Naples was on the verge of insurrection against the Italian monarchy when King Humbert took the throne. Politicians urged violent measures to force the city into submission, but King Humbert refused. However, in 1884, Naples was soon hit by an outbreak of cholera, and the dreaded disease raged with deadly fury. Ignoring his advisors, the young king made an amazing move of devotion toward even his disloyal subjects.
Shocking his counselors, Humbert left the palace and went alone through the crowded hospitals of Naples, ministering to his subjects. He ventured without a guard into the slums and among the sick. Many of the suffering breathed prayers of gratitude for this young medical servant, not knowing it was the very king they’d spurned.
When the plague was finally checked, many learned his true identity. Naples then became a conquered city—conquered by the love of a monarch it once refused. From that time forward, the people of Naples were among Humbert’s most loyal subjects.
Another King once left His throne to walk among the sick and dying. Jesus came from heaven’s royal kingdom to pass unrecognized through the streets of our world and reach out with love. The Bible says, “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (Isaiah 53:3).
He loved and served many, yet Christ was not accepted by the powers of His day. The religious politicians despised him and eventually had Him killed.
Today, Jesus calls us to walk the road of servanthood, even though we might be despised and rejected. Someday, when heaven’s gates open, we will be forever accepted.
"And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head."
Matthew 27:30
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