him into position. Someone in the formation asks a question and earns an immediate, screaming response from one of the men in green "You gotta question, You gotta question, recruit you don’t have no questions is that understood-IS THAT UNDERSTOOD" "yeah" "What, you address me as sir is that understood" "yes sir" "What, I can’t hear you" "YES SIR" "Recruit that will be SIR, YES SIR from now on is that understood" the nervous and confused recruit barks back "SIR, YES SIR" and the man in green moves on.
Our young man feels what most of the men in the formation are feeling, "Did I come to the wrong place?, What in the world have I gotten myself into?". His trance is once again broken when in front of the line he sees a man with the face of a bulldog wearing a tan uniform covered with medals and a straight brim hat with the Marine insignia on the front. On his arms are stripes, three that point up and three that point down. When the men finally have all the recruits in the position they want them in the man with the bulldog face begins to "bark". "My name is Sergeant Coonts. For the next twelve weeks you belong to me…you will address me as Sergeant Coonts Sir…you will obey all of my orders, those who choose not to follow all my orders choose to pay the consequences…this is your platoon, for the next twelve weeks they will be your family, you will eat together, sleep together, play together and work together, you will function as one group, if one of you messes up the whole platoon will pay the price…"
After several minutes of "you will do this and you will do that" our young mans platoon marches off in double time. They enter a building where they are ordered to stand heel to toe in a straight line. As the line moves forward and each man reaches its front he must sit in the barbers chair for the quickest haircut of his life. Now that he is bald he is ordered to strip down to his skivvies and walk through a line where he is vaccinated against every disease he may encounter as a Marine. Now is the time to get his uniform. It isn’t the attractive blue dress uniforms he saw back at the station or that he saw his recruiter wearing but heavy, green woodland camouflage fatigues.
Everybody looks the same now with bald heads, black boots and bloused fatigues. His very name has been taken from him and replaced with the generic name used for everybody, "Recruit".
After a few more hours of screaming insults, embarrassments, foolish exercises, irritation and exhaustion the recruits are then herded into the barracks were they would all be sleeping in one room. His only personal space is his mattress and his footlocker, which may be invaded at any time by his drill instructor when he takes the notion. Exhausted, from the fear and events of the day the new recruits "hit the sack". It certainly isn’t the bed from home and the lack of privacy is just an unwelcome stranger they must get used two. What the recruits may not realize is that this is possibly the best day of their stay here on Paris Island.
What happened to the promised glory and valor of the almighty Marine? This certainly doesn’t measure up.
It seems our young recruit has just fallen asleep when he hears something. That would be the man with the face of the bulldog. He is screaming that it is time for you lousy recruits to get out of the bed, dressed, and to meet in front of the barracks. The "kind" man let you sleep in a little, it’s almost three o’clock in the morning of your first full day of basic training.
It’s now time to run before breakfast. By the time they reach the breakfast table they have run until some have vomited but everyone’s chest feels as if it could explode. The new boots aren’t the best things in the world for running and the fatigues are incredibly hot in the steamy, South Carolina air. They have been screaming "SIR, YES SIR" to every continuous stream of orders so loud that you could probably here them in Charleston. Every time one recruit messes up the whole platoon suffers the consequences.
For the next twelve weeks our young man is known only as "Recruit". The picture of the valiant Marine in the pressed blue uniform with a shiny silver sword with the gold handle or the rifle tucked neatly to the side is a mere memory so far away. His entire self-esteem and feeling of self worth is gone. His since of individuality is only a long lost friend. For twelve weeks he lives with little food, poor or no shelter, little or no sleep trudging through steamy temperatures, pouring rain, mud as deep as his knees and pavement as hot as the sun running or marching until his feet and legs feel they could fall off or his lungs will explode driven only by his will to survive. He now understands why this place has been affectionately labeled as "Hell on Earth".
Now, at the end of his rope, it is time to graduate basic training. He has survived the toughest twelve weeks known to mankind. The pain is over. The man with the face of a bulldog doesn’t scream at him today, instead, he firmly shakes his hand, gives him his Marine insignia and calls him Marine. He looks up and holding back the emotions, which want to run he sighs, and whispers "It is finished". He now, only after the past twelve weeks of excruciatingly painful training that nearly broke his soul, has the exclusive right to wear the worldwide respected uniform of the United States Marine Corps. He will now return home.
