“‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).'”
Matthew 1:23
Do you ever make Christmas traditions for yourself? Just something for you and God to enjoy.
When I was younger, I started this. The night of Christmas I cuddle up on my couch and watch “The Nativity Story.”
I love this movie so much. While others may see it as boring, and honestly the first time I watched it I wasn’t too impressed, as I continued to watch it I realized the significance of the story did not lie in the performance (although the performance is actually great) it is in the story itself.
Story is such a fictional word. I hate to use it, because sometimes we read Luke 2 like it is just that-fiction, but this really happened. This story is real.
One of my favorite figurines that my grandma has passed down to me is of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. Unlike most figurines and paintings that depict this event- it is not a “pretty” scene. Mary is nine months pregnant, her belly huge and round, her breast full. She sits atop a donkey as Joseph drags the animal by a rope and walks from Nazareth to Bethlehem. I love this picture of the journey because it’s real. It’s not painted up all pretty and in a package; it’s true to pregnancy; it’s true to life, it’s true to travel. According to (http://articles.latimes.com/1995-12-23/local/me-17102_1_gospel-accounts), 90 miles of travel to be exact. Ninety miles… on a donkey. Nine months pregnant…
There are a couple of things we really need to grasp this Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.
- The story is real. It’s just that- a historical event that really happened. Sometimes we fail to remember the Word of God is not only the Word of God- it is a historical document that can be used to back up events and attest to the actions of ancient rulers and other peoples.
- Jesus chose to be born in a humble and unexpected way. If you look at the way God designed the birth of Jesus, it’s actually very smart. King Herod knew the prophesies of the Old Testament, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans[a] of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2 Jesus had to born in a humble way- King Herod was looking for a baby to be born in Bethlehem who would later be the ruler of Judea which was a threat to His own rule. He, in turn, had all of the baby boys under two killed within Bethlehem. An angel came to Joseph and told him and Mary to flee to Egypt for this very reason. Now, I know this sounds like a stretch, but honestly, it’s pretty clever. The whole thing is pretty impressive. Herod was not looking for a pregnant teenager on a donkey led by a man. He was looking for a ruler, royalty, prominence and wealth. Joseph and Mary did not fit the criteria for Herod, but they fit the criteria for God and His Son. They were willing and obedient. Willing to endure the scorn of the people they knew, the journey to a land they had not known themselves to give birth to a Savior that had created them. How freaken cool is that?
- The birth of Jesus was just that- a birth. We all see the pretty nativity and we imagine the lambs laying all calm and still in the manger. We sing, “The little Lord Jesus no crying He made…” and we imagine this pretty picture of a baby coming out of the womb all silent and still. That was not the case. In fact, if your baby came out of the womb silent that was, and is still, not a good sign. Now, this being said, I am sure the birth of the Savior was absolutely beautiful but for Mary, this was a labor of pain. She was pushing and yelling and there was blood and there was afterbirth. There was not midwife or nurse, she was in a stall with hay and Joseph was her only helper. (Although the text doesn’t say I’m sure there were angels in the manger, why wouldn’t there be.) But, anyways, this was raw, real, birth. Jesus, the highest of kinds, born in the lowest of places.”
Take some time this Christmas to reflect on the reality and rawness of the birth and death of Jesus.
What are we worth that the Savior of the world, the Creator of the Universe would come to us, live like us, and die a death that was for criminals?
May we never forget this Christmas that He came and He died and He says,
“You are loved.
You are valuable.
You are useful.”