WHEN I HEAR THE PHRASE "BABY JESUS" I THINK ABOUT SWEETNESS AND INNOCENCE AND CHRISTMAS. BUT WAIT, BABY JESUS ALSO MEANS GOD, IN ALL HIS GLORY, SQUISHED INTO A BABY. WHOA.
THAT'S A LOT. JUST THINK ABOUT GOD, HIMSELF, BEING A VULNERABLE, CRYING, HUNGRY, HELPLESS BABY! WOW.
I MEAN, I'M A MOM. REALLY? AND YET THAT'S EXACTLY HOW SCRIPTURE DESCRIBES JESUS.
IN LUKE 1:31, AN ANGEL APPEARS TO MARY AND TELLS HER, "YOU WILL CONCEIVE AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON. . .
" IMAGINE MEASURING THE LIFE OF JESUS COMPARED TO VARIOUS FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AS WE DO OUR BABIES IN THE WOMB. I'VE ACTUALLY NEVER BEEN PREGNANT (MY CHILDREN CAME TO US THROUGH ADOPTION), BUT I'VE PUT MY HAND ON THE SWOLLEN BELLIES OF FRIENDS AND FELT THE GROWING AND KICKING BEING WITHIN. SURELY JESUS WAS A GROWING BABY!
AND THEN LUKE 2:6-7 TELLS US THAT MARY GAVE BIRTH TO HER FIRSTBORN SON AND WRAPPED HIM IN CLOTHS AND LAID HIM IN A MANGER (A CATTLE TROUGH). WHO HASN'T HEARD THE HOWL OF A HUNGRY NEWBORN? I WOULD BOLT FROM MY BED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF MINE.
IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES, BABIES WERE SWADDLED FOR THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF THEIR LIVES, AND NOT FED, AS IT WAS BELIEVED THAT THEY NEEDED TO REST. SURELY BABY JESUS WAS A HUNGRY BABY! AND THEN IN LUKE 2:21 REPORTS THAT EIGHT DAYS LATER, AS WAS THE CUSTOM, BABY JESUS WAS CIRCUMCISED.
HAVING BEEN PRESENT FOR MY FIRST GRANDSON'S PROCEDURE, I CAN ATTEST, IT SEEMED PAINFUL. SURELY BABY JESUS WAS A CRYING BABY! WE DON'T OFTEN PAUSE TO CONSIDER JESUS AS A BABY, DO WE?
IF YOU'VE BECOME A PARENT BY ADOPTION OR BIRTH, YOU KNOW BABY STUFF. HELPLESS LITTLE BODIES WITH WOBBLY NECKS. STARVING HOWLS THROUGH THE DAY AND THE NIGHT.
DEPENDENT ON OTHERS FOR EVERY NEED. SURELY JESUS IS ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS THE DEPTH OF OUR HUMAN NEEDINESS! THINK ABOUT THIS: IT IS JESUS, BABY JESUS, WHO ENDURED THE HELPLESS VULNERABILITY OF A BEING A BABY IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A WAY FOR US TO BE CARED FOR AND RESCUED FROM OUR GREATEST NEED, OUR NEED FOR SALVATION.
OH, WHAT THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE PUT HIMSELF THROUGH TO COMMUNICATE HIS LOVE TO THE WORLD! TO YOU AND TO ME.