When he gets off the bus where it all began his mother, father, and little brother are there waiting to greet the returning hero. He has changed so much over the past twelve weeks that he almost looks like a different man. He walks straighter, stands taller, respects life more than he ever had before. His uniform is pressed and neat. His mother runs to hug her son pitying the struggles she "knows", from his letters home, he has endured. His father holds back the tears as he looks at his son with such pride that his heart feels as if it could pound its way through his chest. He sent his son to suffer, to learn to protect the people of his nation but the son returned as a valiant Marine who holds respect in the mere mention of his rank. He never would have held such respect without the suffering coming first.
If this is true for a mere mortal, think then how much more true it is for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We call him our King and our Lord and we are perfectly just in doing so because that is exactly what he is. Isaiah 9:6 proclaims him as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace upon whose shoulders the government shall rest with limitless increase to his power.
We can see an example of this increase into power in contemporary politics. Our own President, George W. Bush holds the highest office in the modern world. Before he held this office he had to gain the affection of the public. In his race for Governor of Texas it was noted by the media how he didn’t cater to only the wealthy voters but that he went to the poorest of voters including translating all his speeches into Spanish to be presented to the poorest of Spanish communities. As a result he gained the support of the poorer minorities resulting in the support of the wealthier groups leading to his victory.
Jesus came into the world in the poorest of conditions. Luke tells us that he was born and placed in the cattle’s feeding trough of the old barn behind the local motel. He grew up the son of a carpenter. In his ministry he worked with the lowest of people such as fishermen, tax collectors and many other servants. When he died he had died the cruelest, most inhumane death used only with the lowest members of society. But three days later he arose defeating Hell and the grave, regarding no shackle capable of holding him down any longer. He then took flight to sit at the right hand of God where is regarded as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Let us again look at the examples of today. If a rich man walks in and tries to change everything in a homeless shelter he appears a threat to the residents and will not be respected or may even be thrown out by them. On the other hand if one of the homeless resident, which is looking at things from the point of view most people in the shelter are looking at them, tries to make a change he will probably hold much more respect and may have success in changing whatever it was he might have chosen to change.
People have not changed that much over the past two thousand years. If when Christ came He had come as big king he would have had little success in winning the affection of the people. If he had come as a big, rich king he would have been seen as competition by other kings, which would have lead to wars, which are against Christ’s nature. If he had come as a big, rich king the common people which are most of the people on the face of the Earth would have seen Him as just another ruler which would try to put them into submission, therefore, He would have gained little or no following from them.
There is an old saying that says something to the meaning that "The wealthy in society cannot get to where they need to be until the poor are where the need to be". That means because of the "cause and effect" way society works the higher-ups in society can’t get satisfaction until the lower-classes get some satisfaction. This would explain why Christ came as one of the members of the lower classes of that contemporary society. Because he came with this low status he was able to get into the inside of the lower classes without posing a threat. After he earned their respect he began to earn the respect of the members of the higher in society. Look back to our example of the Marine, his honor of being respected as one of "The Few the Proud-The Marines" didn’t come until he had suffered through the agony of the low class of "recruit". Even so Christ couldn’t be respected as the great King holding the respect and love of his people until he had suffered through the low ranks of servant and sacrifice.
The recruit had to give up his normal, pleasant life for a while before he could be respected as the Marine. Much the same and in much greater importance Christ had to give up his comfortable, heavenly throne for a while to come to Earth to suffer and die before he could ever be respected as King. Isaiah 53 makes continued reference to the suffering Christ must endure before becoming respected as the glorious King.
In looking at everything as purely a physical nature Ephesians 4:10 makes an interesting note that Christ had to descend before he could ascend.
In conclusion, we can see through the examples mentioned so far as well as many others which we face each day in life, in order for anything to be successful it must start at the bottom. No man ever got to the top of the ladder by starting at the top or even the middle; instead he had to start at the bottom. Many may try to get to the top the fast way but they are always soon informed that there is no easy way to the top but that you get there by starting at the bottom and working each obstacle until you have successfully reached the top. Even for our Lord and Savior who has always been King of the ages, in order to convince we simple minded humans to follow, had to degrade himself into a mere human and face the worst of society and human suffering before we would dare say "Yes, Your Majesty".
