Nativity engraving by Gustave Dore
I've
been thinking a lot this season about how amazing that 1st Christmas
really was! This engraving done several centuries ago, captures the
atmosphere. Mary and Joseph were ordinary people - going about life in a
pretty ordinary way. A shocking announcement brought about a shift in
their lives of epic proportions. And for the next 9 months they waited
to see the promise! No doubt a long and difficult wait - with many
unkind thoughts and assumptions by those around them. The shepherds,
not the political leaders, were the first to hear the angelic
announcement in the middle of the night .... ordinary people going about
life in an ordinary way. Their lives also forever changed by what they
witnessed in the skies and then in the manger. All of this, rather
suddenly - unexpectedly really, in the midst of ordinary lives -
particularly amazing because God had been silent for 4 centuries.
Nothing new from above... the world was waiting ~ sort of... maybe a lot
of people thought the promise would never come. Maybe they even
wondered if there had really ever been a promise. And then -- this announcement in the night!
But
what an amazing thing! God - known to these people as Almighty, Very
Great, Creator, a God of past miracles and difficult laws - now he is
showing Himself as a God of Love. His gift was his own Son - Almighty
God coming to live among us - as one of us. Vulnerable. Completely weak
- helpless, as any new baby is. His trust in this young couple is
astounding! He sent His Son from a heart of love and longing to be
connected to his creation - face to face! Something He desired from the
beginning of time - yet - impossible because of the fact of evil which
had infiltrated creation from the start. It was an impossible abyss
for people to bridge - it could only be done by God Himself. So, Jesus
came that night in the form of a small baby... human yes - yet also the
Son of God! What great mystery. And, from scripture we know
that it was also in Jesus heart to come. It was not a begrudging chore -
but His desire, out of deep love, to be our rescuer!
Rescue
was needed! By the people of that day - by the people of today. God's
plan of rescue, the only plan of rescue, was to allow Jesus to be the
bearer of all that is unGod-like because it is a price too great for any
of us to pay for ourselves, but not too great for the Son of God! His
plan of rescue only requires trust - trust that He is enough - that his
gift is enough to satisfy the requirement. He paid the ransom. So,
Christmas is the beginning of this daring plan of rescue. Quietly,
unobtrusively, the Son of God enters the world as a little baby - on a
mission for the next 33 years - to rescue anyone who would wish to be
rescued from life apart from Him, which is a life missing all the good
that He wants to bestow and a certain judgment. And instead, He
promises Life! Fully and forever - forgiven and accepted.
So, Merry Christmas!
May the deepest meanings of this season find their way into your heart
and allow you to celebrate with great joy!
May the deepest meanings of this season find their way into your heart
and allow you to celebrate with great joy!
