Following Judah's Lion

Jesus Arrives

Lk.2:11 - For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

We rightfully concentrate on Bethlehem, it is the city of David that was given by the prophet as His birthplace. Gloriously simple and majestically humble, it shall forever hold a place of amazing brilliance as the city where Christ drew His first breath. The house of bread opened its arms to the Bread of Life.

But Bethlehem was not the place where Jesus actually arrived in this world, no, it was Nazareth. Right after Gabriel came, or perhaps while he was speaking to the vessel Mary, the Holy Spirit visited her carrying with Him a Seed of the Spirit which housed the eternal Word. At this juncture remove your human reasoning and rise up on the wings of eagles lifted up by the wind of faith. And this Seed entered the single cell of Mary and in that womb Jesus rested and began a human journey which would lead Him from the miracle of God's conception to the miracle of God's death. Did you ever wonder what exactly took place in God's throne room as Jesus prepared to submit to the Holy Spirit, the ordained courier? How did God the Father say good bye, and how did the glorious Word become obedient to the future design He had planned for Himself? Who can know it and who among us can pull back the sacred veil and reveal it in its fullness, nay, not one among us, for the final preparatory steps that would send Heaven's Prince to the Earth are hidden within the Godhead. God is now here and his ministry and mission in the embryonic stage has become a glorious reality hidden in a virgin's womb. Gasp for breath all you earth bound sons of the living God, today your ears have heard the voice of heaven speaking through an infant's beginning as God the Creator now abides in the womb of His chosen creature, and with every divided cell the human building blocks were set one upon another to come forth in Bethlehem as God, revealed in the newborn stable boy.

"...but a body thou hast prepared me..."

We cannot tell how limited the Lord Jesus agreed to be as an infant, but I believe that He had entrusted everything to the watch care of His Father, culminating with the Spirit's anointing at His baptism and the Father's own testimony of His only begotten Son. What a privilege it was to be dispatched from heaven's glory on the day of His birth and announce with shouts of praise that God the Son had come to earth. The heavens part and the glory of God descends upon a sheep filled hillside, and as the shepherds cower they suddenly hear a sound they've never heard, full of angelic voices and drenched in the aroma of heaven, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men". And in the presence of a multitude of the heavenly hosts I believe the shepherds could hear it, and see it, and smell it, and taste it, and feel it, and other emotions that Paul said are "unlawful to utter". But only a few miles away the Lord of these very angels squirms in a feeding trough, and only candlelight illuminates the face from which the heavens and the earth would one day flee. But on this night these shepherds will make their way inside the city, and with the angelic visitation still all over them, they quietly enter the straw filled tabernacle and are immediately sent to their knees. These earthly shepherds bow in worship before the Great Sherpherd. Shortly death would come seeking Him, but the Heavenly Father was eternally way ahead of these hapless baby killers sent by that fool, Herod. Jesus was protected by the ministry of the angelic beings sent from the presence of the Father to penetrate the dreams of Joseph, and as the child grew He could not help but seem special to those closest to Him, and especially that humble, chosen vessel Mary. She pondered much in that precious heart that sought God's will.

Now man demands pomp when he is announced, but God is willing to appear common. Can you imagine the Father allowing His Son, His Equal, to come to this sin ravaged world with only the recognition of some insignificant shepherds? What kind of love are we dealing with here, and what lengths will this infant go to prove His love for us? "Bless the Lord my soul, and all that is within me bless His Holy Name". The mystery is upon us, and although the world has twisted this story to fit their sentimental and hedonistic ways, the truth still towers above all the "Christmas" observances. Jesus the Christ, the everlasting Messiah, has come to this Earth and through Him we are saved, forever. So go ahead you shopping malls make merchandise on His back; go ahead you churches and charge admission to present His story; go ahead and light token Christmas trees in Washington without mentioning His name; go ahead you believers and spend much on each other without purchasing a single gift for the birthday Boy; and go ahead you preachers and teach on some humanistic topic while spurning the greatest story ever told.

Oh but not me, by God's grace. I am as imperfect as anyone you may think of, but I refuse to surrender any honor or glory or majesty or power or worship to anyone or anything, but Jesus, the Incarnate Infant of Bethlehem. And to you the followers of that child, make this coming observance a showcase for Him with our words and lives being "apples of gold in pictures of silver" for Him. And instead of "Merry Christmas" I will continue the tradition I began last year by saying "Praise to the God Child". People will ask you what you mean and by their own words elicit a wonderful witness for Him.

Praise to the God Child!!!