Luke 2:6-35 — Baby Jesus has grown up, OK?!
Imagine celebrating your birthday the way Christmas is celebrated. We would hang up pictures of you in your crib — to show we know who this is all about, you know. Generally, though, we would disregard you in favor of other festive and seasonal activities. If anyone would get around to remembering you, it would be to reminisce about your birth and baby days. We would give each other gifts we think we would enjoy…and maybe give you a baby rattle. You would probably say “bah humbug” on birthdays, at least yours.
In the US, the birthdays of certain Presidents rate a national holiday of sorts. That is appropriate for any country to do. But how inspirational would it be for the citizenry to remember these men only as newborn infants?
Has Baby Jesus grown up yet? Look around you with some attention to the obvious details, and you would think the answer is negative. Any alleged celebration of Jesus’ birth mostly takes us back to His babyhood and infrequently focuses on His adulthood.
Has the Baby grown up yet? Yes! And let our remembrance focus on that! Let’s make this season a celebration of His accomplishments — past, present and future. And let’s make our gifts to Him worthy (at least in a minuscule way) of His maturity and accomplishments.
The Baby is grown up now! So let’s get beyond the baby stuff this Christmas!
Who is this Person we should celebrate? Savior! Yes, indeed. I suspect most who do remember Him this season remember and honor Him as the divine Savior of the world. This Man is the great and only Rescuer, Redeemer and Restorer. Without Him, no one has any hope. With Him, no one needs any other hope. He is the Savior!
Period?
Often, yes. So many who appreciate Him as Savior do not daily take the steps that make sure their own salvation. So many gladly accept Him as their Savior with little follow-up thought and action on expanding and deepening the relationship. They accept much but give little in return.
Who is this Person we should celebrate? Lord!
Ooooops!
We like the “Baby in the Manger” and the “Savior of the World” dimensions of Jesus Christ. We even have Christmas for the baby part and Easter for the Saviour part. But what about “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”? I wonder if we have no days left for such remembrances. Surely we must have an empty, unallotted season yet that we could reserve for His Lordship.
Let’s make Today that special day that focuses on the Lordship of Jesus. This shouldn’t be too difficult to remember. Every day Today comes around, we’ll remember and live the Lordship of Jesus.
And the special season will be the season of our lives.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a Blessed Today!
(Adapted by the author from Good Tidings of Great Joy.)
This Baby, though, belonged in a manger, in a stall.
He belonged there, not because the innkeeper and all his guests despised Him, but because the Baby and His Father put others first.
Please, read the rest: Others First
Jesus marked the Way, chosing the lowest route. The birth of Jesus should be more than a historical event to us. His birth ought to stimulate us to walk that lowest route. He said, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
What did it cost Jehovah to be born as a child named Jesus?
Excerpted from The Birth and Reception of Jesus
This is a good place to slip in a little side note. This post actually “converges” the passages used by two major Sunday School lessons for December 25, 2016:
- The Messiah Is Born (Luke 2:6-14, 27-35) — Christian Light Publications
- The Savior Has Been Born (Luke 2:8-20) — international standard lessons
[…]
If you can’t figure out what to give someone who already “has everything,” why not suggest you both give to someone truly in need? In other words, why not take the personal, lowly, non-commercial approach God took so long ago?
Full piece: The Shepherds
More I wrote on the subject…
- Simeon. Me.
- Just Do Your Job
- Questions for Christmas Sunday
- Emmanuel!
- The Birth of Our Lord
- Mary: Submissive, Joyful, Pondering
- Simeon, Anna, and Baby Jesus
- Good News for the World
- The Word Was Made Flesh
- The Word Made Flesh
- The Saviour Is Born
- Made in the Likeness of Men
Totally agree! Such silly goings on in the name of celebrating Jesus birthday! How old is he now?
Yes, great thoughts, Mark. Wish I would have had this 6 months ago to put in the nov-dec issue of the Antorcha.