Christmas

Jesus…claimed to be from Heaven…fully God and fully man
How did He come to earth?
Not born into wealth…child of privilege
Not the child of politically powerful.
No…no pomp and circumstance
He chose a young, teenage, Jewish girl…not yet married…not yet sexually active
In that day and place…oh, the shame of a child out of wedlock
He chose to grow up with the stigma of being an illegitimate son
He chose a poor family
He chose a hometown on the wrong side of the tracks
He chose to be born in a barn…His first bed a trough…His first mattress, hay
His first visitors would be some lowly, smelly shepherds
Why?
Why did He choose this sort of entrance
Why hardship rather than comfort
Why common rather than spectacular birth
To let us know that He came for the common…the outcast…the poor…the underprivileged
No wonder the proud and powerful were afraid of Him
No wonder He was known as the “friend of tax collectors and prostitutes”
He knew firsthand the hardships of life on planet Earth
He could relate to common people…like us
Jesus changed history more than any other person
Not through guns and war
Not through protests and parades
But through His death and resurrection
The angels’ words at His birth still ring true today,
“Glory to God in the highest, and peace on those with whom He is pleased.”
Christmas is about giving gifts…
Because God gave His greatest gift to the world…when He gave Jesus.