I might quite possibly have the best job in the world. I get to witness the birth of brand new lives, listen to their tiny hearts, put a first hat on their cone heads, which are often bruised and battered from the tumultuous nature of delivery, wrap them up in soft zippered snuggies and place them in their daddy’s arms for the very first time. Sometimes I get to feed them, change their diapers, and just snuggle them. Ah, sweet baby bliss…
….now before I get all carried away, I promise this ties into what I’m about to write. This Christmas season, when you sing “All Come O Ye Faithful,” remember the part where you sing “now in flesh appearing”? Let’s mull over this for a while. Let me share with you a quote our pastor used in his sermon today by J.I. Packer:
‘The Word became flesh’ (John 1:14); God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child.
And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.
This reality of this truth hits home in a unique way for me as I have the privilege of witnessing one of the greatest miracles and mysteries on earth: the birth of a brand new fresh life. When I think of Jesus appearing in flesh, born as a baby boy, something in me is thrilled to the core. Nearly every week, I watch as babies fight their way into this world, 50 lbs of pressure squeezing their little bodies as they emerge, small and warm and helpless into this cold, harsh world.
How can it be, that our Savior and Creator, the King of ALL, chose to be born of Mary – not bypassing the helplessness and vulnerability of infancy, fully human, yet still fully God!
If you’ve held a baby in your arms, you know you’re holding a something special. There’s something awe-inspiring about a small human who will one day be big like us. Who will he become? What will she look like? What things are in store for this new life? Taking these little bundles in our arms, we are mystified by how small a person can be, that WE were once as tiny as they are, yet how hard to comprehend as we watch them curl an entire fistful of fingers around one of our own. Reminds me of watching first-time daddies put T-shirts on their new son or daughter. How much cloth there is and what tiny hands and even tinier fingers to navigate through the seemingly endless length of sleeve! Babies are tiny. Fragile. Vulnerable to the difficulties of the world around them.
Friends, this was Jesus, too.
Let me encourage you to take a few moments this Christmas to ponder the mystery that Jesus Himself, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, came into this world as an infant.
I am struck by the mystery. Overwhelmed by the reality – OUR reality that Jesus came and because of Him, we are made new. Oh praise His name this Christmas season and rejoice!
