It Was All So Very, Very Wrong

Dec 6, 2014 2713

Kings are meant to be born in cushioned beds, not in food troughs for animals. Nobility is meant to be reverenced by the rich and the mighty, not nuzzled by donkeys and sheep. The lusty cries of a newborn conquerors are meant to cause all to run to meet his needs; they do not come into the world with a whimper. The birth of royalty is the business of the elites of this world; the shepherds and other peasants… well… they have their own business, like watching their sheep by night.

The birth of Jesus was a day that announced the overturning of the values of this world, totally upside down, and announced that here was no ordinary life that had come into this world.

It was a day that announced that God had come to be one with us (Matt 1:23). With us… not alone with the rich and the mighty, but with us… with us all, but especially with us… the poor and the humble, those who know their need, their weaknesses, and their brokenness.

Jesus Christ was a gift to the whole world, overlooked by so many, but a gift wrapped up in poverty and humility, so that the poor in spirit would not fear to come in grateful awe to unwrap that greatest of all gifts, to understand and accept and believe in the name of Immanuel – God With Us.

In the unexpected manner of his arrival, the birth of Christ foreshadowed the way in which that Child would experience the depths of humanity – at Calvary. You see, the day of Calvary was the day on which the world would ultimately be turned upside down forever. This was the day on which the kingdom of Christ would be inaugurated here on this earth.

His birth was announced by a brightly shining star; at Calvary even our own star – the sun – was darkened in shame.

There were few who loved him at his birth; there were few at Calvary. His mother Mary was there at both. In Bethlehem Mary ministered to him; at Calvary he ministered to her.

At his birth a king sought to kill him. At Calvary he defeated every earthly power.

His cry at Bethlehem was the common cry of the pain of every person of the world; his cry at Calvary was for his victory over sin and death on their behalf.

Jesus Christ is the only one who ever chose to be born, and he is the Saviour of all those who choose the second birth, and the guarantor of all who choose to be raised from the death to everlasting life. He has opened the way, and we step into it through faith in him.

That’s why every follower of Christ lives every day in the reality of the incarnation of Jesus. The day that seemed so very, very wrong turned out to be the very best day of all. That’s how it is when a King comes to town.

May you be blessed by the grace of our God and the peace of Our Saviour Jesus Christ this Christmas!

– Eliezer Gonzalez

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