The Strong Made Weak

As a young boy Robert Babcock made a bomb out of some powder, he found in his father’s barn. He had a hard time getting it to go off, but when it finally did, it blew up in his face, and he was instantly blinded; he would remain so for the rest of his life. Despite his condition, he went on to college and every year was near the top of his class. In 1869 at the age of 18, he began to study at Ann Arbor Medical College as the first student ever to begin the study of medicine as a blind person. You might naturally assume that he did not go far, but in fact, he graduated. He went to Chicago Medical School, and there had to dissect a body, which students with good eyesight find to be a difficult task. Sightless though he was, he passed the test to the astonishment of the examining board. After further study in New York, he was licensed to practice in Chicago. It took him ten years to build up a vital practice for obvious reasons. His reputation grew, however, until he was made Professor of the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons. Many other honors were bestowed upon him, and he wrote three important books that made him a world figure among doctors. Despite his weakness, he became strong. Nearly 200 years ago, a newborn baby was tenderly laid to sleep in a feed trough wrapped tightly in blankets, His frail form obscuring his true identity. That night, among the occupants of the stable lay, resting the Son of God wrapped in a baby’s body. This was no ordinary story of the weak becoming stronger or the small becoming great; this was something completely other, the most powerful being in the universe intentionally allowing Himself to take up the form of one of the weakest so that through his service, we might celebrate the opportunity for new life.