Max Lucado writes: ‘I received a call from a friend named Kenny. He had just returned from Disneyworld. “I saw a sight I’ll never forget,” he said. He and his family were in Cinderella’s castle. Suddenly all the children rushed to one side. Cinderella had entered. She stood waist-deep in kids, each wanting to be touched. Kenny turned toward the other side of the castle. It was now vacant, except for a boy; his age was hard to determine because of the disfigurement of his body… he stood watching… longing to be in the middle of the kids reaching for Cinderella. But can’t you feel his fear; fear of yet another rejection? Fear of being mocked again? Don’t you wish Cinderella would go to him? Guess what? She did! She walked across the floor, knelt at eye level with the stunned little boy and placed a kiss on his cheek. “I thought you would appreciate the story,” Kenny told me.

‘I did. It reminded me of another one. The names are different, but isn’t the story the same? Rather than a princess of Disney, it’s the Prince of Peace. Rather than a boy in a castle, it’s a thief on the cross. In both cases a gift was given. In both cases love was shared. In both cases the lovely one performed a gesture beyond words. But Jesus did more than Cinderella. Cinderella gave only a kiss. When she stood to leave she took her beauty with her. The boy was still deformed. What if Cinderella had done what Jesus did? What if she assumed his state? What if she had somehow given her beauty and taken on his disfigurement? That’s what Jesus did – for you!

Source: quoted in The UCB Word For Today , 4/9/2007