But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:10-11 NASB
This is a familiar passage that is often read to us from the Bible at Christmas time. When you hear these words can’t you just see the troupe of children dressed up as little shepherds and angels, and one child angel announcing the good news. In front is the live nativity scene with Joseph standing there and Mary watching over the baby lying in the manger? It’s adorable.
A few years ago at Christmas time I went for a jog around my neighborhood at night. The air was crisp, which is fun in southern California, and everyone had their lights on. It was beautiful, and I decided to listen to a podcast about Christmas that I’d been wanting to hear. I don’t remember what it was called, and I can’t find it now to know who the author was, but it turned out to change my whole perspective that year. The man told a story about looking at a plastic nativity scene and the real truth behind what he saw, and it made me think about what I had forgotten.
We may think at times that our lives are too hard too messy too chaotic for God to understand. Maybe we think that because He’s perfect, He couldn’t possibly get what we’re going through. We may think of God as the distant big man upstairs looking down on us with no way of relating to us. That He couldn’t possibly understand how much pain we are in or how alone we feel in the life we are living as a parent of a child with special needs. But is that really the truth?
When we look at the first Christmas through the example of a cute children’s Christmas play or a beautifully gilded nativity scene we may be tempted to validate the opinion that He is perfect and that He couldn’t possibly understand our lives. However, when we really take a look and see the facts for what they are, we are likely to see it a whole lot differently.
The truth is that God lovingly chose to relate to us. He could’ve sent Jesus as a king’s son, born in a palace, with all the fine things that a prince could want, but He didn’t. He sent Jesus to a dirty stable, with dirty smelly noisy animals. He had parents that were poor and possibly scorned by their neighbors and family, through no fault of their own. He didn’t even have a proper layette. He was swaddled in strips of cloth. Nor did he have a cozy warm crib to lay in. No he was laid in a feeding trough called a manger. And God had a plan for all of this.
Jesus was to be “Immanuel” or “God with us”. Every time I read that it causes me to take a breath. God with us. Yes God chose to be with us because He loves us. It says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
This Christmas let us remember that God sees us, He gets us, He loves us, and He is with us. Merry Christmas!
