Nothing to gain? Hardly.

Cynthia Bourgeault The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind—a New Perspective on Christ and His Message, Boston: Shambhala, 2008, pg. 92

"I remember being struck many years ago by an insight from the contemporary mystic Bernadette Roberts that crucifixion wasn’t really the hard thing for Jesus; the hard thing was incarnation. Crucifixion and what followed from it—his death and resurrection—were simply the pathway along which infinite consciousness could return to its natural state. What was really hard for infinite consciousness was to come into the finite world in the first place. With nothing to gain from the human adventure—nothing to prove, nothing to achieve, and a dangerously unboundaried heart that left him defenseless against the hard edges of this world—Jesus came anyway: that, claims Bernadette Roberts, was the real crucifixion!"

I differ with Cynthia's statement that there was nothing to gain from the human adventure of Jesus'
 incarnating.  Perhaps she's viewing it as nothing to gain in human terms.  As any parent with difficult children, God tried many methods, prophets, and approaches to establish a warm and loving relationship with His people.  The incarnation of Jesus had much to gain:  Love expressing Love to itself (Son to Father, Father to Son to mankind); courtship of a relationship beyond casual dating with each of us, or getting noticed at all by some of us; and of course, salvation for all mankind for all time.