THE CHRISTMAS SEASON IS MAGICAL.
And by that, I mean that the Christmas spirit is real! The sense of anticipation, the hope of something new, and the promise of a better day are all ingredients in the Christmas spirit felt by so many this time of year. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, a sense of longing wells up within us this time of year. Little cracks, in an otherwise dark veneer let beams of light shine through illuminating our hearts with anticipation, hope and promise. I would suggest that the Christmas spirit is one more piece of evidence that the Christmas story is central to God’s story, in which Jesus makes it possible for our story to be transformed and become part of His story.
Several years ago I wrote a poem trying to explain the central idea of the Christmas story, which is of course, the incarnation. The more I thought about this Christmas season, the more my thoughts went back to Isaiah 9:6 which conveys the smallness and the bigness of Jesus in one breath:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
A child is born (Christ’s humanity), a son is given (Christ’s deity); He was…
small enough to be born into the world
BIG enough to have spoken that world and everything in it into existence
small enough to be born into the City of Bread
BIG enough to be the Bread of Life
small enough to cry when he was hungry and wanted to be held
BIG enough to hear the heart cry of every human being
small enough to be obsolete
BIG enough to be absolute
small enough to be born in to a young family
BIG enough to welcome all who would come into His family
small enough to reveal Himself to shepherds close by
BIG enough to draw Magi from afar
small enough to wash feet
BIG enough to lead
small enough for our sake to become poor
BIG enough that through His poverty we might become rich
small enough to need swaddling clothes
BIG enough to one day leave them behind
small enough to become one of us
BIG enough to rescue all of us
small enough to be the kid in the cradle
BIG enough to be the King on the cross