The Reality of Christmas

In between the craziness that is this holiday season, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Or reflecting. Whatever you’d like to call it. And I’ve decided to put my thoughts on here. After all, this is my blog, right? Anyone who wanted to judge me would have done so already, so I’ll put this out there in the hope that it might mean something to someone. God will help the right person find it.

We put on a Christmas program at my church today. It wasn’t your typical “shepherds and wisemen and screaming angels and Mary and Joseph” program. Well, part of it was. And it was wonderful. But the kids spent a few minutes walking across the stage holding up “cardboard testimonies” of the things Jesus did while He was on earth, and the youth group students wrote the “real” cardboard testimonies of what Jesus had donw for them. It was powerful, to say the least, even to me, who’s seen the YouTube video of them. I’ve been thinking a lot this Christmas about why we celebrate. The cliched “It’s the day Jesus was born” just isn’t doing it for me anymore. Yes, we all know that, and we gloss over it while on the way to the shopping mall to sit on Santa’s lap. All the while, all we need to do is say Jesus’ name, and we’re closer to Him than we ever would be to Santa.

Jesus.

Came.

To.

Earth.

What does that mean to you? Does it mean anything at all? There’s a song on the radio that talks about Jesus, the King of Kings, coming to earth.

***

Fragile finger sent to heal us

Tender brow prepared for thorn

Tiny heart whose blood will save us

Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around you

Breathe our air and walk our sod

Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God

***

“Tiny heart whose blood will save us.” I can’t describe what that means, really. It’s just hitting me this Christmas like none other before. The whole season is, really. And I’m not talking about the fact that Jesus was born to save us. I’m talking the deep, intense “Jesus is GOD who came to earth as an innocent baby so we wouldn’t be afraid of Him.” I’m talking about the fact that the very GOD of the UNIVERSE stepped off His throne and became one of us. He breathed the air we breathed. He cried when he was hungry. He grew up, first a toddler running around and getting into things He shouldn’t, then as a young adult. And He did this ALL so He could walk where we walk. So that He would know what it is like to be human. He didn’t have to come as a baby in order to forgive our sins. That’s why He did come, right? He could have chosen a lot of other ways. Bolts of lightening, clouds, storms, earthquakes.

But no. He came as a helpless baby to an unwed teenage mother.

He came as a baby because no one’s afraid of a baby. He didn’t want anyone to be afraid of him. He wanted us to feel safe. Secure. Because that’s just who God is.

And then, he grew up and did what He came to do. Forgive us. But there was only one way to do that, and it was through His own blood. He could have decided not to. I mean, he WAS God. He could have said “forget it. I’m not dying. Let the people just die and not be forgiven.” But He chose…CHOSE…to die. To have US, the very people He came to die FOR – rip Him apart. Crucify Him. Nail his hands and feet to a cross. Those perfect hands that used to be tiny. Push a crown of thorns into His head. that forehead that used to be soft. And then He died. And in dying, and raising from the dead, He gave us the chance to sit by Him in heaven forever.

Christmas? Maybe you just thought of it as the little baby Jesus doll in a manger surrounded by little kids in a Christmas play. Maybe you hadn’t thought much about it at all. Neither had I, really, until this year. But like I said, somehow it’s so much clearer to me this year. So much more meaningful. So much more… hopeful.