Think back to your most
humiliating experience – that face-plant on the school steps, the hot date that
was such a disaster, the undeserved dressing-down from your boss. What was it about? Your cringing is largely a memory of someone making
you look small.
Now let’s visit that baby
in a manger in Bethlehem whose birthday we are celebrating. So cute, but who is he? He is the creator. He breathes in worship and exhales
stars. He invented life, light and
energy. He is able to create matter out
of nothing. He knows and understands the
whereabouts and nature of every smallest particle in the universe. Indeed, he directs them all. And here he is, joyfully taking on the
straightjacket of humanity. He becomes trapped
in his creation. Not only does he
confine himself to being human, but he takes it to the extreme of being the
most puny person on the planet – a newborn.
Now he is absolutely dependent on others to meet his physical needs, he
can’t eat, drink, move or even poop without someone helping. We would have expected him to come as some
sort of conquering ruler.
Talk about
humiliation. No-one bigger has ever been
made to look smaller.
And this is the happy end
of the story. Still to come for him are 30 years
of hard work; 3 years of nomadic preaching, an excruciating death, and three
days separation from the other members of the trinity, with whom he has had the
ultimate in intimate relationships since before they created time together.
Why does he submit to all
of this?
To pay a sin debt on
behalf of those created people. Creatures
who are far from perfect, and deserve plenty of fire and brimstone. You and me.
He loved us enough to embrace the ultimate humiliation, in order to dig
us out of hell.
So maybe the so-called
Christmas Spirit is more than alcohol, glitter, trees, unappreciated gifts that
cost too much, fractious family gatherings, carols performed by opportunistic
pop artists, or even sermons exhorting us to put Christ back into Christmas.
Maybe it is about us
lying on our faces before Him and whispering “Wow God, I don’t deserve this. You paid a lot. Thank you.”
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