Tags
Christ child, Christmas, Christmas mysteries, contemplating Christmas, Jesus, meditating on Christmas, one of us, wonders of Christmas
There are so many mysteries that surround the birth of Christ and often I just gloss over them. To sit and examine them seems overwhelming, so I thank Him for His birth and move along with my day. This year though, I have found myself delving into the wonder of Christ’s birth more. I have allowed myself to plunge into the questions of who, what, how and why. Scriptures from Philippians, Deuteronomy, Hebrews, and of course John have jumped out at me over the last few months and shown me a touch of what Christ gave up to become humankind’s sacrifice for sin.
When I think of His sacrifice, I usually think of the cross and Easter, but I am finding that becoming a baby must have been just as hard, if not harder. The trust that it took to be that vulnerable…I can’t even imagine. You and I have no choice about how we enter this world, but our Savior, Jesus, was not just already mature, He was eternal. He had always been. He was infinite. He was all-powerful and well, who knows what else? He’s God! Yet, He placed Himself in His Father’s hands and said, “Your will, not mine be done.” He had known God the Father for all eternity and fully trusted Him. This would have been the perfect time for the Father to kill off the Son if there was any jealousy, or strife in the Godhead, but Jesus had been with Him for all time and fully trusted Him. He knew the mind and heart of the Father. He knew there was no darkness, or dark shadow in Him (I John 1:5).Our triune Godhead loves with no envy, or strife and Jesus knew this with every fiber of His being. He trusted with every fiber, holding nothing back. He knew the Father and Spirit would cover Him, protect Him and help Him to reach His designated path. No worries, only trust.
Hebrews 10:5-7 says, “Therefore, when He [Jesus] comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me’; …Then I [Jesus] said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the roll of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God.’”
Jesus knew from the beginning of time that a body had been prepared for Him to come to this earth for us. He trusted the Godhead enough to be completely sold out to the solution and was willing to endure the extreme vulnerability that would be required of Him. I too often take for granted the miracle of birth, but Jesus intimately knew the complications that could occur. He knew everything, yet still agreed to do the will of the Father. He trusted Him completely. The choice of mother, the choice of father, the choice of living conditions, everything was placed in the Father’s hands.
I do wonder if Jesus helped pick Mary to give birth to Him, or did He leave all of the decisions up to the Father? I think He at least realized as she was growing up that this was it, the time had come.
What did He think of Joseph, the man who would be His earthly Father? Did He watch Joseph play as a boy more intensely than He watched other Hebrew boys? Did He smile when Mary first heard Joseph’s name? When the betrothal was formalized was He excited to see the first step in His “parents” life together?
I also wonder if being fully God and fully man, did Jesus know the reality of the womb? Did He want the “full experience” and give up His omniscient side during this uterine experience? Was the baby Christ fully aware even at this time of His humanity? When the birth took place did He remember that He had created this world that He had just entered? Oh, the mysteries of Christmas!
When Jesus was a child in the synagogue, did He have to work at memorizing the holy canon like other children, or was He a genius who knew everything by heart? After all, He helped write it. When He was read Deuteronomy 31:8, ‘And the LORD is the One who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed,’ did He jump up with joy and yell out that He knew this to be true, or did He sit quietly knowing that His Father was proving this daily in His own little life? Oh, the mysteries of Christmas!
Then, we must look at the other side of things. What was it like in heaven with Jesus gone? It had never happened before. Was He missed? Were all of the angels with Him on earth? Were they taking shifts, or volunteering for overtime to be with Him? The Godhead itself, were the Spirit and Father lonely at times? They were ever-present with Jesus, but not in the same way. Yes, Jesus was fully God, but He was fully present on earth as well. I don’t believe we will fully understand even a fraction of the sacrifice they all made until we are in heaven. To be totally one for all of time and then, suddenly, not to be…the mysteries of Christmas are almost overwhelming at times.
I wonder… when Jesus was full of the Spirit in Luke 4, did He feel almost “normal”? Was the intensity of not being one with the Father still as strong? As Jesus later in His life would go to a “lonely place” to pray was the communication frustrating, or refreshing? Did He just want His stint on earth to be over, or was He relishing every moment? The Word shows us that He grew frustrated with humanity at times, yet still never said that we were not worth it. What a mystery!
So, this Christmas as you go about your busy days, stop and contemplate some of the mysteries of Christmas. Contemplate how our GOD came down in the form of a human. Think about how He was one of us. Remember that He had the same vulnerabilities, the same defenselessness and the same struggles and chose to go through it for us. He chose to trust all of Himself into the hands of the Father. He knew He would be taken care of. He knew He would be safe in His arms. He knew His will was worth any struggle. He trusted fully. What a mystery! May we do the same.
