Messiah

THIS WEEK Christmas falls on a Sunday, so I get to blog to you about Christmas on Christmas! This morning after my whole family met at our house for breakfast, my parents and siblings and I got on a plane to go to Texas to visit my dad's side of the family. We are having a lovely time. We are full of ham and green punch and croissants. We watched home movies and I met my new cousin Seth for the first time. I'm really thankful for a day like this and every way God has blessed us.

On the plane today I was reading Luke 2, the chapter about the early years of Jesus' life. And what I noticed is that God found a way to come as a Boy who was both ordinary and extraordinary, human and God. He had the same rituals and ceremonies performed for Him as any little Hebrew guy would have, and He had parents who took care of Him and who worried when He was missing for a few days. But from the time He was born His life was also surrounded by the fulfillment and declaration of prophecies. At the mere sight of Him, praise went up from the mouths of God's servants to heaven. He was ordinary and human enough to relate to us and to stand in our place, and yet being God He can pay a sacrifice of ultimate price for our sake.

Simeon, an old prophet who was told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, was filled with joy when he saw the Baby Jesus. In Luke 2:29-32 he shouts, "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; [30] for my eyes have seen Your salvation [31] which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, [32] a light to bring revelation to he Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel."

He didn't need any explanation, no mention of the host of angels who proclaimed His birth to the shepherds in the night. This was the Messiah he had awaited for years. When Jesus went missing in Jerusalem for a few days a few years later, His parents found Him learning from the teachers and displaying astonishing wisdom. In Luke 2:49 He speaks to them, "And He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?'"

He came for His Father's business. The Father's business was not just for Him to be an amazing little Boy, or even to be the greatest Teacher in history. His business was for Him to die and rise and be the Savior of the world. He is, as Simeon said, the light.

When I was up in that airplane today looking out the window, the clouds and sky I saw were too beautiful to really tell you about. The white and blue vapors stretched in ripples and peaks toward the horizon an infinity away, and the sun broke through the crystal sky. And I thought, you know, God sees this all the time. He owns it all, and He made it all. If He wanted to, He could let His omniscient Mind glide over all the perfect hills and valleys of the clouds and overlook what is happening downstairs. He could! And why shouldn't He? Or He could think about the stars and galaxies He made, and pay little attention to the speck of the world we messed up. He could let us fly into an asteroid belt and rejoice over the glittering heavenly bodies in their orbits.

But He does look down here. He pays much more than a little thought to us, the noisy race on Earth that, despite everything, bears His image still! He lets the light of the Son peak down and touch us, while He looks at what we are and what we were, and sees instead what we can be. What He made us to be, and what we will be. He lets His thoughts dwell on us below. He lets He love pour down from the clouds unhindered. He lets His mercy strike bright and fierce like lightning, mightily gentle like the loving hand of a Father to help His little one.

Psalm 139:17-18 "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! [18] If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You."

He scoops us up by His grace for our faith. Taking what was corrupted, He makes us shine again like we were always meant to, reflecting the light that He sent into the world. This is why we love God.

We celebrate Christmas to remember God's gift of His Son, the Messiah, the Chosen One the world had been awaiting for hundreds of years. That gift is only meaningful if we remember that He sent Him to die for us. He teaches us how to live, and how to die to ourselves. We do matter to God, enough to breathe a dying breathe for, enough to eject our death sentence paid in full, rendered void, from His resurrected lungs. He spared so expense just for the chance to knock on our doors and ask to come in.

Merry Christmas, everybody. We sure have a good reason to celebrate.