Every advent/Christmas I try to focus/meditate on one aspect of the Christmas message that God came to us in this world to be with us and then to die for us. This year, not surprisingly, I've thought about how Jesus came into this world as a helpless baby. Why didn't He just mysteriously appear on the scene when He was ready to start His ministry at age 30? Why submit Himself to humans to care for Him?
I, of course, don't have answers to all my questions but here are some thoughts - Jesus came into the world in this way so that His humanity was firmly documented and accepted. (Jesus' humanity is a key element of Him being an acceptable substitute for taking our punishment for our sin. For justice to be served, a human had to die.) If Jesus had just appeared, His humanity could be questioned. But we know who is mother and father were and people watched Him grow up (John 6:42). And the fact that He was born into a certain line of a certain Jewish family is key in the fulfillment of prophecy (Jeremiah 33:17). It is also key that Jesus experienced and suffered all that we do as humans (yet was without sin - Hebrews 4:15). That would include being dependent on others. He knows what's it like to grow up in this world.
Yet it is still hard to fathom that God loved us so much that He would and could be a little baby. And imagine what it was like for Mary - I particularly like the verse in the song "Mary did you know?" that goes something like "when you kissed your little boy, did you know you were kissing the face of God."
I hope you all get a chance to marvel at the awesomeness of the incarnation this Christmas!
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