FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-11; Luke 2:8-12

Simple Things – Continued

Jesus Christ was human. His life was grounded in the good earth the way yours and mine are. The story of His birth is that of a real birth. He was born of a woman, and His mother suffered the pain and agony of childbirth. He was a real baby who whimpered and cried during that first night. He felt more secure in His mother’s arms than anywhere else. He was not as strong and robust as the baby calf in the next manger, and He was more dependent on His parents than was the baby animals most likely surrounding Him.

As any other oldest son, Jesus learned the trade of His father. He became a carpenter. He knew what it was to stand in shavings ankle deep, to have hands calloused by carpenter’s tools. He knew what it was to sweat on a hot summer day and to have his face bronzed by the sun. He knew the weariness of fatigue, the rest of sleep, and the pleasure of eating hot bread from His mother’s oven. He knew what it was to love and to be angry, to laugh and to weep. He knew what it was to walk down into the valley of temptation with the shadows of evil heavy about Him. Also, He came to know what it was to face death, to shrink from it, and to undergo its loneliness and agony.

Aren’t you glad for a Savior who experiences your pain and speaks your language? If He didn’t, how could you know Him and how could He know you?

Yes, the humanity of Jesus is important, and we can recognize Him by His swaddling clothes, His humble earthy beginnings in this world.

Heavenly Things

It is good to know, consoling to know, that Jesus is like us and that He is with us. But what if He is caught in the clutches of our despair and in the helplessness of our weakness? There would be little hope in Him. What if, valiant as He is, He goes down with us in our defeat? He couldn’t save us, could He? He couldn’t be our Savior.

Therefore, we need the star as a mark of identification. We need to see again the child with the light of heaven in His face.

We want Him to be with us in the quicksand that sucks us under, but we want Him to be able to extricate His feet and ours; to be in the same pit with us from which we cannot scramble, but be able to lift Himself and us out; to feel the powerful undertow that pulls us out into the deep waters, but be strong enough to swim back to the shore, carrying us.

Christ is the bringer of light into the darkness and night of our existence. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).

The light He brings is not that of the human mind, heart, or imagination. It is light from above, from beyond this world. It is the light of God’s love and truth and the light of God’s presence. He has brought God close, into the midst of our human struggle.

It is little wonder that the birth of Jesus is spoken of as “the dayspring from on high” (Luke 1:78, KJV). He is like a sunrise, a dawn, the first light of a new day.

Therefore, Christmas is not essentially about our lighting Christmas trees or framing our windows, doors, or our houses with light, as beautiful as that may be. It is about light breaking from beyond us which has the power to warm our chilly hearts and to give life in the midst of our death.

A child was born in the humblest of settings and in a short time lived beneath a star and the light of heaven was in His face.

Yes, we need swaddling clothes and a manger on one hand and a star on the other if we are really able to identify Him and know who He is.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-11; Luke 2:8-12

How shall we know Him? That was the question they were asking on that first Christmas.

There were two ways given by which they could know Him. The angel said to the shepherds: “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). When the shepherds got to where the child was they had no trouble identifying Him.

The wise men were given another sign, that of a star. For approximately two years, they had followed a star to Jerusalem and there, not trusting its leading, went to the palace, believing a future king had been born. They did not find Him, and, picking up the guidance of the star again, were led to where the child was. “And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was” (Matthew 2:9). They found Him in much humbler surroundings than a palace.

We have here two ways of knowing Jesus Christ which are as applicable to us as they were to those who sought to identify Him on those first Christmas’. The shepherds would know Him by simple, elemental things of earth while the wise men would identify Him by a sign from the heavens.

Simple Things

Swaddling clothes and a manger. What simple things. They were signs that plain and unsophisticated men could know and follow. Swaddling clothes were coarse garments used by the poor. The shepherds had been wrapped in swaddling clothes when they were babies, and they had wrapped their own in them. The shepherds could not mistake a manger.

The shepherds were unlearned men in a formal sense. They were not university graduates with diplomas hanging upon their walls. They were not sophisticated, urban men. They were rustic, simple, village people who lived close to the earth with its soil, winds, and rain. Yet, this does not mean they were not wise. They were indeed wise about the simple, basic, elemental things of life. They knew about the rhythm of the seasons, the signs of earth and sky, sheep and sheepfolds, cattle and mangers. They knew about honest work, the secret of friendship, and the care of family. They knew about truth, honor, faith, and love. They knew about those things that are the real undergirding of life.

These simple things, falling within the experience of these shepherds, helped identify Him whose life, speech, and manner were unbelievably simple.

If the first sign was of earth most earthy, the second sign was from beyond earth. The wise men were guided by a light from the heavens to the Christ child, a toddler by then. He was a child under a star, a child with the light of heaven in His face. This is how they would know Him.

These two ways of identifying the child those first Christmas’ told two fundamental things about Him. The swaddling clothes and manger told how human He was. The star told of a light that shone in His face, a light not of earth but from beyond earth. The light of God was in His face and shone in His eyes. He was both human and divine.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.