This past week for youth group, we
did a white elephant gift exchange. I
like these exchanges because they are complete surprises. Often, the box or wrapping paper gives no
clues as to what lies inside. During the
Christmas season, gifts can so quickly and easily become a distraction from
Jesus—the true reason we celebrate. This year, I want to invite us to look
at our gifts as a reminder of Jesus.
When Jesus came down at Christmas, he became God’s ultimate White
elephant gift to humanity—a peculiar gift—the fullness of God, eternal and
holy—wrapped up in the flesh of a helpless infant. We did not know the greatness of the gift we received.
This is such a spectacular
truth—Jesus Christ: fully God and fully man—that we don’t really know how to
fathom it, and so we take Christ’s birth and make it something worthy of a
Hallmark greeting card. After all, he was the son of God! We paint this picture: the stable is neat and
tidy—no manure caked in the hay. Mary is pristine, beautiful, and solemn; not a
teenage girl desperate, terrified, sweaty, and screaming in pain. Joseph is a carpenter…with a minor in
midwifery…and knows exactly what he’s doing when he delivers that baby. He couldn't possibly be a desperate man
praying for God’s help in a healthy and safe delivery; scrambling to find some
rag to wrap the baby in and something sharp and clean cut the umbilical cord. The star in the sky casts a perfect
spotlight on Jesus as he lies in a plush manger crib—no dried animal slobber,
wooden slivers, or jabbing straw to be found.
Jesus is a perfect, beautiful baby, complete with heavenly, glowing aura. There is no afterbirth. He is not sticky and wet. “The cattle are lowing, the poor baby wakes,
but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes…”
Ok, let’s brush off some of the glitter and push aside the tinsel. Let’s be realistic. There was no “silent” night. Jesus was a baby. A human baby. Exiting the
balmy 98.6 degree climate of his mother’s womb out into the chilly night,
breathing air for the first time into his lungs, I am sure like every baby,
Jesus put those lungs to good use, screaming and waling… and waking up an
animal or two.
This peculiar night when the Holy
Lord came into the world as an infant…was a profoundly human event. It was messy, scary, dirty, and lowly. There was pain and uncertainty. It’s as if God went out of his way to point
out just how human Jesus was. Being born
in a stable, and laid in a manger, he made himself even more vulnerable than
most. In all of the chaos, it was not a
silent night…but it was a holy night. This
little baby boy, crying in a manger, sticky with afterbirth…was Holy God! Multitudes of angels sang in worship at his
birth. Prophets foretold his coming. He shall be called Immanuel—“God with us”!
Unique amongst all, Jesus alone
existed before his birth. “The word became
flesh and made his dwelling among us…” John 1:14. He chose
to be born as a human and dwell amongst us.
He chose to leave the glory
and splendor of Heaven, giving up power and becoming a helpless baby. He chose
to be born to a teenage mother with an unbelievable story of being a
pregnant virgin by the power of God. Who
would look with favor on that family? He
chose to be a homeless wanderer,
despised by the religious leaders of his day.
He chose to face a criminals
death on the cross—all of this for our sake.
Jesus said that he came to serve, not to be served—that he came to give
his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
Not only did he choose to live our experience, he also lived this life
with the ultimate purpose of dying for our sake.
Jesus understands life. He knew trial and temptation—and he conquered
them through his power. He is God. Demons fear him. Angels adore him. He holds all authority, yet chose to
surrender his life for our sake. Because
he is man, he can relate to us—cry with us, feel our pains, joys, happiness and
sorrow. But because he is God, he can
conquer our pains, our sin—he can save us because he has the authority!
Job longed for a mediator; someone
who could stand on his behalf before God.
“God
is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. If only there were a mediator who could bring
us together, but there is none.” Job 9:32-33. Jesus became that mediator! Augustine said, “He is mediator between God
and man, because he is God with the Father, and a man with men. A mere man could not be a mediator between
God and man; nor could a mere God.
Behold the mediator: Divinity without humanity cannot act as a mediator;
nor can humanity without Divinity; but the human Divinity and the Divine
humanity of Christ is the sole mediator between Divinity and humanity.” 1 Tim
2:5-6 says, “ For there is
only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ
Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the
message God gave to the world at just the right time.”
John Calvin said that as God alone,
Christ couldn't feel death, but as man alone, he couldn’t conquer it. So he coupled both natures together. He faced death…and conquered it, so that we
might be free!
If Jesus had not become man, we would have no
one to relate to—no one who has faced our trials and triumphed, no one to put
our hope in, but we are made holy by Christ.
“For
God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus
Christ, once for all time.” Hebrews 10:10
Jesus made the greatest gift
exchange—he became human…so that we might become holy. He chose us so that we could choose him. He gave us his very life. Will we give ours in return?
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