Finding Your Way to Bethlehem: Peace

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:9-11 CSB

What are you drawing son? The father watched as his son meticulously drew in his sketch pad.
The little boy looked up and said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” His dad looked at him and smiled, “Son, no one knows what God looks like.” The little boy looked up from his drawing and declared, “They will when I’m done!” (from Mark Batterson, A Million Little Miracles)

The little boy was extremely confident but God beat him to it. Christmas is God’s answer when we ask to see a picture of Him. “See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” (Matt 1:23)

“Good news from heaven the angels bring,

Glad tidings to the earth they sing;

To us this day a child is given,

To crown us with the joy of heaven.” (Martin Luther)

John tells the Christmas narrative a bit differently from Matthew or Luke. He simply begins his account of the story with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…. No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.” (John 1:1,14,18)

John didn’t capture any of the heartwarming events of the Savior’s birth, such as shepherds out in the field, angels singing, or wise men coming from a distant land. The popular little lapel buttons that many people wear at Christmas, saying, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” sum up nicely John’s beginning narrative and set the stage for Jesus’ work of redemption.

We find Moses at a point where he was struggling with leading the people and in a tender, intimate moment asked God to see His glory. Did Moses make his request out of bold audacity or overwhelming love? Moses had already witnessed numerous acts of God in his life, talked with God “face to face” and lived with a holy expectation of what God would do, so maybe the request was a little of both. Moses was told though, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the LORD’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.” (Ex 33:19-20)

“Jesus came as God, veiled in human flesh, with the full intensity of God’s glory hidden within Jesus. If Jesus had removed the veil of His flesh to reveal to the world His full glory, the light of that glory would have consumed every person on the planet.” (Robert Clifton Robinson)

Jesus would respond to a similar request when Philip asked him, “Show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” (John 14:8) John would have been sitting with the other disciples as Jesus responded to Philip. Jesus’ answer may have served to stimulate John’s opening narrative of his Christmas story. “Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.” (John 14:9-11)

Christmas celebrates the transforming work that Jesus began that night and continues throughout the world through his disciples. St. Augustine said it well, “A Christian is: a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps.”

Jim Denison, pastor and cultural theologian writes of celebrating Advent in four tenses. Denison suggests that Jesus’ ongoing engagement with our world should actually be understood in four “comings.”

At first, he entered the world for the purpose of purchasing our salvation by his death on the cross (I Peter2:24; I John 2:2; Rev 13:8)

At his second, he enters humans individually when he becomes our Savior (John 1:13) and his Spirit takes up residence in our lives (I Cor 3:16).

At his third, he comes for humans individually when he takes us to heaven (John 14:3).

At his fourth, he will return to the world as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16). (from the Daily Article Dec 5, 2024)

Advent traditions have been used within church history for contemplating and preparing for the coming of the Messiah. Advent season allows us a time to slow down in this busy time to simply focus on Jesus’ message of salvation and redemption. Advent opens our hearts to celebrate the birth of the Savior. We can sing the Christmas carols because of the hope we have in Jesus, remembering the true meaning of Christmas: Immanuel, God is with us.

May your Christmas this year be filled with the unbridled excitement of a child, the wonder of a shepherd, the perseverance of a magi, the serenity of Mary, the faithfulness of Joseph, and the peace that comes only through Jesus.

Wishing you a blessed and Merry Christmas,

God is great!