He's Here!

Merry Christmas!

While we entertained a colleague of R's at dinner the other night, Will suddenly asked, 

"But why would God send His Son to the earth in the form of a baby?"

Perhaps something similar has been wondered throughout the centuries. 

Why would the God of Heaven come down to us, to rescue us, in the lowly form of a baby?

The Story of the Nativity

as told in the Jesus Storybook Bible, by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Everything was ready.  The moment God had been waiting for was here at last!  God was coming to help His people, just as He promised in the beginning. . . . Mountains would have bowed down.  Seas would have roared.  Trees would have clapped their hands.  But the earth held its breath.  As silent as snow falling, he came in.  And when no was looking, in the darkness, he came. . . . 

The God who flung planets into space and kept them whirling around and around, the God who made the universe with just a word, the one who could do anything at all - was making himself small.  And coming down... as a baby.

Wait.  God was sending a baby to rescue the world?

"But it's too wonderful!  Mary said and felt her heart beating hard.  "How can it be true?"

"Is anything too wonderful for God?"  Gabriel asked.

So Mary trusted God more than what her eyes could see.  And she believed. . . . 

And there, in the stable, amongst the chickens and the donkeys and the cows, in the quiet of the night, God gave the world his wonderful gift.  The baby that would change the world was born.  His baby son. . . . Mary and Joseph named him Jesus, "Emmanuel" - which means, "God has come to live with us."  

Because, of course, he had.

In those days, remember, people used to laugh at shepherds and say they were smelly and call them other rude names (which I can't possibly mention here.)  You see, people thought shepherds were nobodies, just scruffy old riff-raff.  But God must have thought shepherds were very important indeed, because they're the ones he chose to tell the good news to first.  And they [the angels] were singing a beautiful song:  "Glory to God!  To God be Fame and

 Honor and all our Hoorays!"

Far away, in the East, three clever men saw the very same star. . . . They followed the star through the streets of Bethlehem, out of the nice part of town, through the not-so-nice part of town, into the really-not-nice-at-all part of town, down a little dirt trace, until it stopped.  . . . It wasn't a palace.  And there weren't any guards.  Or servants.  Or flags.  Or red carpets.  Or trumpets.  Or anything. . . . 

The journey that had begun so many centuries before had led three Wise Men here.  To a little town.  To a little house.  To a little child.  To the King God had promised David all those years before.

But this child was a new kind of king.  Though he was the Prince of Heaven, he had become poor.  Though he was the Mighty God, he had become a helpless baby.  This King hadn't come to be the boss.

He had come to be a servant.

(Luke 1-2 & Matthew 2)

Then Jesus gave John a beautiful dream - except John was wide awake and what he saw was real and one day it would all come true. . . . 

And the King says, 

"Look!  God and his children are together again.  No more running away.  Or hiding.  No more crying or being lonely or afraid.  No more being sick or dying.  Because all those things are gone.  Yes, they're gone forever.

Everything sad has come untrue.

And see - I have wiped away every tear from every eye!" . . . 

One day, John knew, Heaven would come down and mend God's broken world and make it our true, perfect home once again.  And he knew, in some mysterious way that would be hard to explain, that everything was going to be more wonderful for once having been so sad.  And he knew that the ending of The Story was going to be so great, it would make all the sadness and tears and everything seem like just a shadow that is chased away by the morning sun.

"I'm on my way," said Jesus.  "I'll be there soon!"

(taken from Revelation)

Oh come, Oh come, Emmanuel.